How the foreign press is previewing the state visit

The foreign previews of President Michael D Higgins’s state visit to the UK, which officially starts tomorrow, have largely focused on the now-positive relationship between Ireland and Britain.

However, underlying tensions in the North as well as possible issues around the European Union and Scottish independence have also featured in the commentary.

The Times today framed its coverage around comments by former Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain, who said a de facto amnesty should be offered to those responsible for violence during the Troubles.

“Irish terrorist murders ‘should be left unsolved’,” read the paper’s front page headline. It maintained that tone inside where it devoted two pages to the visit under the banner: “Historic banquet at Windsor, but in Belfast there still a bitter taste.”

The Daily Telegraph limited its coverage to six paragraphs at the bottom of page eight which focused on the North's Deputy First Minister "and former IRA commander" Martin McGuinness's acceptance of an invitation to the Windsor Castle banquet: "Confirming his attendance, which would have been unthinkable a decade ago, Mr McGuinness said the queen was a 'staunch supporter' of the peace process." The Guardian , similarly, concentrated on McGuinness's role in the visit.

Vincent Boland, meanwhile, writing in the Financial Times over the weekend contrasted this week's visit to that of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland in 2011. "It is," he wrote, "a testament to the rapprochement in Anglo-Irish relations since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that, historic as Mr Higgins' visit is, the stakes involved in such a high-profile event are much smaller than in 2011."

But he added that issues of political paralysis in Northern Ireland as well as the possible reverberations there of a ‘Yes’ vote in the Scottish independence referendum will “loom in the background”.

In its preview, the BBC said one of the lighter moments of the visit could take place at Windsor Castle on Wednesday morning when Domhnall the wolfhound, regimental mascot of the Irish Guards, will be presented with a new dog coat.

Across the Atlantic, the New York Times , in an 850-word preview, placed the visit in the context of a possible UK exit from the European Union.

“Once tainted by the legacy of colonialism, Anglo-Irish ties are now so close that Dublin worries about Britain’s drift from the European Union,” wrote Stephen Castle.

The Tories have promised an in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the Union if they win re-election in 2015.

And although such an exit seems about as unlikely a prospect as Scottish independence, Castle says Irish politicians still fear the consequences of “their closest trading partner” quitting the bloc.

In the Wall Street Journal , meanwhile, Paul Hannon said President Higgins's itinerary, which includes a visit to view the colours of Irish regiments of the British army, is designed to underscore Ireland's "evolving acceptance" that "its people weren't always unwilling participants in the UK and the global empire it led".