The Queen in Ireland
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 7:34 I've been following the Queen's visit to Ireland with great interest.
I first visited Ireland – the Republic – for a conference more than 20 years ago. I travelled by train from London to Holyhead and caught the overnight ferry to Dun Laoghaire. It was a long, uncomfortable journey but when I arrived I felt completely at home. Even the post boxes – albeit repainted green – featured the monarch's monogram (the letters 'VR' or 'ER' and a crown).
Around the same time I also visited a friend who was serving in the army in Northern Ireland. Now that was weird. In the evening I ate in the officers' mess – a comfortable country house – and during the day we did some sightseeing, which was strictly limited due to the fact that two-thirds of the province was out of bounds for my friend for security reasons.
Since 2003 I have been visiting Ireland – the south, in particular – with increasing regularity, usually on business but also for the occasional break and even a holiday or two.
I am embarrassed to say that I remain largely ignorant of Irish history although visits to Croke Park, home of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) where 14 people were killed by Crown forces on 21 November 21, 1920 (Bloody Sunday), have offered a poignant insight into the past.
Thankfully, in her speech at Dublin Castle last night, the Queen didn't apologise for Britain's part in Ireland's history. Truth is, it's far too complicated for something as simplistic as that.
Take Bloody Sunday, for example. The shootings at Croke Park didn't happen in isolation. They followed the deaths of 14 undercover British agents who were killed the previous night by the IRA. I believe too that there were many Irishmen in the "British forces" in Ireland, just as there were many Scots in the "English" armies that fought on Scottish soil. To portray Irish or Scottish history as a long-term battle with the English is wrong.
Likewise, the relationship between many Irish nationalists and Britain is hugely complicated. On my last trip to Dublin in March I stayed in a hotel where every bedroom was dedicated to a famous Irish republican. My room was named after the 18th century rebel Theobald Wolfe Tone "who sought to overthrow English rule in Ireland and who led a French military force to Ireland during the insurrection of 1798".
Another room was dedicated to Sir Roger Casement who was hanged "for his part in working with Germany and Irish nationalists in planning the Dublin Easter Rising of 1916". Casement was born in Kingstown, Co Dublin. He had a "long and distinguished career" working for the British Foreign Service. During his career he became British Consul for Mozambique (1895-98), Angola (1898-1900), Congo (1901-04) and Brazil (1906-11). He was awarded a knighthood for highlighting the exploitation of labour in the Congo Free State. Four years later "He was tried and convicted in London for treason, sabotage and espionage against the Crown and hung hanged in Pentonville prison on August 3rd, 1916 after losing his appeal".
That, I think, sums up the complicated history of the British and Irish people, and I haven't even mentioned the Irish soldiers who fought with the British Army in two world wars or the many millions of people who have come from Ireland to live in Britain.
Anyway, in all my visits to Ireland I have received nothing but friendship and a warm welcome from everyone I have met, and reading the reports of the Queen's visit in the Irish Times yesterday was actually rather moving.
But what I really want to share with you is this email, received yesterday from John Mallon, our man in Cork:
There really only is one news item here, and that is the visit of the Queen. All other human activity has been suspended for her stay with us. While it may just be another Royal visit abroad for the UK, it has a deep and lasting significance here.
The sight of the British Monarch laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance yesterday, (The holy shrine of Irish Republicanism) was one of life's "Wow" moments. The Lady herself has been perfect, showing a natural dignity and we hope our hospitality is up to her standards.
The minor disturbance you may have seen on the news yesterday is easily explained. It took place on Dorset Street in the inner city and was the normal local reaction to the sight of Gardai!!!
The Queen is a credit to the UK.
How nice is that?!
Reader Comments (4)
"The Queen is a credit to the UK." Absolutely!
She does the job well (albeit at great cost to the nation)
Er...you're surely not saying Bloody Sunday was OK on a tit-for-tat basis?
Sorry Simon - grammar. People are 'hanged'. Otherwise, great - agree totally and the reaction of the wonderful Irish people to the Queen's visit is truely heartwarming. The phrase is overused, but I think the Queen's visit is a genuine turning point in our shared history.
Corrected!