The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, yesterday responded to an Irish Times article that moves were under way inside the Orange Order to disciple him and another senior Unionist for attending a Catholic funeral Mass in August for three young victims of the Omagh bombing.
Mr Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and Mr Dennis Rogan, the UUP chairman, were among several Orangemen who attended the funeral Mass at St Mary's Church, Buncrana, Co Donegal, on August 19th, for three boys who died in the blast.
Mr Trimble said he "considered at the time" that he was behaving with a "charitable spirit". He said many Orangemen would agree that what he did was "the Christian thing in those circumstances". His position as First Minister of Northern Ireland must also be borne in mind.
Mr Rogan yesterday defended his actions and said that, following the "dreadful events" in Omagh, he felt it was essential that respect be paid by the UUP to all the families of the deceased "irrespective of their religious denomination".
It is a condition of membership of the Orange Order that "you should not countenance by your presence or otherwise any act or ceremony of Popish worship".
If disciplinary action is to be taken against the UUP leader and chairman it will be instigated by their individual lodges. Mr Rogan is a member of a Belfast lodge while Mr Trimble's lodge is in Bangor, Co Down.