If it means that Plaid and other parties wake up to the real concerns people have in this part of the world then the sacrifice is well worth it

Gwilym ab Ioan

Last month Mr ab Ioan quit the party's National Executive after his controversial comments were posted on an internet news group.

He apologised for the language used and resigned as a Plaid Cymru vice president but continued as the party's chairman in Ceredigion.

Mr ab Ioan has now been forced by local members to resign from that position.

Plaid Cymru hope that this latest move will show that the party is not willing to tolerate outspoken remarks by its representatives.

Following the meeting the Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion Simon Thomas said Mr ab Ioan's comments were unacceptable and distracted the party from its fight to save Welsh speaking communities.

Move resisted

"The party agrees with him that Welsh speaking communities are under threat, but it cannot condone the tone of the language he used," Mr Thomas said.

Mr ab Ioan had always said he would resist any move to oust him as party's chair in Ceredigion.

But after the meeting he refused to attack his party's decision and said he would remain a member of Plaid Cymru.

"If it means that Plaid and other parties wake up to the real concerns that people have in this part of the world then the sacrifice is well worth it," he said.

The Racial Commission has received the complaints

This latest development in the row over the Welsh language follows a series of comments by Plaid Cymru members.

In August Mr ab Ioan was reported - together with former Welsh Language Board chairman John Elfed Jones - to the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE).

Mr Jones, was referred to the body after remarks which compared in-migration to Wales with the foot-and-mouth epidemic.

He had been accused of inciting racial hatred - a claim which has been dismissed by the CRE.

The in-migration row was ignited by comments from Gwynedd Councillor Seimon Glyn earlier this year, who said English people were a "drain on resources".