Queen Elizabeth's State visit to Ireland 'was not just another trip'

Then jobs minister in 2011 Richard Bruton, said:  'We recognised that there was a personal stake on behalf of her majesty and that her being here was of major importance'

During her State visit to Ireland Queen Elizabeth II questioned whether she could return to Ireland privately. Photo: Maxwells Dublin

While the queen's cúpla focail at Dublin Castle was the culmination of a warmly-received trip, it was also the culmination of months of work for a government that was not long in office.

The state visit was announced on March 4 after an invite from President Mary McAleese, five days before the Labour-Fine Gael Government sat first on March 9.

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A statement from Kensington Palace announced: "The queen has been pleased to accept an invitation from the President of Ireland to pay a State Visit to Ireland this year. The queen will be accompanied by the duke of Edinburgh."

Just three years earlier, reports of plans by Bertie Ahern to extend a similar invitation were not well received, but by 2011 there was a sense that the national mood had shifted.

Within the new cabinet, elected in the midst of an economic crisis, while there was some excitement at the notion of both the visit of the queen and US president Barack Obama within days of each other, there was also an acknowledgment of the amount of work to be done.

"Normally, the visit of a US president would be the major visit of an entire term, but not this time," says then-public expenditure minister and Labour TD for Wexford, Brendan Howlin.

Jobs minister in that government and Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay North, Richard Bruton, said there was no hesitation in the government about welcoming the monarch.

"There was a sense that it was a remarkable event. Everybody understood the context and the importance of it. We recognised that there was a personal stake on behalf of her majesty and that her being here was of major importance.

Then-Public Expenditure Minister and Labour TD for Wexford, Brendan Howlin, on the British queen's visit to the Rock of Cashel: "It was a beautiful, beautiful visit." Photo: Paul Faith/PA

"This was not just another trip. It was remarkable."

Mr Howlin said the issue that was most discussed at Cabinet was security, so cognisant was the government of threats of riots or protests against the visit. 

In the end, road closures prevented members of republican group Éirigí from going ahead with plans to establish a 48-hour “freedom camp” at the Garden of Remembrance even though about 100 supporters staged a demonstration at the end of O’Connell Street in front of barriers erected by gardaí.

"It was an extraordinary time because we'd come in with an economic crisis," said Mr Howlin.

"And that was our entire focus. We'd been briefed up to our eyeballs about the economic situation, and we'd done an awful lot of groundwork about what we needed to do. 

And suddenly we were faced with two visits, because within the space of a couple of weeks, with the queen on an absolutely historic visit, there's Barack Obama coming immediately afterwards, which would normally have been the major visit of any particular year, if not a term.

"So an enormous amount of care, obviously, went into the visit. The foremost consideration was the issue of security. I think every guard in the country was deployed. I had the privilege of hosting her in the Rock of Cashel, and I'm looking down from the Rock of Cashel, and as far as I could see, in all the fields adjoining, were yellow-jacketed members An Garda Síochána. 

"There were two cordons around that you couldn't physically get through - even as a cabinet minister, the one who was hosting, my car couldn't actually get into the castle itself. I was driven by a Garda vehicle into the rock itself.

"And I remember it had rained that morning, and suddenly, she was flying by helicopter and when her helicopter appeared, the sun came out and it was a beautiful, beautiful visit."

The State visit was announced on March 4 after an invite from President Mary McAleese, five days before the Labour-Fine Gael Government sat first on March 9. Photo: John Stillwell/PA

Both men have warm memories of the actual visit. Mr Bruton, who hosted, says that he found the queen giving of her time, while Mr Howlin said that the monarch questioned whether she could return to Ireland privately.

He said that the Government saw a chance to normalise and improve relations between the two countries.

"We were all enthusiastic about it. And just wanted to make sure that it went well. That enthusiasm was obviously tempered by a degree of anxiety to make sure that it did go well, that there'd be no scenes and that there'd be no protests. 

"At the time, Sinn Féin had threatened protests. And I think they tried a counter-protest in Cork. But when they saw the actual reaction to the Irish people, they changed tack on that and embraced what I think was a national mood, which was that this was a normalisation of relationships that were important for both countries and both peoples."