The Protestant community worker who played a central role in organising last Thursday's visit by the President, Mrs McAleese, to a loyalist district in the Waterside area of Derry said yesterday that he had received overwhelming community support for the visit.
Mr Brian Dougherty, co-ordinator of the Tullyally Development Group, was told by the police of a loyalist paramilitary threat against his personal security just hours before the presidential visit.
Speaking for the first time since the UDA threat was issued against him, Mr Dougherty said he and the group's board of directors had the backing of the Tullyally community before the visit was announced and since the visit, he had received immense cross-community support.
"My board and I took the idea of the visit informally into the community and the support for the visit was always there from day one, so we made a decision to welcome Mrs McAleese to the area. Unfortunately, some people disagreed with us and posters were put up in the area where I live which referred to me as a Lundy. I assume that was because I'm part of the group which endorsed the visit by President McAleese.
"I was more concerned for my family. It's not nice to have posters like that around the area, but I have to say my neighbours and friends in Bond Street where I live were disgusted by it and gave me a great deal of support.
"The detectives came to see me about it on Thursday, the day of the visit.
"Since the story about the threat has been in the media, the support for me has been unbelievable and has come from all quarters and my board members also rallied around me.
"Since last Friday my phone hasn't stopped at home, at work here and my mobile and I've been getting cross-community and cross-party support and it's been a great boost and a great comfort to me and to my family. I've received calls from community associations, I was speaking to members of Derry City Football Club and I've been speaking to Catholic and nationalist members of the community sector in Londonderry.
" There has also been great support from the Protestant community, including calls from people who have very strong loyalist and unionist views, who have told me they totally disagreed with any form of intimidation against me," he said.
Mr Dougherty, who is also a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said the threat against him was mentioned at a meeting of the board's community affairs committee last Thursday morning.
"Denis Bradley, who chairs the committee, raised the issue in a very kind and supportive way and I received support from the SDLP members and other members of the committee, which was very encouraging. It was obviously a very difficult time for me because I'd just gotten word of the threat that morning."