The president himself has returned from his European trip to find criticism of his affair with the former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, still growing.

Paul Reynolds reports that sorry is not enough for many

After confessing to an "inappropriate" relationship with Miss Lewinsky, the president lost much support, including among his own Democrats.

On Thursday, a long-time ally of Mr Clinton's, Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman, denounced his relationship with the former White House worker as immoral.

That statement forced President Clinton into his first public apology for his behaviour. During his visit to Ireland, he said he was "very sorry".

Senator Lieberman: Mr Clinton deserves a 'public rebuke'

But Mr Lieberman had opened the way for other senior Democrats to make their own criticism of the president.

Florida Senator Bob Graham called the relationship "an irreversible stain" on the Clinton presidency.

He told reporters the president had "not sufficiently apologised" for his behaviour, nor had he understood "the degree to which the trust relationship he must have with the American people has been ripped" by his actions.

The BBC's Paul Reynolds: "Clinton's wriggling has infuriated even his own supporters"

On Sunday, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention, Page Patterson, called on Mr Clinton to resign for corrupting America's youth.

However one critic, the Democratic Party chairman and Governor of Colorado, Roy Romer, said President Clinton's apology was "helpful".

Mr Starr was originally brought in to investigate alleged financial wrong-doings by the Clintons in Arkansas, the so-called 'Whitewater' affair.

Senate Majority Leader, Republican Trent Lott: "His problems cannot be ignored"

But his investigation was subsequently widened to include the affair that both Mr Clinton and Miss Lewinsky has previously denied under oath.