A chara, – I have been glued to the television coverage of Day 1 of the Queen’s visit and have been struck by the magnificent ceremonial duties carried out by members of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service on our behalf. Can there be anybody in the country who is not proud of their memorable and uplifting contribution to this historic visit?
The Queen’s visit to the Garden of Remembrance was hugely poignant in more ways than one for, at its official opening in 1966, I was a member of the Cadet Guard of Honour saluting the then heroes of 1916 who attended on that memorable occasion.
While we were as proud as punch of our contribution to the ceremonies on that day, none of us could possibly have foreseen the visit of Queen Elizabeth to the same Garden of Remembrance some 45 years later. Truly astonishing. – Is mise,
Madam, – Hardly a royalist, I waved my little Irish rugby flag today at the Four Courts Bridge and the Queen waved back.
I doubt very much if she saw me. But one thing we were each privileged to witness was a momentous day in Irish history. Bravo! – Yours, etc,
A chara, – It has been said that our tourism chiefs hope that Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland will boost numbers of tourists from Britain and elsewhere. I am sure they are right; I have been watching footage of Dublin’s beautiful, spacious, traffic-free streets and uncluttered pavements today, and I am definitely going to book a relaxing city break in the capital right away. – Is mise,
Madam, – It’s 3.50pm and I’ve turned off the TV coverage of this visit. In annoyance at the treatment of the Irish public who are not being allowed to celebrate the visit in any proximity to the royal visitors, but also for the Queen and Prince Philip – that they must endure being driven round empty streets in Dublin today. Add to the fact that the TV coverage seems to be similarly selective. It’s obvious that the live pictures are being censored to only show the events and not the travel in between. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Two conversations overheard in Dublin today (Tuesday). On the Luas, Spanish visitor remarking on the huge number of gardaí in O’Connell Street: “Police, police?” Dubliner helpfully says: “It’s de Queen here today”. “No understand,” says the Spaniard, “no speak English”. “It’s de Queeno here today,” explains the Dubliner in his best Spanish.
On the Dart, lady complaining about the traffic restrictions: “I have lost two hours’ work today because of the Queen”. Dubliner quick as a flash says: “Why don’t you send the Queen an invoice?” Typical Dublin. – Yours etc.
Madam, – The image most powerfully evoked by the solemn, respectful tribute paid by Queen Elizabeth II to those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish independence at the Garden of Remembrance is the Warschauer Kniefall, the action of Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, in kneeling in respectful silence before the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising monument in December 1970. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – When I saw Queen Elizabeth flying in, for a moment I assumed that she had travelled on Ryanair as she seemed to be landing in a field miles in the middle of nowhere miles from her destination. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Would those people who complain about the cost of Queen Elizabeth’s visit, and suggest that she stay in a three-star hotel and use public transport, expect that treatment for our President from the foreign states that she visits? Or would they, as I would, be grossly insulted? – Yours, etc,
A chara, – Le gach rud atá ag tarlú le déanaí anuas maidir le cuairt na Banríona go hÉirinn, tá rud suimiúil tugtha faoi deara agam fúthu siúd atá ag déanamh gearáin faoi chuairt Éilís II go hÉirinn: Isn’t it really strange that those criticising the visit of the British monarch to our shores do so in the Queen’s language, while refusing for whatever reason to let such grievances become known in their own beautiful language. Sílim féin má tá aon rud diúltach nó dearfach le rá agat faoin ábhar seo, you should do it as Gaeilge, or not do it at all! – Is mise,
A chara, – It is difficult to discern which is the more bizarre. The fashionable historical amnesia actively promoted by the mainstream media, or the interminable brooding of inverted colonialists, for whom an apology from the reigning monarch seems paradoxically important.
In the wake of our President’s recent visit to the Dutch monarch of the House of Orange, (presumably as a diplomatic prelude to meeting the world’s paradigm monarch), might I propose how this inexplicable royalist republican charm offensive is likely to unfold in the case of Ireland.
In the after-glow of EIIR’s visit to the greater part of Ireland, the prospect of us rejoining the Commonwealth will be proposed as a final resolution to the intractable problem of partition. The Commonwealth, as a form of low-fat united kingdom – (UK Lite!), might be something even radical neo-republicans might swallow.
Since England has neither eternal friends nor eternal enemies, only eternal interests, I would wager my Confirmation money that the recent preferential loan conferred on Ireland by the British exchequer is more about investing in shareholder sovereignty than conventional international (or intra-national?) economics.
