ULSTER BANK has been forced to apologise to the Orange Order after members were offended by the attire of its staff – who were wearing Down GAA jerseys in the days up to the All-Ireland Football Final.

The Order’s grand secretary Drew Nelson wrote to the bank – who are one of the title sponsors of the GAA’s Football All-Ireland Senior Championships – to complain about the jerseys being worn by staff at the Castlewellan branch in the county.

“As a responsible stakeholder in society,” Nelson write, “the Loyal Orange Institution is keen to encourage local businesses and personalities to become more involved with the local community and its activities.

“With this in mind, and given the recent display of encouragement for the County Down Gaelic team, representatives from the institution would be keen to meet with you to discuss how the bank can also engage with and support local Orange lodges in the Castlewellan area in terms of community development and sponsorship or support for mini-Twelfth or Twelfth of July related festivals in the near future.”

The branch manager wrote back to acknowledge the discomfort caused to Orange Order members as a result, and offering to meet with him to discuss sponsorship for other events.

“I am obviously aware of the discomfort caused to your members as a result of our support for the Down gaelic football team. I can assure you that we had no intention other than to celebrate their success in the All-Ireland championship,” the response read.

“You will appreciate that Down’s first final appearance for 16 years generated a lot of interest, especially since a colleague based in our Newry branch [forward Danny Hughes] plays for the team.

“If we failed to control our enthusiasm in participating with other businesses in Castlewellan’s “red and black” celebrations, then I sincerely apologise. I hope you will accept that our actions were in no way intended to be provocative, and that any offence we have caused is entirely unconventional.”