President Mary McAleese should not have addressed a major Saudi Arabian conference on cultural diversity where women sat out of sight behind a black Perspex screen, the Labour Party has declared.
The President was one of a number of leading international figures, including former US vice-president Al Gore, who attended the Jeddah Economic Forum over the weekend.
Saudi Arabia imposes severe restrictions on women, including barring them from voting or going out in public unaccompanied by a male relative, on the grounds that this is necessary to preserve's society morals.
"There is simply no way in which an Irish President would be expected to address such a meeting where a significant section of the population were discriminated against in this way on the grounds of race or religion.
"Why should discrimination on the grounds of gender be any more acceptable? The arrangements for this meeting are offensive not just to the majority of Irish women but to the majority of Irish citizens," said Labour's deputy leader, Liz McManus.
The President remained silent last night in the face of the Labour criticism, though she is believed to view the remarks as more of an attack on the Government than herself.
A spokesman for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said Mrs McAleese's speech was a clear expression of the values of Irish society and people.
"The President met the women members of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce for a round table discussion, while the attendants at the economic forum were invited by a committee of three women and three men." The President showed respect for the culture of a friendly state, while at the same time contributing to the debate and reflection on the future for all the population of Saudi Arabia, including women, the spokesman said.
Nearly 2,700 businessmen and women from Saudi Arabia and other countries attended the three-day forum, which was also addressed by Cherie Blair, the wife of British prime minister Tony Blair.
The number of women attending the conference, according to Arab News magazine, was down on last year because organisers decided to raise the admission fee to $750.
The treatment meted out to women "is just symptomatic of the wider discrimination against Saudi women", said Ms McManus, adding that the Government should not have approved arrangements which appear to give approval to what amounts to a form of apartheid for women.