At a time when the Scottish are threatening to toss the English like a caber back across the British border and the Aussies are threatening to go republican at the end of the current monarch’s reign, it is imaginable that the British might pull the Irish unity card out of their royal flush. If my political antennae are as preened as I like to imagine, Britannia is on the cusp of solemnising her ethnocentric love affair with Hibernia, thereby achieving by charm and seduction what she failed to achieve by conquest and colonisation. – Is mise,
Madam, – With a four-day trip to Ireland now costing in the region of €30 million, it is not hard to see that the Rip-off Republic offers the foreign visitor little value for money. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Are William Hague and Eamon Gilmore (Opinion, May 17th) flagging the 2012 Act of Union? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Brian O’Connor (Ireland the Queen, supplement, May 14th) neglects to cite the rare appearance in Ireland of Queen Elizabeth’s racing colours in August 2000 when her filly Spinning Top finished seventh in the Pretty Poly Stakes at the Curragh.
Racing anoraks will be further excited to note that on the occasion of her subsequent Irish runner, Four Winds, finishing runner-up at Killarney in 2009, Windsor Palace was a short head behind in third place. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – For the royal visits (UK and US), “traffic management measures” are being put in place which will divert traffic from the N4 onto the M50, southbound or northbound. There may be some inconvenience to those diverted southbound but, since there is no exit between the northbound access from the N4 and the toll cameras, anyone diverted northbound will pass through the toll-gates.
As one will be forced into taking the tolled diversion, presumably tolling will be suspended for the duration of the diversion? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Apropos Queen Elizabeth’s attendance at the indoor garden party at the Convention Centre on Thursday, I see that Ronan O’Gara will be among the many figures drawn from all spheres of Irish life.
Perhaps it would be prudent for someone to sew up the rugby player’s pockets in advance? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – While I respect the right of those who object to the visit of Queen Elizabeth to protest, I find their attitude difficult to understand.
President McAleese, in her youth, was driven from her home by loyalist mobs. Queen Elizabeth, in 1979, endured the horror of her cousin being blown to bits by an IRA bomb. If these two people can put the past behind them and forge a friendship, why can’t we all? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The visit to the Republic by Queen Elizabeth and her reception by a guard of honour of the Defence Forces reminds me of the action of Col Michael Corcoran, Officer Commanding the 69th Infantry Regiment, New York State Volunteers, who refused to parade the regiment in honour of the visit of the Prince of Wales to the city. He did this in protest against British response to the Famine. He was arrested, but returned to duty uncharged at the start of the American civil war. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I certainly welcome the head of state of our nearest and one of our dearest neighbours. I hope she enjoys her time here and no one does anything to threaten her security and I hope it is of benefit to our two countries. I think it is a very important in our developing relationship with Northern Ireland and the Unionist population. I hope it sends the right message of reconciliation to many.
However, I am absolutely sick to my stomach listening to those who are dressing it up as something, which I certainly don’t want it to be and which it is not. It is not a “royal visit” comparable to one that took place 100 years ago. The Queen is not here to bless us with her presence. It is not an opportunity for some to fawn and brown- nose people to elevate themselves in the eyes of others and re-inforce a privilege system.
My mother and her family are from Lancashire, so I am half-English and I acknowledge the heritage and I am proud of the many achievements within that heritage. However, hereditary titles, monarchs as heads of state, and the privilege system they maintain in Britain is anathema to me as someone who believes in a republic and democracy. Be under no illusion, there are many in Britain who feel the same way. No one in the UK chose their head of state and they will probably never be given that opportunity.
I am thankful I am not living under that kind of regime and realise how lucky I am to have been born in the right place. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – WC Fields famously said “Last week, I went to Philadelphia, but it was closed.” A bit like the Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – As a medical student in Dublin in the early 1960s, my mother’s bespoke tailor cousins (Gibsons of Ormonde Quay) were tasked with producing my first suit. During one fitting a retired jarvey came into the shop, thoroughly wet. On learning of my medical ambitions he demanded, “Well are you going to be a surgent or a doctor?” He then complained about the sustained rain and informed all that he blamed the Russians for interfering with the clouds. “It’s them sputniks,” he said and explained triumphantly how when Queen Victoria visited “There was a 21-gun salute and it rained for six weeks!” I do hope Ireland is not in for another bad summer. – Is mise,