Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) has been urged to “swiftly and publicly” suspend the organisation’s links with “known associates” of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The University and College Union (UCU) in Northern Ireland, the biggest union representing university staff, has said QUB’s leadership should, “as a precautionary measure”, suspend its links with current chancellor Hillary Clinton and former chancellor George Mitchell.

It comes after Mitchell described his friendship with Epstein as “a blessing” in a handwritten letter from 2003, which was released on Tuesday.

QUB said it acknowledges UCU’s statement, adding it would not be making any further public comment at this time.

Federal prosecutors charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors and other crimes in 2019, during the first Trump administration.

He died by suicide in jail that August, and almost immediately afterwards many began questioning the circumstances of his death.

Last month, former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary were among high-profile figures to be sent legal summonses from a congressional committee investigating the late sex offender.

Republican James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, issued the subpoenas to the Clintons and eight other individuals.

The committee is seeking information about Epstein’s history, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided against releasing more federal files on the dead financier.

Clinton was inaugurated as the university’s chancellor in September 2021.

In a statement the UCU said: “The current QUB chancellor, Hillary Clinton, has been subpoenaed along with her husband, ex-US President Bill Clinton, to a congressional committee to give evidence concerning Epstein’s business affairs.”

The UCU added that the role of a university chancellor is “an ambassadorial one, an honorary figurehead responsible for promoting the institution’s activities, vision and ethos to the public, both internationally and within the local community”.

“While we do not cast aspersions upon individuals, given the nature of Jeffrey Epstein’s appalling crimes, we believe the university’s leadership should, as a precautionary measure, be suspending its links with known associates of Epstein.”

George Mitchell was the university’s chancellor for 10 years, has a bust outside the university and the university’s Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, which was established in 2016, is named after him.

“The brilliant work and reputation of the centre for Global Peace, Security and Justice must not be risked by the individual’s name whom it bears. A failure by QUB to dissociate itself from Epstein’s network could cause serious reputational damage and have a profoundly dire effect on student recruitment,” the union’s statement added.

George Mitchell was a former majority leader in the US senate.

He won admiration from across the political divide in Northern Ireland for his work to boost the peace process, chairing the Stormont peace talks during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Following the failure to set up devolved power, Mitchell acted as a facilitator to implement an inclusive power-sharing executive and the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.

After a final 36 hours of non-stop negotiations, he led the main parties to agree to the Good Friday agreement on 10 April 1998, a political deal designed to bring an end to 30 years of violent conflict in Northern Ireland.

Mitchell’s letter was released on Tuesday by a US congressional panel as part of a copy of the book alleged to have been given to Epstein in 2003 to celebrate his 50th birthday.

In a statement issued to BBC News NI, Mitchell said he “deeply regrets having met and known Jeffrey Epstein and all the harm Epstein caused to so many victims”.

“The letter was written in 2003, several years before Epstein’s prosecution in Florida.”

Mitchell’s statement added: “The senator stands by his prior statements regarding Epstein.

“During the time he knew Epstein, he had no knowledge of Epstein’s actions involving underage girls,” the statement said.

“He first learned of those actions through published reports of Epstein’s prosecution in Florida. He never had any contact with Mr. Epstein again.”

The Clinton Foundation has been approached for comment.