President Mary McAleese's office has rejected repeated claims by the DUP leader that she fails to observe proper protocol when visiting Northern Ireland.
The Rev Ian Paisley accused Mrs McAleese again yesterday of hating Northern Ireland and said she refused to go into PSNI stations when she was under the protection of the police during visits.
At the DUP annual conference two weeks ago he said he did not like Mrs McAleese and that she was dishonest.
Returning to the attack yesterday, Dr Paisley focused on his earlier claim that she would not enter PSNI stations when she was using a police vehicle. "The fact that she takes protection from the police of Northern Ireland but refuses to go into a police station when they are changing (from a Southern registration car to a PSNI vehicle) shows how deep her hatred is of Northern Ireland," he claimed.
The President was in Belfast yesterday for a number of engagements including one in DUP MP Nigel Dodd's constituency. Mr Dodds also accused her of breaching proper procedure when visiting the North.
"She should be subject to the same protocols as every other foreign head of state. Why should she get any privileged position simply because she is from the Dublin capital as opposed to any other capital in the European Union or anywhere else?" said Mr Dodds.
"Mary McAleese has a problem to overcome because of her attitude to unionists, and what she has said about unionists and likening them to Nazis. Those are problems of her own creation."
The President's spokeswoman said Mrs McAleese would not be commenting on Dr Paisley's and Mr Dodds's claims. The spokeswoman, however, expressed bafflement, saying the President observed all protocols for visits.
"On official visits to Northern Ireland the Taoiseach's Office, the Northern Ireland Office, the Garda Síochána and the PSNI are notified. The Lord Lieutenant for the area she is visiting always meets her and she travels in cars supplied by the PSNI. On personal visits she also notifies the relevant authorities in the North and South," the spokeswoman added.
The spokeswoman said she could not understand Dr Paisley's claim about the President refusing to enter PSNI stations, pointing out that she met the PSNI Chief Constable at police headquarters at Knock in east Belfast.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said the DUP leader was making his comments to deflect attention from his failure to deal with the political deadlock, while SDLP leader Mark Durkan said Dr Paisley had no business lecturing anybody about protocol or honesty.
Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, adds:
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the latest attack by Dr Paisley and Mr Dodds on the President was to be "deeply regretted".
He declared: "As I've said previously, the President does more than anyone to reach out courageously and imaginatively to the communities in Northern Ireland and to acknowledge in a public way the very considerable progress that has been made there.
"She is always very careful to go through all of the protocols and procedures that are there. She did that this time as well. The detailed arrangements were made for this particular visit in accordance with the practice and procedures that we always follow in consultation with all of the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland, including the PSNI, and in advance of the visit - that's what always happens and it happened in this case too."
Asked why the remarks are being made, the Taoiseach replied: "I don't really know why they are made, quite frankly. They are unwarranted, they're not very helpful, and it looks as if that for some reason it's to divert attention from other things - I don't really know why.
"It's not a very mature way of acting. You could imagine the view if one of the royal family were here and leaders of major parties and myself or somebody else were to make remarks like that - we just wouldn't do it."
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who was in Belfast for political talks yesterday, declined to comment. His spokesman said the Minister stood by his comments made directly to Dr Paisley at Hillsborough two weeks ago: that the DUP leader's remarks were "unacceptable, unwarranted and untrue".
