President Catherine Connolly invites Britain’s King Charles III to Ireland for State visit 

Ireland must 'speak out in the face of injustice,' Connolly says in speech at Irish embassy in London as part of three-day visit to England

President Catherine Connolly during an audience with Britain's King Charles. Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

President Catherine Connolly has invited Britain’s King Charles III for a State visit in Ireland while on her three-day trip to the United Kingdom.

Speaking in London on Monday, she confirmed that he had accepted her invitation.

President Connolly met the monarch in Buckingham Palace on Monday afternoon for a meeting that was expected to last up to 40 minutes.

It is the first time the pair have met since President Connolly became President in November. It is her second official overseas visit.

Speaking to reporters following their meeting, President Connolly said she had an hour-long meeting with King Charles, and that he accepted her invitation.

She said it was a "very positive" meeting, and it "was a privilege to meet with King Charles".

“I've extended an invitation to him to make a State visit to Ireland, and he gratefully accepted.” 

President Connolly is in the United Kingdom as part of a three-day trip that sees her visit London and Leeds.

On Monday morning, she visited the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, where she met members of the Irish diaspora.

Following a speech, there were several musical performances, including a rendition of Galway Bay, a homage to the President’s home county.

She told those gathered that Irish people have moved to Britain in “waves” for various reasons, including economic forces.

“Historically, of course, immigration was driven by economic factors, with large numbers leaving for London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and elsewhere,” she said.

“This occurred in waves, and we know that from the 19th century and the 20th century.

President Catherine Connolly during an audience with Britain's King Charles. Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA

“Unfortunately, today as well, we have people leaving our shores for various reasons, some of them for lack of housing.

“The immigration that we're dealing with occurred in waves that peaked in the 50s and the 80s, when unemployment and economic stagnation in Ireland was pushing many to leave the shores for the hope of better opportunities abroad.” 

She also noted that people found “greater tolerance and acceptance” in the UK “at times when Ireland was a less open and less accepted society”.

Address at Irish embassy in London

President Catherine Connolly during a reception in her honour with members of the Irish community in Britain, at the Irish embassy in London. Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA

In an address later on Monday at the Irish Embassy in London, President Connolly said Ireland must “speak out in the face of injustice” and “will not be silent when international law is treated as optional by those with the power to ignore it”.

While President Connolly did not specifically mention any nation, she warned guests that “we know what happens when the powerful are unconstrained”.

She made the comments several hours after her sister, Dr Margaret Connolly, was detained by Israeli forces while on a flotilla sailing towards Gaza.

President Connolly said Ireland brings “values we hold dear” to all relationships as a “neutral, independent, sovereign country”, which defends “international law and the structures of the United Nations, as enshrined in the UN Charter”.

She told the guests she was “especially proud of our peacekeepers who continue to demonstrate such courage and commitment”.

“That is why Ireland speaks out in the face of injustice,” she said.

That is why we will not be silent when international law is treated as optional by those with the power to ignore it.

“We know what happens when the powerful are unconstrained. Our shared experience is our strength.

“It is what connects us, across the water and across the generations. It is the ground we stand on together as we continue to build, side by side, a more just and equal world."

In unscripted remarks, President Connolly told the gathering that war cannot be normalised.

“I look forward on this project, and in the years ahead to building the next chapter of our relationship as neighbours, as friends, and as family,” she said.

President Catherine Connolly during the reception at the Irish Embassy in London. Picture: Jordan Pettitt/PA

“But also to use our voices in the world, a volatile world, to risk to say that normalising war is never acceptable, normalising slaughter is never acceptable, and we have to use our voices to reclaim our language, not just in the sense of reclaiming our Irish language and our culture, but reclaiming our language, so that language has meaning, and that we can tell young people we mean what we say.” 

Earlier in her speech, President Connolly said the UK and Ireland are “inextricably linked on so many levels”, including “an interwoven personal and family history”.

“For centuries, our history was one of coloniser and colonised with all of the complexity that brings,” she said.

“Indeed, we recently concluded the decade of centenaries, commemorating our revolutionary period at the end of which Ireland became an independent sovereign state, and took her place as an equal amongst the nations of the world.

“The decolonisation of Ireland, however, was not only about land and law. It was also about the decolonisation of our minds. That process in itself was challenging, but has, over time, allowed us to take confidence and pride in our culture, our language, and our identity.” 

President Connolly’s visit to England will continue on Tuesday, as she visits the Chelsea Flower Show and the Irish Centre in Camden.

She will travel to Leeds on Wednesday for engagements at Leeds University and the Leeds Irish Centre.