On a visit to Dublin yesterday, the grand master of the Orange Lodge, Mr Robert Saulters, told the President, Mrs McAleese, and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, of his organisation's wish to preserve its heritage and culture on both sides of the Border.
In separate meetings with the President and the Taoiseach, Mr Saulters said members of the Orange Order were committed to the integrity of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom, but the order had many members in the Republic and was concerned for their welfare and interests.
Mr Saulters was joined on the visit to Dublin by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Mr Robert Stoker, an Ulster Unionist.
Mr Saulters spoke of the legitimacy of Orange culture and traditions, emphasising the order's belief in freedom of movement and freedom of assembly underpinning the right to parade.
He reported on his Dublin visit at a meeting of Belfast County Grand Orange Lodge last night.
The visits to Mrs McAleese at Aras an Uachtarain and Mr Ahern were, he said, primarily courtesy calls. He used the opportunity of a lunchtime meeting in Dublin "to present the Orange case to an audience which would not normally have the opportunity to hear the views of unionists and Orangemen.
The visit followed an exchange by a Dublin community group in Belfast recently, when they visited the People's Museum in Glencairn in the loyalist Upper Shankill area of north Belfast and also visited Whiterock Orange Hall.