President to officially welcome Queen at Áras

ITINERARY:QUEEN ELIZABETH will be officially welcomed by President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin today on the first day of her State visit.

The royal flight is scheduled to touch down at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, at about noon.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, will be greeted on the tarmac by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore.

The British delegation will include foreign secretary William Hague and British ambassador to Ireland Julian King.

Under a tight security cordon, the royal motorcade will then proceed to Áras an Uachtaráin for the State welcome.

The Queen and Prince Philip will be met on the steps of the Áras by President Mary McAleese and her husband Martin before being escorted inside and introduced to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

As part of the ceremonial welcome, the Queen will receive a 21-gun salute in the forecourt of the Áras, which will be followed by a rendition of the British national anthem by a combined Army band. A detachment of the Army Air Corps will also perform a ceremonial fly-by.

The Queen will then be invited to inspect an Irish military guard of honour before attending a tree-planting ceremony in the Áras garden, in front of the peace bell, which was placed there in 2008 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.

President McAleese will hold a brief bilateral meeting with the Queen before hosting a luncheon for both delegations in the main dining room.

Following the reception in the Phoenix Park, the royal entourage will head to Dublin’s Parnell Square for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance at approximately 3.15pm.

In a hugely symbolic gesture, the Queen will observe a minute’s silence at the memorial to those who died fighting for Irish freedom.

The President and the Queen will be greeted and escorted around the memorial by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and the Army Chief of Staff, Seán McCann.

The poem Rinneadh Aisling Dúinn (We Saw A Vision), which is inscribed on the wall of the Garden of Remembrance, will be read aloud in Irish by Capt Joe Freeley, from the Second Infantry Battalion in Cathal Brugha Barracks at the event.

Both national anthems will also be played again by an Army band.

Gardaí have banned onlookers from the streets outside the destinations to be visited by the Queen, and today more than 30 streets in the city centre will be closed to traffic.

The Queen will not conduct any “spontaneous” walkabouts or hand-shaking with members of the public during her visit to the Republic. Amid heightened security concerns that protest groups may seek to disrupt the visit, Government officials also said the “precise” time and duration of each leg of her four-day itinerary would be withheld for security reasons.

After the Garden of Remembrance event the Queen will visit Trinity College, founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. The royal party will be formally welcomed at the college by provost John Hegarty and the college chancellor and former president Mary Robinson. before being escorted to the Book of Kells exhibition in the old library building.

There will also be a reception in honour of the Queen in the Long Room, where she and Prince Philip will meet Trinity dignitaries, scholars, musicians and artists, before being invited to sign the visitors’ book.

The royal pair will also greet students before departing in their motorcade en route to Farmleigh where they will repair for a private evening.