Although she stopped short of an outright apology for the “heartache, turbulence and loss” of the past century, the Queen said: “We can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.”
The landmark speech during a state dinner at Dublin Castle included a direct reference to the murder of the Duke of Edinburgh’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten, by the IRA, when the Queen said the “events have touched us all, many of us personally”.
But her overriding message was one of “forbearance and conciliation” as she spoke of being able “to bow to the past, but not be bound by it”.
The address to her host, President Mary McAleese, and guests including David Cameron, who joined the British delegation, was the Queen’s only speech of her historic four-day visit to Ireland.
The Queen began her speech by speaking in Gaelic, saying: “A hUachtarain [sic] agus a chaired [uachtarán agus cairde],” or president and friends, earning a warm round of applause. President McAleese was seen to respond by saying “wow”[.]
Dressed in a white silk crepe dress adorned with more than 2,000 hand-embroidered shamrocks and a harp made of crystals, the Queen said she and the Duke were “delighted to be here, and to experience at first hand Ireland’s world-famous hospitality”.
She said the two nations were “good neighbours” which had “much to celebrate”, including the economic and cultural ties “that make us firm friends and equal partners”. » |Wednesday, May 18, 2011
