BELFAST (Reuters) - A British member of parliament on Tuesday called on U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to apologize for casting a "slur" on Protestants by joking to an Irish delegation that no-one wearing orange was welcome in his house on St. Patrick's Day.
Northern Irish Protestants traditionally wear orange during their annual summer parades, while green is used as a symbol by mostly Catholic Irish nationalists and is a theme of St Patrick's Day celebrations around the world.
A smiling Biden, speaking at the front door of his residence to a delegation led by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, quipped that "if you're wearing orange, you're not welcome in here" before adding that he was only joking.
Protestant leaders in Northern Ireland were not amused.
"Whether they were intended as a joke or not, the comments are a slur on those who would be known as ‘orange' i.e. Protestants," William McCrea, a member of the British parliament for the Democratic Unionist Party, said in a statement.
"When Northern Ireland is making such an effort to make St. Patrick's Day an inclusive celebration, Joe Biden's comments were disgraceful and careless," he added.
Asked about the request for an apology, an official in Biden's office said the vice president had made clear that he was joking.
The colors orange and green took on strong political overtones in Northern Ireland during three decades of tit-for-tat killings between Catholics supporting a united Ireland and Protestants who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
The violence largely ended with a 1998 peace deal, but symbols such as flags remain politically potent in the province.
Five years ago, Biden incorrectly suggested at a St. Patrick's Day reception that the mother of then Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was dead, saying "God rest her soul," before correcting himself to say "God bless her soul."