Leading members of the Irish community in Britain, including a recently-appointed member of the Council of State, have reacted furiously to coverage of President Michael D Higgins' visit to London last week by The Irish Post.
The Post was highly critical of the President under a headline declaring 'Silence', saying he had 'delivered a huge snub' to Irish living in Britain by failing to answer 'key questions' about what he would now do to help emigrants.
“In a show of disdain by his advisors and aides, who steadfastly refused to allow him to be interviewed at length by the British-based Irish media, the opportunity was spurned,” the newspaper declared in a front-page story.
In an editorial headlined ‘Higgins’ silence speaks volumes’, accompanied by a cartoon showing the President with a zip in his mouth, the Post said it was not right that he ‘should be suddenly struck dumb, or gagged the moment he takes centre-stage’.
Saying that it held 'nothing but the highest esteem' for the office of President, the Post said that 'it is difficult to have respect, let alone reverence for a president who blatantly snubs 100,000 of its readers' by refusing to answer the paper's questions.
During a visit to the Irish Centre in Camden, President Higgins was interviewed by The Irish Times, RTE and the Irish Independent, and, separately, by The Irish Post and its London-based rival, The Irish World.
The Federation of Irish Societies, the umbrella group for all Irish community organisations in Britain, said it was ‘disappointed’ by the coverage, adding that it anticipated that many Irish living in Britain will be ‘equally shocked at the coverage and disrespect shown’ to Mr Higgins.
He has been, said the federation, ‘a fierce advocate for the rights of the Irish diaspora and a supporter of the work and contribution of the Irish community to Britain President’, while the fact that his first foreign trip was to London displayed his continuing commitment.
British Labour councillor Sally MuIready, who was appointed by Mr Higgins to the Council of State, said she believed ‘that the overwhelming majority of Irish people in Britain will be horrified by the nasty, vitriolic, personalised and totally ill-informed attack’ on him.
"The coverage of the President's visit has shocked the Irish community. You have used the Irish Post which you claim to be the Voice of the Irish in Britain to insult and abuse the President of Ireland," she wrote, in a letter to the newspaper.
“Your actions have caused great offence and deep hurt in the Community. We utterly condemn your actions. Not in our name will we accept that this coverage represents the views of the Community. You don’t,” she went on.
Saying that the Post had 'begrudgingly' acknowledged that Mr Higgins was the only one of the presidential candidates to have visited Britain during the election, she said the Post seems 'to be totally clueless on the role played by the President under the Irish constitution'.
During his September visit, she said he had promised to appoint an emigrant to the Council of State, which he did, and help emigrant groups within ‘the constitutional constraints within which a President of Ireland must operate’.