THE VISIT of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth next month would represent “a wonderful moment” for Ireland and Britain, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Patterson has said.
In Dublin yesterday after a meeting with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore at Iveagh House, Mr Patterson said an enormous amount of work had gone into planning the visit.
“I think the Queen will get a wonderful reception from people wherever she goes,” Mr Patterson said.
He added that while there might be a small number of people who wanted to protest against the visit, he had enormous confidence in the Garda and the PSNI to deal with protests in a tactful way.
Mr Gilmore said the visit was one of the topics for discussion yesterday in the first formal meeting between him and the Northern Secretary since the change of government. The Tánaiste said the visit was a welcome reminder of how far bilateral relations had come and an indicator of the potential for those relations to develop in the future.
Mr Gilmore said they had also discussed Northern Ireland and the continued implementation of the Belfast and St Andrew’s agreements, North-South economic co-operation and the role that could play in bringing about economic recovery.
The Tánaiste said they had also reviewed the security situation and the recent tragic murder of Constable Ronan Kerr.
Dealing with the challenge facing him as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Gilmore said he was determined to re-engage with the European Union.
He agreed with the recent comment by EU secretary general Catherine Day that “the shine has gone off Ireland’s relationship with Europe” and he wanted to reverse that process.
