The President, Mrs McAleese, has refused to meet a community group in Co Donegal because its chairman is a member of Republican Sinn Fein.
A spokesman for the Glenboe Action Group in Letterkenny said its members felt "deeply insulted" after Mrs McAleese refused yesterday to meet a delegation which included the chairman, Mr John McElhinney.
"There's a lot of disappointment that this visit was cancelled at the last moment. This man was democratically elected by our group, which is a non-political organisation representing 7,000 people in the fastest-growing part of Letterkenny," the group's spokesman, Mr Tony Canning, said.
Mr Canning said the group was funded by the Department of Social Welfare and had been visited by Mr Prionsias De Rossa when he was minister. Representatives of 15 community groups from the north-west of the country had been invited for the visit.
He pointed out that Mrs McAleese's predecessor, Mrs Mary Robinson, had shaken hands with Mr Gerry Adams. Mr McElhinney had never been tried for, or convicted of, anything.
Mr McElhinney declined to comment on the matter last night.
A spokeswoman for the President confirmed the meeting had been cancelled after Mrs McAleese consulted local gardai and the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid, who was accompanying her. She said it was the President's own decision that it was not appropriate for the meeting to go ahead.
"The President's view is that it is not appropriate that she should have contact or meet with people who are alleged to have political associations with any group that supports violence in any way," the spokeswoman said.
She offered to meet the action group provided the chairman was not in attendance, but this was not accepted by the delegation. The spokeswoman said some members of the group were in favour of this proposal, but Mr Canning last night denied this.
Mrs McAleese was on a two-day visit to Co Donegal, with engagements in most of the main towns. Her spokeswoman said the Glenboe visit was not on the official list of public engagements and had been organised at short notice at the request of the action group, which exists to promote the interests of local residents.
However, Mr Canning said the invitation to meet Mrs McAleese had come from Dr McDaid last Thursday. The following day the group faxed a list of people and an itinerary to the President's office. Yet the controversy only blew up minutes before Mrs McAleese was due to visit yesterday evening.
Mrs McAleese returned to Dublin by helicopter last night, after fulfilling two other engagements in Letterkenny as well as making visits to Ballybofey, Ballyshannon and Lifford.
Although she was accompanied by local Fianna Fail TDs throughout her visit, her spokeswoman pointed out that the initial invitation to visit Co Donegal came from the Fine Gael TD, Mr Alan Dukes, who asked the President to present the prizes in a schools essay contest organised by the Irish Council for the European Movement.
