ULSTER Unionist MPs have been to the Foreign Office in London to complain about the "activities" of the President, Mrs Robinson, in Northern Ireland, and later this week the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, will receive a report outlining their "concerns".
Their complaints emerged last night as Mrs Robinson continued another working visit to Britain.
This afternoon she will meet the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Derek Shaw, to receive an update on the city's rebuilding plans in the aftermath of last year's IRA bombing.
Tonight he will be guest of honour at the Manchester Chamber of Commerce and Industry's annual dinner.
The Irish Times has learned that Mr David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, and a fellow MP, Mr William Ross, met officials from the Republic of Ireland and protocol sections of the British Foreign Office last Tuesday. At the meeting they pressed for a clear distinction to be drawn between "official" and "private" visits to Northern Ireland by Mrs Robinson.
Confirming the meeting last night, Mr Ross said they had asked the officials "how someone who claims jurisdiction over part of the United Kingdom can come in and wander about unveiling plaques as the President of all Ireland?"
Mr Ross said Mrs Robinson's engagements in Northern Ireland over a period of time implied "that she's operating in the context of her Constitution and not in the context of the United Kingdom constitution". And he maintained that "the President's obligations to her office encompass Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution whatever she may say privately".
Acknowledging that the British Foreign Office found itself in "a difficult situation", Mr Ross declared: "These things should operate on the basis of good manners and good neighbourliness, and she has displayed neither."
Yesterday Mrs Robinson attended Mass at St David's Cathedral in Cardiff, where the Administrator, Father Bernard Whitehouse, thanked her for being the first head of state to visit the cathedral for 150 years.
Father Whitehouse told the congregation the cathedral had been built by Irish immigrants in an area which was known as "little Ireland".
Accompanied by the Irish Ambassador, Mr Ted Barrington, the President attended a reception for the Irish community in Wales at Cardiff Castle. After praising the Irish rugby team's victory, Mrs Robinson met a number of representatives from local Irish organisations.