President Higgins apologises for 'throwaway remark' about security forum chairperson

President Higgins has now moved to clarify the remarks, which a spokesperson said were made 'over the course of a long interview'

President Michael D Higgins inspects a guard of honour during a state religious ceremony to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising leaders at Arbour Hill Cemetery in Dublin. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

President Michael D Higgins has apologised to the chair of a Government forum on neutrality describing his comments as a "throwaway remark".

The President has been criticised after he hit out at the composition of the panels at the Consultative Forum on International Security, saying they include "the admirals, the generals, the air force, the rest of it" and described its chair Louise Richardson, as a person "with a very large DBE – Dame of the British Empire”.