Timing of royal visit is not appropriate

ALTHOUGH still unconfirmed, it is widely anticipated that Queen Elizabeth II will arrive in Ireland on May 17 to commence her state visit here.

If this is the case, then those responsible for selecting this date have acted with either appalling insensitivity or callous indifference.

It was on May 17, 1974 that 33 innocents were blasted into oblivion and more than 300 others suffered horrific injuries on the streets of Dublin and Monaghan in the biggest mass murder in modern Irish history.