Attempts continue inside the Orange Order to discipline the Ulster Unionist Party chairman, Mr Dennis Rogan, for attending the funeral Mass of three boys killed in the Omagh bomb attack.
Mr Rogan accompanied the North's First Minister and UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, to the funeral at St Mary's Church, Buncrana, Co Donegal, last summer, which was also attended by the President, Mrs McAleese.
Mr Rogan said yesterday his lodge may decide to take no action as a result of the complaint, believed to have originated from hardline members of the County Grand Lodge of Belfast, or he could be expelled or suspended from the order as a result.
No formal moves have to date been made against Mr Trimble, who is a member of an Orange lodge in Bangor, Co Down, and therefore not within the jurisdiction of the County Grand Lodge of Belfast. The complex procedures of the order require that members be charged in the first instance in their own local, or "private", lodge. Mr Trimble said yesterday that action against Mr Rogan would be ill-advised.
However, a UUP spokesman said disciplinary action by the Orange Order against Mr Rogan would not do the reputation of the institution any good. "It would be very much an own goal."
The Grand Lodge of Ireland, which acts as a court of appeal for members who wish to appeal against local lodge decisions they deem to be unfair, may eventually deal with the controversy. "We don't ever ask what is going on in these situations so if there is an appeal we can approach it entirely impartially," said a spokesman.
Attendance at Catholic funerals by Orangemen is reported to be a common occurrence, especially in Border and other rural areas, and it is rare for action to be taken against them inside the order.