Madam, – In response to Elma Collins (July 1st), Queen Elizabeth II has very much a right to keep the harp within her coat of arms as she still holds claim to Ireland, in that the north-east of the country remains within United Kingdom jurisdiction. The harp therefore could not be described as a relic of past links but very much relates to present-day realities, especially for the 40-plus per cent of the populace of the north east who are proud Irish passport holders and who wish for union with the rest of their country.
As for mutual forgiveness and tolerance, these of course are attainable alone when Queen Elizabeth comes as visiting head of state of a neighbouring country, and not as the figurehead of centuries of turmoil and conflict aimed against Ireland.
The apathy and inaccuracy therefore evident in relation to a part of Ireland by a resident of another part of Ireland is nauseating. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is high time that those who do not support the visit of Queen Elizabeth to our Republic realise that how we suffered under British rule is now very much a thing of the past.
Despite our current financial difficulties, we are a nation with a global impact greater than our size, and enjoy admiration and respect from all quarters. If we do not accord the diplomatic niceties to any visiting monarch, then we are showing ourselves lacking in the skills necessary to maintain harmonious relations with other countries.
Britain and Northern Ireland are our nearest neighbours and our biggest export customer. She has offered gainful employment to hundreds of thousands of our citizens when we could not. A large portion of her population is of Irish descent. A considerable portion of this island’s population are loyal and supportive of the monarchy. These factors should be taken very seriously and weighed against the archaic remarks of individuals still bent on using history as an excuse to harangue all that is British.
Furthermore, it is hypocritical to criticise the Protestant nature of the monarchy (admittedly sectarian), when we as a country allowed ourselves to be controlled by a Catholic hierarchy until very recently. Hundreds of thousands of southern Irish Protestants left this country for Britain and Northern Ireland because they were made unwelcome in a state where the government cow-towed to every whim of the Catholic hierarchy to the exclusion of others. A visit from a British monarch would go a long way to giving closure to the now anachronistic gripes of both extreme unionists and extreme nationalists and would allow this nation to develop a positive pro-active and mutually beneficial relationship with our closest neighbour.
Whatever the inequalities of the British monarchy, it is clear that the queen enjoys very wide support among her subjects. If we are to maintain good and profitable relations with the UK, we need to give the queen a genuine céad míle fáilte, and accept that the monarchy’s shortcomings are of no concern to us. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Might I add a little humour to the ongoing debate about the proposed visit of the Queen of England to this Republic? When King Farouk of Egypt was overthrown in 1952 he went into exile to Italy. One evening while playing poker he discussed the demise of the European royal households with Umberto, the deposed king of Italy. On discovering that he held a hand of four kings, he said to Umberto while revealing his cards: “There will be five kings left in Europe eventually, the king of spades, the king of diamonds, the king of clubs, the king of hearts and the King of England.” – Yours, etc,