The Queen has said that Britain and Ireland shall “no longer allow our past to ensnare our future” at a historic state banquet in honour of President Michael D Higgins.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin is beginning a three-day visit to the US today.

This column, on this day, is a safe house, offering refuge to readers who may lose the will to live if they have to read one more word about Bertie Ahern’s legacy or Brian Cowen’s cabinet.