Stakeholder

In the days when the BBC used to play God Save the Queen at the end of an evening; there was always a dash to turn off the TV in our border household; lest our neighbours heard it.

Now Queen Elizabeth II will officially come to Ireland- with the proposed visit occurring before the end of the reign of our own Regent, An Uachtarain Mc Aleese. 

Mrs Mc Aleese has been long courting the notion of a State visit to Ireland by the Queen and has met the Mountbatten’s on several occasions. Apparently she thinks ‘Lizzie’ is a ‘wee dote’. Its odd that such a visit to the Republic of Ireland by the Head of State of Ireland’s nearest neighbour has taken so long. The visit will certainly be historic and no doubt will mark Ireland’s coming of age.

Of course, President Mc Aleese has met the Queen but always on the Queen’s home turf.  The President has been in and out of Britain so often her visits rarely make the press. As for Northern Ireland, the President nips home as often as she can without rising unionist heckles too much. Indeed some think she is probably more familiar with the Shankill in Belfast than Shankill in Dublin.

While Mrs Mc Aleese will finally lay to rest the taboo of an official visit to Ireland by the British Head of State and will make history in doing so; the real plaudits for the visit lie further back in the long and deeply personal relationship between Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair. The labouring of these two individuals so publically finally showed that good neighbours can be good friends too.

In the Republic of Ireland – no-one will blink an eye over the visit except of course for the cost of hosting such a visit in times of austerity. The Neanderthals in the wings of republicanism will bleat and protest. They are probably dusting down their placards right now. Sinn Fein will ignore the reality of their partial administration of the British State on behalf of HM Government at Westminster and will fill the airwaves with empty and out of date anti British rhetoric.

Some in their quarters don’t seem to mind rubbing shoulders with Royalty as Danny Morrison, tongue in cheek, revealed this week that he shared the groove with Prince Charles at Glastonbury.

The notion of an Ireland permanently in a state of war with Britain has always been more myth than reality. Both countries share a common language; their trade as pointed out by Brian Cowen is four times that than between GB and China. Ireland’s tourism comes mostly from Britain and the first stop for most Irish migrant workers since the Famine has been Britain. Nearly a third of all British Members of Parliament have Irish names and hundreds of thousands of soccer loving Irish support English football teams.

Of course in the land that time forgot and where memories are longer and more unforgiving; the battle against Perfidious Albion continued. But even in Northern Ireland –ice thaws.

These days, Lord and Lady Paisley don’t creep into Dublin under the cover of darkness; now they take the full Paddy wagon tour and dine at Leinster House. The Twelfth is celebrated in Phoenix Park; while rugby and soccer have been played at Croke Park. It only remains for hurling to be played at Windsor Park for Ireland to be truly ecumenical!  Naturally there had to be some political chorography to put the final building blocks in place for a Royal visit to occur- not least of which was recent publication the Saville Report and the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

President Mc Aleese has played a significant role in providing confidence within the Unionist community that modern Ireland is mature enough and indeed pluralist enough to not only recognise but accommodate their traditions. She has also helped give full recognition and dignity to the families of the tens of thousands of Irish men who fought for the British in the First World War. 

As a glance at the Irish Sunday papers will tell, the Irish public are not immune to the fascination of the Royal Family’s soap opera shenanigans. While it’s doubtful that thousands will line the streets of Dublin when the Queen finally lands on Irish shores; there is no doubt many will be secretly glued to their TV screens in the privacy of their ownhomes with the remote set to mute during the English national anthem!