BRITISH PRIME MINISTER:BRITISH PRIME Minister David Cameron, who travels to Dublin today for Queen Elizabeth's State visit, has said the occasion "is a hugely significant moment" for Ireland and the United Kingdom, marking "the closing of an old chapter" in the often-difficult relations between the two states.
Mr Cameron, who meets Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Government Buildings at tea-time before heading to Dublin Castle for the State banquet in honour of the Queen, writes in an article for today's Irish Timesthat her visit would "have been improbable or even impossible" a few years ago.
“That Her Majesty can come here, see the beauty of this country and receive a great Irish welcome is testament not just to the generosity and goodwill of the Irish people, but the strengthening of our bilateral relationship, the continuing success of the peace process and the patient work of many people over a number of years,” Mr Cameron writes.
The selection of locations to be visited during the four-day State occasion “show that part of the intention of this trip is to pay respect to those who suffered through the course of our shared history”, he writes.
“But this visit is not so much about the closing of an old chapter, but the opening of a new one. Our countries already have a tight-knit relationship, with around six million people living in the UK having an Irish parent or grandparent, and more than 100,000 UK-born people living here in Ireland,” he continues.
Mr Cameron says he wants Ireland-UK relations to grow in strength because “our countries need each other” to deal with the threat of “a very small and unrepresentative minority” in dissident republicanism who want to “drag Ireland back to the darkest days of conflict”.
Referring to the loan offered by the UK to Ireland last year, the prime minister writes it “was made not just because our countries are friends and neighbours, but because our economies are deeply interlinked”.
Ireland and the UK should co-operate together to ensure companies from both can partner together to win exports to Brazil, Russia, India and China, he writes: “It’s clear that on securing new trade links – as with so much else – we can achieve more by working together than by working alone. So when the Queen’s visit is over, when the ceremonies are done and the celebrations have died down, I hope that this will remain – a sense of warm friendship, and a shared determination to work together in the years ahead,” he said.
