Cork urged to hang out its brightest colours
Agriculture and Food Minister Simon Coveney, made the appeal as the royal roadshow prepared to depart Dublin for a taste of Irish life outside the capital.
Mr Coveney, who greeted the Queen at the Irish National Stud in Co Kildare yesterday, said he was looking forward to showing her around some of the sights of his native county.
“I am confident that Cork people will really welcome her and ensure that her trip finishes off on a positive note,” he said.
“I hope Cork people will hang out their brightest colours. It’s an opportunity for our city to send out really positive images.”
He also said the visit to the English Market presented a superb opportunity to highlight the quality of local food products.
The minister accepted, however, that not everyone would welcome the visit, although he urged objectors to think twice about how they expressed their opposition.
“We live in a democracy and people are entitled to protest as long as that protest is peaceful. Nobody is trying to gag anybody here and people are entitled to hold a placard but I would hope that people would think before they do that.”
Mr Coveney said while the peace process was still a work in progress, with the job of building trust between communities in the North still on ongoing, he believed most sceptics had been won over during the week of historic gestures and statements.
“This is a very genuine reaching out from the British side to the Irish people from all walks of life and I think the Queen’s speech [in Dublin Castle] was testament to that. This week is about a lot of things but it’s primarily about showing how Ireland has matured and our relationship with Britain is not holding us back.
“Ireland hasn’t had a lot to be positive about lately but this is a really positive good news story and really significant. We should be cherishing what’s happening this week,” he said.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
