IRELAND AND the United Kingdom must learn to become “subjects of our history, not its prisoners”, Prince Charles said last night during the first-ever visit by a member of the British royal family to the Irish Embassy in London.
After meeting several hundred guests, including Terry Wogan and Bob Geldof, the Prince of Wales, who was accompanied by his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, said: “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 no longer be victims of our difficult history with each other.
“Without glossing over the pain and suffering of the past, we can, I believe, integrate our history and memory in order to reap their subtle harvest of possibility. Imagination after all is the mother of possibility.
“I hope that we can endeavour to become the subject of our history, and not its prisoners,” said the prince, who made no direct reference to the expected visit by Queen Elizabeth to Ireland next year.
He was welcomed by the Irish Ambassador to London, Bobby McDonagh, and his wife Mary along with broadcaster Terry Wogan, who introduced a musical programme including singer Angeline Ball and baritone Eoin Gilhooley.
The Prince of Wales paid tribute to the Irish in Britain – which can number up to six million when second- and third-generation Irish are included, saying that they had made an incredible impact on British life.
The strength of the economic relationship between the two countries is illustrated by the fact that the two do more business together than the UK manages to do with China, he said. “Perhaps that is why the prime minister has gone to China,” the prince joked.
The gathering was attended by Ian Paisley; former Ulster Unionist Party leader Lord David Trimble; former SDLP leader MP Mark Durkan, British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh and singer Val Doonican.
In his welcome, Ambassador McDonagh said he was delighted to welcome the prince and the duchess: “The relations between our two countries have never been better; the only mode is one of friendship.”
Introducing the musical programme, Mr Wogan said that it was “wonderful” to be now able to travel the Border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and “find only bureaux de change, rather than watch-towers’.
Speaking of Ireland’s current difficulties, Mr Wogan said: “People are a little depressed by the appalling economic situation but these are a people who have been through privation, starvation, oppression, discrimination, emigration, and they still come up smiling and singing.
“I hope that when your mother, Her Majesty the Queen, travels over to Ireland, she will enjoy a very warm welcome.
“I know that she will,” said Mr Wogan, to cheers from the several hundred Irish guests in the embassy.
Speaking earlier, BandAid creator Bob Geldof said the visit to the Embassy by the prince marked the maturity that now exists in the relations between the two countries, adding that people opposed to the queen’s visit next year “should get over it”.
Last night’s guest list included Prof Roy Foster, rugby player Bob Casey, TV presenter Eamonn Holmes, Independent MP Sylvia Hermon, SDLP MP Alasdair McDonnell along with designers Orla Kiely and Paul Costelloe.
