The British government last night reluctantly acknowledged it has no plans to involve Queen Elizabeth in any ceremony for the formal opening of the Northern Ireland Assembly following the devolution of powers.
Queen Elizabeth was in Cardiff on Wednesday for the opening of the Welsh Assembly. She will formally open the Scottish Parliament on July 1st.
The sovereign's role was announced by the British government before the Scottish and Welsh elections, and has been central to Mr Tony Blair's message that devolution does not endanger the United Kingdom.
However, a clearly embarrassed official at the Northern Ireland Office insisted that the post-devolution situation in Belfast was not comparable. "This Assembly has been up and running for a year, so the circumstances are different. But it is largely a matter for the parties in the Assembly itself," he asserted.
To the point that the queen's role in Edinburgh and Cardiff had been a matter of government decision, the official replied: "The circumstances are different." Asked if the government had any view as to whether the queen should be invited to Stormont, he replied: "It's a matter for the parties.".
The Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay, showed no such reticence. "Her Majesty should be invited to open the Assembly when powers are devolved to it, as we hope they shall be soon," he declared.
However, Mr Peter Robinson, the DUP deputy leader, was as unsurprised as he was outraged. "The purpose in having the queen in Cardiff and Edinburgh is to kill off the suggestion that devolution is a means of ending the Union. The reason for not having the queen in Belfast is because that's not the message the Labour Party wants to convey in Northern Ireland. . .because the opposite is its purpose.".
But there was a crumb of consolation for the unionists. Official sources at Stormont suggested Mr David Trimble, unlike Scotland's Mr Donald Dewar, would not require or receive a royal warrant of appointment because he would only be "a minister of the Assembly". However the 1998 Act establishing the Assembly states that "the Executive power in Northern Ireland shall continue to be vested in Her Majesty." Come full devolution, the UUP leader may consider himself "a minister of the Crown." And so, presumably, will Sinn Fein's Mr Martin McGuinness.