Sir, – On Wednesday we visited St Macartin’s Cathedral, Enniskillen and then crossed the road to St Michael’s Church. We shook the hand of the rector of St Macartin’s and then joined in the celebration of the Eucharist in St Michael’s.
In the course of our Ulster Camino we shook the hand of at least six individuals who had shaken the hand of Queen Elizabeth II. Our experience make the theory of the six degrees of separation seem insignificant. We certainly feel, as republicans, that we have crossed the Rubicon in a true spirit of Christian faith, forgiveness and charity. A simple handshake is important. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Now that the handshake has taken place, might we get on with real life, or will the media spend the next three months arguing about the glove and whether the handshake ever really took place? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It is an important week for Martin McGuinness when he publicly greets a lady with whom he has had a fraught relationship in the past.
So it was good that he could prepare for his encounter with Miriam O’Callaghan on her chat show this Saturday, by shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth earlier in the week! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Had Martin McGuinness won the presidential election would we have had such a fuss over the handshake with the queen? Michael D Higgins had no qualms whatsoever in shaking hands with the queen and the vast majority of the Irish people would have been most put out had he made an issue of it beforehand.
As the Deputy First Minister Mr McGuinness was merely exercising the functions of his office and in his representation of the people of Northern Ireland. Never has so much been made of human contact since the famous kiss. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – An Armalite in one hand, a queen in the other. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I must be missing something here, but wasn’t it the same Sinn Féin that boycotted the queen’s visit to the Republic that is now shaking the British monarch’s hand? In the words of Gerry Adams in the Dáil on Wednesday, is this not “extreme revisionism”? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I note that when the queen and Martin McGuinness shook hands, Belfast was struck by biblical level floods within 24 hours. – Yours, etc,