A chara, – I enjoyed Constance Short’s account of a Hillsborough garden party in 1989 (June 29th), but I would like to correct the impression she gave that that was the first time Queen Elizabeth had visited Northern Ireland in 15 years. I still receive inquiries and requests for photographs taken when she visited the New University of Ulster in 1977. – Is mise,
Madam, – Comments (like those of Gerry Casey, Éirigi and James Deasy, June 29th) on the proposed visit by Queen Elizabeth do not, in my view, represent the feelings of the vast majority of the people here. While Mr Casey’s view are to be expected, Mr Deasy dresses his objections up on the issue of security costs.
The queen is merely a figurehead who has little real power and acts on the advice of parliament in much the same way as our President does. So when Tony Blair apologised for any deficiencies the British government had in our Famine, and latterly David Cameron apologised for Bloody Sunday we have had the voice of the British people speaking.
And let us also not forget the Mullaghmores, Mountbattens, Le Mons or Enniskillens either, or the cowardly assassination of Ewart Biggs, her ambassador here in 1976. Thankfully, following the Belfast Agreement, when the people spoke, all, to quote Yeats, is changed, changed utterly. And Britain is our nearest neighbour, a fellow EU partner in whose land many of our people have found welcome, refuge and home, even in modern times and will no doubt in the future given the woeful mismanagement of our affairs here (for which apologies are slow to come!)
If the queen does visit us, she comes to a sovereign Republic as a guest, in the same way as any other head of state. While many people will welcome her, I will not be bothered going out to see her, but neither would I if the Queen of Spain or the Netherlands came.
I feel this apology thing is overdone, meaningless and a modern invention for trawling back over the centuries – as it is supposed to undo all types of colonialism, suppression of minorities, slave trade, war and famine.
I hope Queen Elizabeth gets a real Irish welcome, and that those protesting will be reduced to the same pathetic few who turned up outside Croke Park wearing soccer jerseys when that pitch was temporarily opened up to so-called foreign games. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In response to Tom Cooper (June 25th), may I suggest that we apologise to Queen Elizabeth before extending an invitation to visit us. We need to say sorry, Ma’am, for the murders of your cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten in August 1979, plus one of his twin grandsons, Nicholas, 14. Also we humbly apologise that the IRA murdered your representative to this country, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, CMG, OBE in July 1976. But may we add, Ma’am, the IRA does not represent the Irish people who were appalled by these murders. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I fail to understand the rush to invite Queen Elizabeth II to make a state visit to our country unless that is, people see it as a prelude to our applying to join the British Commonwealth. While the issuing of an invitation to visit has been aired on and off in the past couple of years, it seems that with the release of the Saville inquiry findings and the acceptance by the British government of “no blame” attaching to those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday that the way has been cleared for the visit.
In the past few weeks I watched the queen at Royal Ascot and have nothing but admiration for how she is still able to perform her royal duties with dignity and grace at so great an age. However, I do feel that it is much too soon (in years) to invite her to make a formal state visit to our country and urge that no invitation be issued in the near future. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – A state visit by Queen Elizabeth in 2011 is yet another visible sign of the transformation which has taken place over recent years between Ireland and UK. There is nothing to fear from such a visit, and much to be gained.
Reform, which has been working for better relations between Ireland and Britain for years, warmly welcomes the proposals for the forthcoming visit as an expression of better relations between our two states. The visit would mark a further logical step of the Belfast Agreement, as Alban Maginness, SDLP, just said.
We have no doubt that the great majority of Irish people will extend a warm welcome to Queen Elizabeth, just as they did to her grandfather George V 100 years ago next year. Her visit will reflect the sense of a coming-together between the two traditions on our island, and between the peoples of these islands. – Yours, etc,