BRITISH MONARCH Queen Elizabeth concluded her three-day visit to Northern Ireland by attending the first royal Maundy service in Armagh yesterday - the first time it has been held outside England or Wales.
There was huge security in Armagh with much of the city turned into a "sterile zone" as the queen first visited the Royal School in Armagh and then the Maundy service at St Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral.
It is many years since such a high level of security was evident in the North.
Heavily armed PSNI officers wearing body armour, some carrying rifles, were noticeable on all roads into Armagh. Scores of police officers patrolled the streets as the queen went about her engagements. There were two controlled explosions of suspicious objects in Friary Road, Armagh, which were later declared as hoax bomb alerts. Dissident republicans also staged a small protest in Armagh city centre but at considerable distance from the events attended by the queen.
The 400 people who attended the Maundy service in the cathedral had to undergo strict security checks. Their hand baggage was scanned and they had to pass through electronic security scanners at a former British army barracks more than a mile from the cathedral. They were then bused to the service.
Security sources said there was no specific threat to the queen but that the increased level of threat from republican dissident paramilitaries over recent months, as acknowledged by PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde, was a determinant in the level of security.
The general international threat posed by groups such as al-Qaeda was also a factor, they said.
Overall, the three-day visit went well, although unionist politicians continued to be highly critical of comments by President Mary McAleese at Queen's University on Wednesday where she met the queen - viewed as yet another precursor of a visit to Dublin.
President McAleese, citing Government policy as outlined earlier this month by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, said that a visit could only take place some time after policing and justice powers were devolved to the Northern Executive.
Because of DUP opposition, this is unlikely to happen by the St Andrews Agreement target date of May. Regardless of what happens over the devolution of these powers, Mr Ahern said a visit would not be possible this year.
President McAleese's comments triggered criticism from DUP Minister Nigel Dodds and Ulster Unionist MLA David McNarry. Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey and deputy leader Danny Kennedy added to the criticism by accusing the President of seeking to damage the British royal visit by effectively "dragging" the queen into a political squabble. The UUP leader said President McAleese should "butt out" of the issue.
An editorial in yesterday's unionist News Letterdemanded that President McAleese apologise to the queen "for involving her in domestic politics" and to her former colleagues at Queen's University, where she made the remarks, "for overshadowing" its centenary celebration of receiving the royal charter.
The editorial further stated: "You would have thought a woman who had to apologise in the past for accusing unionists of behaving like Nazis would have had more sense than to have dragged the queen into the political mire." Queen Elizabeth was guest of honour at a lunch hosted by Archbishop Harper, which was also attended by the North's First Minister, the Rev Ian Paisley.
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Editorial comment: page 13