PUBLIC REACTION:THE SECURITY operation surrounding Queen Elizabeth's visit to Dublin partitioned the capital temporarily yesterday, with pedestrians prevented from using the bridges that connect the north side and south side for a period in the afternoon.
While most locals and tourists demonstrated patience in the face of inconvenience, some lost their tempers with gardaí, whose accents revealed they had been drafted in from out of town. “I don’t even know what street I’m on,” one garda revealed.
Earlier on an eerily quiet and traffic-free O’Connell Street, Rose O’Reilly from Rathfarnham was waiting for a glimpse of the Queen. “I like being here for history and I’m taping it all at home,” she said. “We have to move on and at the end of the day we need Britain, whether we like it or not, and they are very good to us in the present economic climate.”
The city centre shops were quiet. Michael Ashe, an assistant manager in Clery’s department store on O’Connell Street, confirmed that business was slow, as anticipated, but said he nonetheless “definitely” welcomed the royal visitor.
Many were critical of the protest by socialist republican group Éirigí, with one woman making an unsuccessful attempt to encourage others to chant: “The Queen is welcome.” Student Úna Dowling said the protest “doesn’t exactly give Ireland a good face”.
At the bottom of O’Connell Street, Swedish tourist Ebba Nygrem had her bag checked. “I’m a bit surprised about the whole situation,” she said. “I don’t even know what people are upset about.”
A strawberry vendor on Henry Street, Elizabeth Walshe, complained there was “no one in town” to purchase her wares, but she also insisted she welcomed the visit.
Student Ally Hughes from Tullamore was enjoying a break from her exams. “I suppose it’s like a big day in history and stuff. I don’t think it’s going to change anything, but still . . . it was either come out and see this or go to the library and study.”
Connolly Station was busy enough. Nearby on Amiens Street, Phyllis Kehoe from Kilbarrack was returning from a quick shopping trip to Henry Street, which she found unusually quiet and observed that trade was “very slack”. Gardaí were “very friendly and chatty”, she said.
Born and reared in Dublin’s inner city, Ms Kehoe warmly welcomed the Queen’s visit. “If we’re not healed now, darling, we’ll never be healed. What’s done is done, as the song says.”
