Gerry Adams expresses 'pleasure' at Queen's historic visit to Ireland as Unionist criticises visit to nationalist shrine
Share 14
inShare1
Email 
The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will pay respect to the heroes of the Irish War of Independence in wreath laying ceremony in Dublin on Tuesday. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA
Today's first "coded" warnings in a decade from dissident Irish republicans, on the eve of the Queen's historic visit to the Irish Republic, highlighted an old saying that is often forgotten on this side of the Irish Sea. This is that as long as Northern Ireland remains within the United Kingdom there will always be republicans who will take up arms against British rule.
The challenge is to ensure that the dissidents present no greater threat than the unsuccessful IRA "Border Campaign" in the late 1950s. This was regarded as a failure because the IRA lacked support in the community.
The Queen, who is a keen student of Irish history, will know that the dissident threat will only be contained if today's republican leaders achieve an historic first – avoid a deep split after abandoning the armed struggle. When the Queen pays tribute on Tuesday at Dublin's Garden of Remembrance to the heroes of the Irish War of Independence – Michael Collins and Éamon de Valera – she will know that they failed on that score.
Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Féin who feels the weight of history more keenly than most, has shown confidence in recent days by warmly welcoming the visit by the Queen, the first by a British monarch to Dublin in 100 years. In an article for the Irish Examiner Adams reminded readers that he had been detained without charge at "Her Majesty's Pleasure" in the 1970s.
Declaring that he hoped the Queen's visit would lead to a "better relationship between the peoples of Ireland and Britain", Adams joked about his detention by Her Majesty as he wrote:
If this is the case it will be a matter of considerable pleasure, not just for her Majesty but for the rest of us as well.
This was a highly sophisticated republican take on the Queen's visit which showed the choice facing anyone torn between Sinn Féin and the dissidents. Republicans can opt for what Sinn Féin hopes will be a failing armed campaign or they can opt for Adams who is effectively saying that a British monarch will arrive on Irish soil for the first time in centuries as a foreigner.
If Adams is expressing "pleasure" at the arrival of the Queen then some Unionists are less sanguine. They are expressing their views with care but some are horrified that the Queen will be paying tribute to the heroes of Irish independence at the Garden of Remembrance.
This is what one well placed Unionist told me:
It is sickening that the Queen will be paying her respects to some really nasty people.
The Unionist expressed alarm that on Wednesday the Queen will be visiting Croke Park, the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, which is one of the symbols of nationalist Ireland. As I blogged recently, the modern world was introduced to the significance of Croke Park in the Liam Neeson Michael Collins film which depicted the 1920 Bloody Sunday shootings. British troops fired on a gaelic football match, killing 14 people.
This is what the Unionist told me:
Of course those killings were horrific. But let's hope the Queen is reminded that those killings were carried out after Michael Collins had ordered his forces to go round and murder British forces in cold blood.
The Queen and her host, the Irish president Mary McAleese, will no doubt be hoping that the visit will finally lay such emotions to rest.