Welcome the queen

TO those who are opposed (some for understandable historical reasons) to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland, I say — give her a chance.

Particularly from a Catholic perspective, the queen was very gracious in her meeting with Pope Benedict during his visit to the UK last September. Many extremist groups had greeted the Pope’s visit with a crescendo of intolerant hatred. However, the queen and the vast majority of people behaved impeccably towards the Pope, enhancing their reputation for tolerance in the process. Let’s behave similarly in Ireland during the queen’s visit.

Eric Conway