An important first handshake

The first handshake last week between Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness and Queen Elizabeth II was an important moment.

It could not have happened 14 years ago, as feelings were still raw after the end of 30 years of conflict with many killed, injured and having lost loved ones and friends in Northern Ireland and England. Not forgetting the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and our gardai and army personnel killed in the line of duty, the most recent being the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe in Adare, Co Limerick in 1996.

Some have asked what is the big deal. Fine Gael’s Brian Hayes gave his view last week that Sinn Féin were doing a cynical first handshake now — to distract from other issues. He criticised Martin McGuinness for not accepting an invitation to a Dublin Castle State dinner to meet the Queen on her first visit to the Republic last year. He wrote such a handshake should have happened years ago. It couldn’t, as there were big issues, like the second British government enquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972 to finish, after which British PM David Cameron apologised in 2009. It took an astounding 37 years to resolve it.