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Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
  Press Statements

Orange Order Cancels Dublin Talks With McAleese In Protest At Nazi Slur

28 January 2005

The Orange Order today cancelled planned official talks with President Mary McAleese in Dublin in protest at what they described as the President's "grossly offensive slur against the Protestant people of Northern Ireland."

The move follows President McAleese's comments on RTE radio before attending ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation in which she said that the Nazis had given German children an irrational hatred of Jews "in the same way that people in Northern Ireland transmitted to their children an irrational hatred of Catholics."

Describing the President's comments as "idiotic sectarian bigotry that shames both her office and her country", a spokesman said that the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland had now scrapped plans to take up Mrs McAleese's invitation to come to Dublin on 8 March to discuss the concerns of Orangemen in the Irish Republic. Those discussions were to have been followed by an official visit by President McAleese to an Orange hall in the South.

"For all her so-called conciliatory comments about bridge-building with Protestants, Mrs McAleese's outrageous remarks on Thursday reveal the extent to which the Dublin establishment is prepared to go to hurt and belittle the majority community in Northern Ireland, " said the Grand Lodge spokesman.

"When she worked at Queen's University in Belfast, Mary McAleese publicly objected to both the Union Jack and the National Anthem. We all know where she stands and since her mind is obviously already closed against the Protestant people, we see absolutely no point in meeting her in Dublin or anywhere else in the foreseeable future."


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