Queen’s visit to Ireland – live updates

• The Queen will arrive in Ireland later today • Irish army has made safe a bomb near Dublin • Foreign Office confirms Queen will still visit • First British monarch to do so for 100 years • Follow live updates below and tweet me @AdamGabbatt 12.35pm: Henry McDonald is out on the streets with dissident republicans who are protesting against the Queen’s arrival: Around 60 supporters of the hardline Republican Sinn Fein have gathered at a security barrier in the last few minutes north of Parnell Square. They are being kept away from the Garden of Remembrance where the Queen will visit later this afternoon. So far the protest is looking peaceful. RSF’s founder Rory O’Bradoidh has denied that the turnout is disappointing for the republican dissident cause. 12.10pm: The Queen’s plane has landed at Baldonnel, by the way. A long red carpet gushes from the open aircraft door, with a black Range Rover at one end and soldiers lined either side. And… she’s out. The first reigning British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland. Appropriately enough, the Queen is wearing green – hat and overcoat matching. She stops to collect a bouquet from a young girl, hops into the waiting car, and off they go. Next stop Áras an Uachtaráin – the official residence of the President of Ireland – where she will meet President Mary McAleese. 12.03pm: Below the line shimrod responds to DMCCUSKER12′s inference that the Queen’s visit is generally not welcome, claiming that the “vast majority of Irish citizens are either positive or mildly indifferent to the visit of the Head of State of the UK to the Republic”. A small number of people are objecting either because they object to Monarchy in general, (or the British one in particular) and are having peaceful demonstrations (as is their right), but lets be clear that this, in no way, respresents the majority view of the population. Also, this visit comes because of a request made by the Irish President and the previous Government, not a request by the British Monarchy. I preume you are an Irish Citizen like me. In which case, you do accept the sovereign right of the Irish Government to invite whoever they want to Visit the Republic of Ireland don’t you? 11.50am: Morrissey has marked her majesty’s impending arrival in Ireland by writing about the monarchy for the music magazine Hot Press . The singer used the piece to describe the Queen’s existence as “entirely against any notion of democracy”, and by claiming there is little difference between the monarch and dictators like Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak. The full meaning of the Monarchy is, like the Queen herself, a complete mystery to most people. It is protected from any investigations by ridiculous stories of trivia and wedding dresses and on-again-off-again soap-drama romances. The most revealing statement came from Commander Christine Jones of the Metropolitan Police last month, when she warned that any British people carrying anti-royal placards who are “seen in the vicinity of the royal wedding would be removed under the Public Order Act.” This means that any political dissent in England is silenced in order to protect the royals, which in itself goes against every principle of democracy. The very existence of the Queen and her now enormous family – all supported by the British taxpayer whether the British taxpayer likes it or not – is entirely against any notion of democracy, and is against freedom of speech. For a broad historical view of what the Queen is and how she “rules”, examine Gaddafi or Mubarak, and see if you can spot any difference. You won’t be able to. The Queen also has the power to give back the six counties to the Irish people, allowing Ireland to be a nation once again. The fact that she has not done so is Fascism in full flow. What else could it be? Name one other European country that is controlled by its neighbour? 11.15am: Henry McDonald is out and about, and nearly getting arrested, in central Dublin: At Parnell Square North the Garda Síochána are getting increasingly nervous and ultra security conscious. When I arrived at a crush barrier at the junction with Dorset Street a Garda sergeant in a yellow hi-vis jacket asked me to leave the area. On asking why I was then threatened with arrest if I didn’t move on. All the main routes from north Dublin into Parnell Square leading to the Garden of Remembrance – where the Queen will later lay a wreath on the spot dedicated to Irish republicans who once fought the British – are sealed off. Overhead a Garda helicopter is hovering around Dublin’s north inner city. Meanwhile Republican Sinn Féin has shifted their protest to the “Black Church” in nearby Mountjoy Street. It is a famous Dublin landmark which is mentioned in James Joyce’s Ulysses, and according to local legend if you walk anti-clockwise around it three times with your eyes closed when you open them again you are meant to see the Devil. The dissident republicans will march from the church after a noon time rally towards the Garda lines at Parnell Square North. Further down that same street is the headquarters of the mainstream Sinn Féin whose response to the royal visit this morning has been the blaring of Irish republican ballads from a speaker system from one of their offices. 