Northern Ireland

Arlene Foster would meet Pope Francis during 2018 visit

Taoiseach Enda Kenny meets Pope Francis in the Vatican this morning 
Taoiseach Enda Kenny meets Pope Francis in the Vatican this morning  Taoiseach Enda Kenny meets Pope Francis in the Vatican this morning 
By Brendan Hughes

DUP leader Arlene Foster would meet Pope Francis during an expected visit north of the border when he travels to Ireland in August 2018.

A spokesman said on Monday that any visit was a matter for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London but "were the Pope to visit Northern Ireland in his capacity as head of state then the First Minister would meet him”.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed the long-awaited trip to Ireland on Monday after meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

It will be the first time a pontiff has set foot on Irish soil since Pope John Paul II's successful visit in 1979.

That trip was planned to include Northern Ireland, but he did not end up crossing the border following the IRA murder of Lord Mountbatten in Co Sligo and 18 British soldiers in a bomb attack outside Warrenpoint.

Instead of travelling to Armagh as originally intended, he delivered his message of peace from across the border at Drogheda before a huge crowd – containing many from the north.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said on Monday that he believed the Pope would cross the border this time.

"I think there is no prospect whatsoever of him coming to Ireland and him not coming to the north," he said.

Asked how he was so sure, he replied: "Because I'm around a long time and I know how these things work."

If the Pope does travel north, it is likely that a public Mass would be celebrated at St Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh.

The scheduled visit to Ireland coincides with the World Meeting of Families being held in Dublin in almost two years' time.

Since its inception in 1994, there has only been one occasion when the pontiff did not attend the meeting.

Archbishop Eamon Martin said it will be "an important gift from Pope Francis to the Irish Church and the Church globally".

The Vatican has yet to confirm the Ireland trip as it's understood it does not confirm papal visits until six months before they are due to take place.

In an earlier briefing on the World Meeting of Families, the Vatican said the Pope had expressed his desire to visit Ireland and such a visit would bring great joy to Irish Catholics and others.

But it added that given the age of Pope Francis, who turns 80 next month, a visit in 2018 would have a more restricted programme than that of Pope John Paul II in 1979.

Mr Kenny was accompanied on Monday by his wife Fionnuala, Irish Ambassador to the Holy See Emma Madigan, and officials including Mr Kenny's chief of staff Mark Kennelly.

The 23-minute meeting took place in the Papal Library in the Apostolic Palace.

Afterwards, Mr Kenny presented Pope Francis with a print of artist Harry Clarke's stained glass window of the nativity scene and the taoiseach received a framed etching of St Peter's Basilica as it was originally designed.

Mr Kenny then held a meeting with the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The meetings will be seen as a milestone in the thawing of relations between Dublin and the Vatican over recent years.

Just five years ago, amid a wave of inquiries into clerical child sex abuse in Ireland, the Taoiseach branded the Holy See "a dysfunctional, elite hierarchy" which was determined to frustrate the investigations of "a sovereign, democratic republic".

The Vatican recalled its ambassador to Ireland and the Irish Embassy to the Holy See in Rome was also shut that year, ostensibly as a cost-cutting measure. Three years later, Dublin announced plans to reopen it.

Following the meeting, Mr Kenny said on Twitter that the Pope "has been an important voice for the young, the poor and disadvantaged".

He said he "explained to him my own difficulties with the Church some years ago and I was happy to confirm to him that Church and State relations are now in better shape than they were for very many years".

He also told reporters: "We discussed what he might do and obviously that is a matter for His Holiness and the bishops and if that means that he also travels to Northern Ireland, then we will co-operate and assist in whatever arrangements are arrived at."

The SDLP and Alliance Party also welcomed news of the visit, although some concern was expressed in the Republic that it could clash with a potential referendum on abortion laws.

Transport, tourism and sport minister Shane Ross said there may be "better times to come than in the middle of a controversial political matter in which he might get embroiled".