Irish President Ends Ulster Trip Amid Criticism for Meddling

Irish President Mary Robinson ended a controversial two-day trip to Northern Ireland on Saturday amid severe criticism that her visit has complicated peace-seeking efforts in troubled Ulster.

The liberal-minded president said she has no regrets about the visit, during which she met Gerry Adams, president of the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, in West Belfast on Friday.

She fueled the political furor Saturday when she shook hands before cameras with another leading Sinn Fein figure, Francis Molloy, during the opening of an Irish heritage center in the town of Coalisland.

Asked whether her visit to the province, which has been racked by sectarian violence for two decades, was wise, Robinson replied, “I am not involved in the political arena.” The Irish president is a constitutional figurehead, and Robinson maintained that she visited Ulster as a private citizen.

British officials, citing diplomatic and security concerns, had urged her to stay home.

The British and Irish governments have been trying to restart talks among the warring political factions in Ulster, seeking a way to end the long-running conflict between breakaway Roman Catholic Republicans and Protestant Unionists, who want the province to remain British.

A leading Unionist accused Robinson of acting as the “physical embodiment” of Ireland’s territorial claim over the six counties of British-controlled Northern Ireland.

Member of Parliament David Trimble said that for her to call her visit private was “pitifully disingenuous” and clearly untrue because she had attended official functions.

“She is acting in Northern Ireland in an official manner as if she had an inherent right to do so,” said Trimble, “as if she was the president of all of Ireland.”