Residents in the normally quiet village of Rostrevor, Co Down, were furious yesterday that their first citizen, Prof Mary McAleese, should have been slurred by the leaked Government documents.
The village at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, beside Carlingford Bay, has been Prof McAleese's home for more than 20 years. Her father, Mr Patrick Leneghan, voiced his anger at the leaked allegations.
"To accuse her of being sympathetic to violence of any description just beggars belief. She has been against things like that all her life," he said.
"I knew she was engaged with Father Alex Reid and those other people to try and bring about a ceasefire. She never spoke much about it. Sometimes she felt hopeless about it and other times she felt quite hopeful."
Proud of his daughter, Mr Leneghan is hurt by the suggestion she would be sympathetic to violence. "We were proud of her long before that but to run for the Presidency of the country . . . I remember Mary Robinson's father saying it was a dream come true but we would never even have dreamed of it. Now to think it is in jeopardy through the criminal activities of others. It's unbelievable."
Mr Leneghan said: "We came from Belfast 20 years ago . . . The reason we came here was that we did not want to get involved in anything. This suggestion that she is leaning towards violence is incredible. The most annoying thing is the unbridled hostility of some people in the press."
Everyone in Rostrevor was furious over the memo leaks. All were full of praise, admiration and respect for Prof McAleese. People suspected the disclosures were an attempt to undermine her because she was a Northerner.
Physiotherapist, Mrs Sheree O'Connor, said: "We need peace. People have worked very hard and it is extremely fragile. The idea that some people in some circles in their own quest for power should discredit someone, have no regard for the peace process.
"Twelve months ago, if someone had worked for peace they were considered great individuals, like John Hume. Now . . . [Mary McAleese] is being dragged into the quagmire. What do people in the South want for us in the North? Are they happy to see us still struggling here?" asked Mrs O'Connor.
Owner of the Old Killowen Inn, Mr Brian O'Hare, said: "She is a fine Christian lady, who took risks for peace and if that is a crime then we are all guilty. The people who leaked these documents certainly do not have the interests of either the nationalist or unionist people at heart and are opponents of the peace process."
He said: "There is despair that this should happen to such a worthy candidate and a failure to understand how such good intentions could be so misrepresented."
Local student, Mr Fiamm Trainor, said: "The people in Dublin are terrified of someone honest getting into such a high office."
Mr Joe O'Rourke, a local building contractor, is a neighbour of Prof McAleese. He said the allegations that she would be working to a Sinn Fein agenda were "rubbish". The leaks were "dirty politics" and part of a "smear campaign" which was "well timed at the 11th hour".
Local SDLP councillor, Mr Brian Mulligan, is astounded that Prof McAleese should be portrayed as having a Sinn Fein agenda, particularly when she allowed the Rostrevor branch of his party to use her home during the last Westminster and local government elections.
Mr Mulligan, chairman of the local SDLP branch, said: "There is a lot of anger in the village, particularly with some of the politicians down South. The people of Rostrevor are 100 per cent behind Mary McAleese because she is a very decent girl who comes from a highly respectable family. She is involved in a lot of voluntary work with the Catholic Church and the local primary school."
He said: "As a nationalist myself, we are all part of Ireland and it is great to see someone from the Northern part of the island standing especially with the peace process in place at the moment."