Opinion

Deaglán de Bréadún: Queen's historic state visit was full of significant moments

Queen Elizabeth II, President Mary McAleese and GAA President Christy Cooney walk out of the tunnel towards the pitch at Croke Park Dublin in May 2011. Photo: Maxwells/PA Wire
Queen Elizabeth II, President Mary McAleese and GAA President Christy Cooney walk out of the tunnel towards the pitch at Croke Park Dublin in May 2011. Photo: Maxwells/PA Wire Queen Elizabeth II, President Mary McAleese and GAA President Christy Cooney walk out of the tunnel towards the pitch at Croke Park Dublin in May 2011. Photo: Maxwells/PA Wire

IN THE course of my journalistic career, I have covered a number of events involving Queen Elizabeth II, the most notable of which was her Irish visit in May 2011. Given the centuries of antagonism between Britain and Ireland, her four-day state visit to the Republic with Prince Philip had considerable historic significance.

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My most abiding memory of it is a concert and fashion show hosted by the British Embassy in Dublin which took place at the Convention Centre, located on the banks of the River Liffey. There were performances in the 2,000-seat auditorium from Westlife, Mary Byrne of X Factor fame, Riverdance, singer Eimear Quinn and The Chieftains. Schoolchildren from north and south of the border sang 'Danny Boy' and the many big names in attendance included then-President Mary McAleese, her predecessor Mary Robinson, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, soccer legend Jack Charlton and broadcasters Olivia O'Leary and Gay Byrne.

I was there in my professional capacity and had a close-up view of Queen Elizabeth when she made her way to the stage as the show was coming to an end. What stands out for me is that, although she wasn't actually crying, her eyes were filled with tears. Having covered many visits by dignitaries, I tended to think that they were just doing their job and that they didn't get too emotionally involved. But this made clear to me how much her warm reception meant to the monarch and, by extension, its significance for British-Irish relations.

One of the most important parts of her trip was when she visited the Garden of Remembrance, just north of Dublin's city centre, where she famously bowed her head and laid a wreath along with President McAleese in memory of those who had fought and died for Irish freedom. At one point I was looking down on the Queen from a height, with nothing and nobody in between.

Another momentous event during her sojourn in Ireland was a visit to Croke Park where she was received by then-President of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Christy Cooney who made reference to the Bloody Sunday shootings at the stadium in November 1920 when 14 people died in an attack by British forces, but he went on to say that "the GAA has consistently supported and helped advance the peace process in Northern Ireland". He also recalled that, the previous month, he had attended "the tragic funeral of our murdered young member from Co Tyrone, PSNI Constable Ronan Kerr", a Catholic police officer and GAA player who was killed in a booby-trap bombing attributed to dissident republicans.

Probably the most significant moment of the royal visit came at the start of her speech to a dinner in Dublin Castle, former headquarters of the British administration in Ireland. Sitting at the same table as Mary McAleese, she began with the words "A Uachtaráin agus a chairde", which literally translates into English as "President and friends" although "Dear President and friends" conveys the spirit rather better. In an immediate response, which showed that the episode wasn't rehearsed in advance, President McAleese could be heard mouthing the word: "Wow!"

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Considering the violent death, in an explosion 32 years earlier, of Lord Mountbatten, her cousin and an uncle to Prince Philip, it has to be conceded that the visit of Queen Elizabeth highlighted a generous and forgiving side to her character. Her meeting and handshake six years later with Martin McGuinness in Belfast, which I also covered, was a significant contribution to the peace process. To conclude with a saying in Irish: "Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís", loosely translated as, "We shall not see her like again."

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