Unionists welcome cancellation of McAleese’s Shankill visit

Unionists have welcomed President Mary McAleese's decision to cancel a planned visit to the loyalist Shankill Road in Belfast this week.

Mrs McAleese was due to visit the area during a trip to Belfast on Thursday, but cancelled her plans after she was asked to do so by local unionists.

The unionists said the visit would have come too soon after the President's controversial comments about Protestant sectarianism at the recent Auschwitz commemoration in Poland.

Mrs McAleese has apologised for comparing the Nazi hatred of Jews to the hatred of Catholics instilled in Protestant children in the North.

Unionists have accepted the apology, but have also said that it is too early for her to be welcomed back into the Shankill Road.

Responding to her decision to cancel this week's visit, local Ulster Unionist Party councillor Chris McGimpsey predicted that she would be welcomed back eventually.

Local community worker May Blood also welcomed the decision, saying it would take time for Mrs McAleese to rebuild bridges with the Shankill community.