DUBLIN (Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth arrives in Dublin today for a state visit steeped in symbolism and gestures designed to underline how warm neighbourly relations have replaced centuries of animosity.
Peace in Northern Ireland has paved the way for the four-day stay, the first by a British monarch since Ireland won independence from London in 1921, but there will be constant reminders of a violent past.
The queen’s arrival coincides with the 37th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the single bloodiest day in a three-decade sectarian battle over Northern Ireland, and a day still mired in controversy.
Relatives of the 33 victims have appealed to the queen to urge her government to release all files relating to the bombing amid suspicion, reinforced by an Irish government inquiry, that the Protestant paramilitaries who planted the bombs had help from British security forces.
