Commentary around presidential candidate Heather Humphreys’s Orange Order heritage shows unionists would not be welcomed in a united Ireland, DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said.

Mr Robinson also predicted there would be no constitutional change to Northern Ireland’s status in his lifetime and said continuing discussion about a unity poll creates instability.

As she launched her campaign last weekend to become president, Fine Gael candidate Ms Humphreys spoke about her Protestant heritage and attending Orange Order parades as a child.

She also told the event in Monaghan that her husband was not a member of the Orange Order and said her grandfather signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912.

Mr Robinson said Ms Humphreys has been “criticised and challenged” during the campaign because of her family’s Orange Order background.

He added: “You tell me that is welcoming? You tell me unionists would be accepted when they can’t even accept a former Irish government minister who has Orange heritage.

“I think they need to be very careful about some of the conversations they are having."

Mr Robinson also accused Irish President Michael D Higgins of engaging in an “egregious encroachment” into Northern Ireland’s constitutional affairs.

He said: “His inability to share, his inability to even turn up at church and recognise that Northern Ireland has been in existence for over 100 years . . . That hasn’t played out well within the hearts and minds of unionists in Northern Ireland.”

He said Ms Humphreys is being treated with “contempt” because of her background.

“They don’t highlight the fact that her grandfather signed the Ulster Covenant in a positive way. These things aren’t being raised in a positive way, they are not being talked about in a positive glow.

“They are not saying, ‘what a wonderful lady because she has Orange heritage’. They are saying, ‘she is a bit odd – she is one of those nordies; she has a heritage which doesn’t really chime with our happy-go-lucky green credentials’.” – PA