There is no official concern over recent remarks by the President about what Irish people would feel if it was suggested the State rejoin the British Commonwealth, Government sources say. "If somebody posed the question `should Ireland rejoin the Commonwealth?' just think of your reaction," said Mrs Robinson, when opening the Merriman Summer School on August 22nd. She hoped to illustrate what she said was a deep sense of insecurity among Irish people about national identity.
She was making the point, she said, because "it is a good way of assessing the insecurities we still have after 75 years - the lack of a firm sense of ourselves so that we cannot address that question without a great deal of hesitation and emotion and conflicting views and no real clear lines of direction."
She said she raised this issue "with trepidation because I don't want it to be seen as in some way a political issue".
According to Government sources there has been no expression of concern about the remarks from any Minister, and there is no suggestion that this was a political statement beyond her role.
Meanwhile, a Government spokesman has confirmed that the President's pension was formally approved by the Cabinet last week. The pension, of £56,000 a year, represents half her annual salary and is the standard pension paid to former Presidents.