Scotland has reacted with anger to a Labour MP's threat that a weekend visit by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, would provoke sectarian violence.
The Taoiseach has instead accepted a hasty invitation to make an official visit to Scotland later this year after a day of Caledonian embarrassment over claims of anti-Catholic bigotry.
The Scottish Government offered a veiled apology to the Taoiseach yesterday as opposition members of the Scottish parliament (MSPs) condemned Mr Frank Roy for insulting Dublin and making Scotland look like "Mississippi" in the days of racial segregation.
Mr Ahern was due to attend the old-firm football game between Celtic and Rangers on Sunday. After the game he was to unveil a famine memorial in Carfin, Lanarkshire, which is in Mr Roy's constituency. A political storm blew up when Mr Roy wrote to the Irish consul in Edinburgh.
He said: "One of the worst nights in my constituency for policing is the night of any old firm game, and quite frankly we don't need this as well."
He said that if Celtic won then the Taoiseach's presence would smack of "triumphalism" and if Celtic lost, it would look like "defiance". Lanarkshire is the last, and dying, bastion of religious sectarianism in Scotland.
A Government spokesman in Dublin said the visit was cancelled on the advice of the Consul. Mr Roy claims he did not contact either the Scottish government or the Foreign Office in London. Mr George Galloway, Labour MP for Glasgow Kelvin, said the warning "makes us look like Mississippi . . . a backwoods where the Prime Minister of our closest neighbour is unable to come to friendly shores because there might be trouble".
Meanwhile, the Scottish Tories claimed cancellation of the visit would be viewed as a "victory for bigots" which had been brought about by Mr Roy and Dr John Reid "pressing the panic button".
Traditionally, Labour in the West of Scotland has been drawn from both Protestant and Catholic communities. Labour sources suggested the party was concerned it was looking "too Catholic" and chose this occasion to play to the Protestant vote.
Mr Henry McLeish, Scotland's first minister, told the Scottish Parliament that Mr Ahern would be formally invited to come to Scotland. His use of the phrase "observing the proper protocols" led some to say this stopped short of the full apology required.