McAleese to avoid Shankill Road during Belfast visit
08/09/2005 - 07:34:24President Mary McAleese is due to avoid the loyalist Shankill Road during a one-day visit to Belfast today.
Mrs McAleese had been due to visit a primary school in the area during the trip, but she called off the visit yesterday, blaming an upsurge in loyalist violence.
The President will instead meet parents, pupils and teachers at a hotel in Belfast city centre.
She is also due to hold talks with PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde during her trip, something that has sparked anger among hardline unionists.
The DUP has said policing matters in the North are none of Mrs McAleese's business.
The President's visit to Belfast is her first since she offended many unionists earlier this year when she compared Protestant sectarianism to the Nazi hatred of Jews.
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