10.30am: On Twitter, #queensvisit is the most discussed topic in Ireland at the moment (it doesn’t even breach the top ten in the UK, where tweeters are more concerned with #ignoredtextmessages). – 10.09am: PA has some more information on the bomb that was found on a coach last night, and made safe this morning. The device was a pipe bomb, and was discovered in a holdall in the luggage compartment of a “crowded bus”, according to the agency. The bus, which was carrying 30 passengers and was on its way to Dublin, was stopped outside an hotel, apparently after a tip-off. Army bomb experts carried out a controlled explosion during a three hour operation. The bus was operated by the state owned Bus Eireann company and had set off from Ballina, Co Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland. 9.41am: Below the line Cudds writes : The vast majority of people, aside from a few on the lunatic fringes, wish to welcome the Queen to Ireland. The reason? It is long overdue as a sign of the maturity of relations between the two countries. Just remember, there are more people of Irish descent in the UK than live in Ireland and you will see the interdependence that exists. Ignore the comments from Sinn Fein on how the visit is premature. They were brought into the peace process at a time when most people thought it premature. Noone would argue with that step now. Therefore, yes, there might be some risk but to cancel such a visit concedes to the extremists – something England did not do in 1972 (in the midst of the troubles) when they came to Dublin to play a rugby international when other teams would not travel. 9.15am: Henry McDonald has more on the political backdrop to the monarch’s visit to Ireland. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said this morning that Ireland would welcome the Queen and the symbolism speaks for itself” of her presence in the Republic. “We are now focussed on the future, two modern countries working together in a spirit of co-operation,” the Irish premier said. Former Irish Foreign Minister David Andrews spoke fondly of the Queen remembering a dinner he had with her at Buckingham Palace when he was in government. “She was talking about her family and her Annus Horribilis. I described her at the dinner as a fine woman..she is a very normal mother, very normal person with all the difficulty that family has. ” 9.08am: The Queen is due to land at the Baldonnel military base, 10 miles south west of Dublin, at 12 noon. No firm timings have been given for the itinerary, but here’s a list of where Elizabeth is going and what she’ll do there, beginning with a chance to show off her green fingers: Áras an Uachtaráin • Ceremonial welcome • Meeting with President and Dr. McAleese • Tree Planting Ceremony Garden of Remembrance • Wreath Laying Ceremony Trinity College • View Book of Kells • Reception in the Long Room 8.48am: A second device was found in a suburb of Dublin this morning, Gardai have confirmed to the Guardian, however the Irish army have declared it a hoax. The device was found at 6am at the Black Horse tram stop in Inchicore, around two miles west of the centre of Dublin. “The area was sealed off and the army EOD (bomb disposal team) were notified. The army EOD declared it a hoax, and the area was declared safe at approximately 8am this morning,” a Gardai spokeswoman said. She said the tram line is running again, and a road which was closed off has been reopened. 8.37am: The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, has more on the bomb found in County Killdare this morning. An army engineering unit had been deployed to a bus stop on the outskirts of Maynooth in response to a request by the Garda Siochana. An Irish military spokesman said viable IED which was located in the luggage compartment of a bus was made safe. A controlled explosion was carried out close to a local hotel. The team arrived on scene at 11.10pm last night, the scene was declared safe at 1.55am. The remains of the device were handed over to the Gardai for their investigations. At present the Irish Defence Forces are dealing with a bus alert on the LUAS tram line in Dublin. Meanwhile due to the massive security operation in Dublin aimed at protecting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh the Irish capital’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street has been closed to traffic. 8.30am: The Queen’s arrival in Dublin later today has been overshadowed this morning by the news that the Irish army has made safe a bomb near Ireland’s capital. The “viable” improvised explosive device was discovered in the luggage compartment of a bus on the outskirts of Maynooth, Co Kildare, late on Monday night. A controlled explosion was carried out and the device made safe by the Irish army in the early hours of this morning. “An army bomb disposal team made safe a viable improvised explosive device overnight in Maynooth, Co Kildare,” an army spokesman said. The Foreign Office has said the Queen will still go ahead with her planned four-day visit to Ireland. The discovery of the bomb comes amid an unprecedented security operation in the country, costing an estimated 30 million euro (£26.2m). The operation includes land, air and sea patrols and a huge number of police deployed around the centre of the Irish capital. The trip will be the first time a British monarch has set foot on Irish soil for 100 years, and is the first visit by a monarch since the country became a republic. King George V was the last to visit in 1911. The Queen’s itinerary will take in Croke Park, the home of Gaelic football where 14 people were slaughtered by British troops in 1920. We’ll have more on the bomb and live updates as the Queen arrives in Ireland. The Queen Monarchy Ireland Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 17, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.