Prince Charles of Britain has said he was encouraged by efforts to bring the North’s two communities together during a visit to East Belfast.

After all the meticulously prepared speeches and polite exchanges, it was casual talk of shrimping boats and tides that held Prince Charles rapt.

One could not stop one’s foot tapping.

Prince Charles wished the students of IT Sligo “good luck in your exams” as he left the college following his short tour.

Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have arrived in Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, where his great-uncle was killed in a bombing.

Prince Charles paid tribute to the "grandfather he never had", the assassinated Lord Mountbatten, in a speech this afternoon in which he said Ireland's friendship cannot be based on "pretending the past did not happen".

Gerry Adams has said he and Prince Charles have little in common, though they are both "tree-huggers".

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s trip to Ireland will take an emotional turn today when they visit the site where Lord Louis Mountbatten was assassinated.