FEW, IN their wildest dreams, could have imagined the scene. Standing in Islandbridge on Wednesday, minutes after President Mary McAleese and Queen Elizabeth had honoured Ireland’s first World War dead, a senior royal aide mused: “I still can’t believe that this is happening.”
On Monday night, the Queen, relaxing in the State residence in Farmleigh after a hectic first day, beamed at courtiers, said one, delighted that a visit long spoken about had begun so well, particularly with the signs of affection displayed in Trinity College.
Usually with a State event one can carp about a flaw here or there; but, so far, this one has been a triumph – one founded not on accident, or good luck, but on months of crucifyingly hard work by Irish officials and their British counterparts.
Courage has earned benefits. The selection of the events for the Queen’s itinerary could have been more cautious – the Garden of Remembrance, for one, did not have to be included – but the impact of the visit would have been lessened as a result.
These decisions were made not without much agonising in the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs, before those in favour of ambition, of taking the gambles, won through.
Equally, there are those on the British side – such as the British ambassador to Ireland, Julian King – who took risks that would have come back to haunt their future careers if they had gone wrong.
Decisions on timings, too, have had much to do with the success to date. The Queen’s arrival at the Garden of Remembrance within hours of her arrival in Ireland helped to ensure that the dynamic was controlled by organisers, rather than by those seeking to disrupt.
The sequencing of the itinerary has had a deliberate momentum to it. First, the symbolism, then the speech, followed by the softer-focus events in the National Stud and last night’s cultural display, along with the final chapters in Cashel and Cork today. First the work, then the fun.
In their speeches, both the President and the Queen faced a difficult balancing act, in which the sins of the past could not be forgotten, but neither could they be allowed to consume the hopes for the future.
The Queen’s speech was carefully judged, the fruits of months of preparation between No 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, though some of the sentiments, if not the words, had been tested beforehand.
Last November, for example, Prince Charles, speaking at a reception in the Irish Embassy in London, told guests drawn from the Irish community living in Britain: “At the end of the day we should never forget that our acquaintance has been long. We can turn that knowing into something new and creative – to be no longer victims of our difficult history with each other.”
Up to now, the engagement between the public and the Queen has, obviously, been limited, though it is ironic that those who have complained most loudly about the security costs are the ones for whom the security is necessary.
Organisers, too, have been blessed by the fact that the principals – the President and the Queen – so wanted it to happen.
Indeed, Irish diplomats recount privately the Queen’s clear desire in years past for an invitation, along with her frustrations that it was so long in coming.
Privately, some – and they numbered more than a few – have griped that the President had pushed the issue too hard, accusing her of seeking the limelight of a royal visit to mark the closing chapters of her 14 years in Áras an Uachtaráin. Such critics have now been silenced.
Throughout, the Queen’s public display has been, filled with smiles and good humour and the visit has marked the passing, one hopes, of one age and its replacement by the possibilities of the new.
Equally, the health and fitness of the Queen and Prince Philip have helped to give the visit an air of vibrancy remarkable for a couple of their years, even if the steep steps in the Garden of Remembrance briefly provoked a moment of horror among onlookers.
Ireland and Britain have both performed to their best this week. Ireland has been welcoming; the Queen has been delighted to be here. So far, it has been a job well done.
