President Catherine Connolly has hosted victims' rights campaigner Ann Travers and her brother Paul for a courtesy call at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin.

The meeting follows weeks of public commentary sparked by an official photograph taken in August showing President Connolly standing next to Mary McArdle outside the Falls Road Women's Centre in Belfast. McArdle is the only person convicted in connection with the April 1984 Provisional IRA murder of 23-year-old primary school teacher Mary Travers, Ann Travers's sister.

The 1984 attack in south Belfast targeted Mary Travers's father, Tom Travers, a resident magistrate who survived after being shot six times. McArdle, who was 19 years old at the time of her arrest carrying weapons after the shooting, served 14 years of a life sentence before being released under the terms of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.

Following the publication of the Belfast photograph, Ann Travers voiced deep distress over the encounter, writing in an op-ed for The Irish Times that seeing McArdle alongside the Head of State was profoundly upsetting. Travers called on public representatives to display greater awareness of the lasting impact on Troubles victims and survivors, and appealed for any remaining details regarding her sister's murder to be shared with authorities and affected families.

In response to correspondence from Travers, the Office of the President confirmed in August that President Connolly had offered a face-to-face meeting at Áras an Uachtaráin to hear her concerns directly.

Áras an Uachtaráin published an official photograph confirming that President Connolly welcomed Ann and Paul Travers to the presidential residence. The President's office did not issue additional comments on the specific contents of their discussion.