Welsh First Minster Rhodri Morgan says he has no regrets over a joke about Democratic Unionist leader the Rev Ian Paisley that has prompted criticism and demands for an apology.
Mr Morgan made the quip about the DUP leader last week in the presence of Wales and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain and British Prime Minster Tony Blair, saying Dr Paisley converted to Catholicism before dying because he thought it better to lose a Catholic than a Protestant.
A Northern Ireland Office spokesman said Mr Hain thought the joke was "inappropriate and in poor taste" and knew that Mr Morgan now recognised that.
However, the First Minister has said he did not regret his comments at all. "I think at least a million people in Northern Ireland already know that story anyway; it came from Northern Ireland," he said.
"I'm sure it will be regarded as harmless by Dr Paisley himself."
The joke was made at a dinner on the eve of the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno last Thursday night and was reported in the Western Mail.
"I think the person that told tales really needs to have his head examined," Mr Morgan said. "It's just one of those things."