President abandons Loyalist area visit
As rival politicians clashed over her planned meeting with Northern Ireland chief constable Sir Hugh Orde, her office revealed a late change to her itinerary because of a new outbreak of violence in the Shankill Road area.
She had been due to meet staff and children at a primary school, but will now see them in another part of the city.
Belfast-born Mrs McAleese was forced to pull out of a visit to the Shankill earlier this year after she was criticised for making controversial comments about sectarianism in the Protestant community.
On Monday, there was serious rioting in the Woodvale area of the Shankill involving gangs of masked youths following police raids in the area.
Lorries were hijacked and burnt out and police Land Rovers attacked with petrol and paint bombs, stones and bottles as youths responded to the security operation in connection with an Ulster Volunteer Force show of strength on Saturday.
The violence was not connected with her visit, and among the areas she will be visiting today will be the loyalist Taughmonagh estate.
The change of plans was announced as rival members of the Northern Ireland policing board clashed over her meeting today with the chief constable.
The SDLP’s Alex Attwood defended the planned meeting.
But the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jnr questioned the reasons behind the trip and claimed that Sir Hugh should have consulted the Policing Board.
West Belfast MLA Mr Attwood said: “Increasing numbers of people don’t take Ian Jnr seriously.
“Mary McAleese has done more than virtually any other citizen to try to build bridges on the island of Ireland.
“People appreciate her work. They do not see her in any way in the terms outlined by Ian Jnr.”
A spokeswoman for the president confirmed a meeting with Sir Hugh would go ahead.
Following the visit to the Police Service of Northern Ireland headquarters, Mrs McAleese will meet staff, pupils and teachers of Edenbrooke Primary School at a special reception in a south Belfast hotel.
This will be followed by visits to Taughmonagh Primary School and Aquinas Grammar School.
President McAleese will then visit Nazareth House Care Village on the Ravenhill Road before returning to Dublin.
Diane Dodds, a Democratic Unionist member of the suspended Northern Ireland Assembly, said it would have been highly inappropriate for the President to set foot on the Shankill given the volatile and tense situation.
She said: “People in the greater Shankill were incensed at the prospect of Mary McAleese being able to freely roam around the area while at the same time the civil and religious liberties of the Whiterock
Orange brethren have been completely disregarded. Such a prospect has helped fuel tension in the area.”
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