One makes history: Queen to visit Ireland

HISTORY will be made later this year when Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to visit Ireland since the foundation of the state.

The state visit, expected to take place in May, comes on foot of an invitation by President Mary McAleese.

Elizabeth will be following in the footsteps of her grandfather George V, who travelled to this country in 1911, before the 26 counties of Ireland achieved independence and formed a republic. But while the visit was welcomed by politicians, diplomats and business chiefs, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams called it “premature”.