IRISH sources have emphatically denied suggestions that London reneged on an earlier agreement that the President, Mrs Robinson, should address both Houses of Parliament during her official visit to Britain.
The Irish Times confirmed last night that the possibility of an address similar to those delivered recently by Presidents Clinton and Chirac was discussed by British and Irish officials during preparations for the visit, which began yesterday.
A newspaper report yesterday suggested Mrs Robinson had been denied the opportunity because London feared it might complicate the attempts by both governments to agree arrangements for the all party negotiations in the North due to begin on Monday.
But an authoritative Irish source said that, because this is an official rather than a state visit, an address to Parliament was not considered appropriate. The source insisted the discussion of the issue was "entirely amicable", that there had been no agreement that it should happen and that there "was no sense that minds were changed". A spokesman for the British Foreign Office insisted "there is no question of any snub".
The Foreign Office spokesman observed that addresses to both Houses of Parliament, even on state occasions, were "very rare". And he said the two governments could not have agreed the idea, which would "be very much a matter for the parliamentary authorities, the Speaker and the Lord Chancellor.
Those sentiments were echoed by Mr Peter Temple Morris MP, co-chairman of the Anglo Irish Interparliamentary Body, who said. "It's not that exceptional that she wouldn't be doing it, not least because it's not a state visit." But Mr Temple Morris added. "I'm personally sorry that she's not. But I don't think that will in any way diminish the visit, which has already been well received".
Another senior Conservative at Westminster said an address to MPs and peers might have appeared "slightly over the top" on the occasion of the first official visit to Britain by a serving Irish head of state. "The hallmark of this thawing process", he explained, "is softly, softly step by step."
Meanwhile, Mr David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, is expected among the guests at today's Downing Street lunch hosted by Mr John Major in honour of Mrs Robinson. But it is understood Ulster Unionist MPs have declined invitations to attend tomorrow night's "return reception" at the Irish Embassy in London.