Madam, – Charles Lysaght expresses “grave misgivings about [the possibility of] Queen Elizabeth paying us a State visit, with all its panoply of parades and speeches” (Head to Head, January 26th).
His fears include the possibility of riots if we had a royal parade in O’Connell Street and he anticipates the possible revival of old enmities as the Queen delivers royal speeches apologising for past misdeeds, including the Famine, expressing gratitude for the past contribution of the Irish to the British empire and praising our recent achievements, “without sounding patronising”.
Mr Lysaght conjures up a vision of a state visit by the monarch to one of the colonies in the early/mid-20th century, as seen on Pathe newsreels, rather than the kind of low-key, diplomatically designed visit by a modern monarch, which is surely what would be planned.
We should simply get on with it. Issue the invitation and get it over with. It’s time we grew up. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As proof of the adage that paper never refuses ink, you filled more than half a page with a debate on the question: “Should Queen Elizabeth visit Ireland?” Mary Kenny wrote for the “Yes” constituency while Charles Lysaght championed the “Noes”. You could have filled a little more paper by inviting a representative of the “Who cares?” constituency, surely much larger than the other two. – Yours, etc,