Queen lays wreath at monument to Ireland’s fallen

The Queen laid the wreath at Ireland‘s monument to its fallen heros, before a crowd of dignitaries, soldiers and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, whose uncle was killed by militant Irish nationalists in 1979.

The Irish national anthem was also played as the monarch stood beside President Mary McAleese at the site where Ireland commemorates the men and women who died resisting British rule.

The Garden of Remembrance opened in Easter 1966 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising when seven signatories to Ireland’s Proclamation of Independence, backed by the 1,000-strong Irish Citizen Army, launched a revolution against British rule beginning with the takeover of the GPO a few hundred yards away on O’Connell Street.

I think anyone who understands Irish history will understand what we have just seen. Bertie Ahern

Former Irish prime minister Brian Cowen, who formally invited the Queen last year, declared relations between Britain and Ireland have been transformed by the peace process.

“The vast, vast majority of the people of Ireland wanted to see this day come,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process, attended the garden with Mr Cowen as members of Ireland’s Council of State.

“I think anyone who understands Irish history will understand what we have just seen,” Mr Ahern said.

The visit, the first by a British monarch since Ireland won independence from London in 1921, is designed to show how relations have improved after centuries of enmity.

The Queen’s arrival coincided with the 37th anniversary of bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, the single bloodiest day in the three-decade long Northern Ireland conflict.

Read more: Queen's visit: 'we are ready now to move on' 

After the ceremony, the Queen visited Trinity College – a university founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I – where she was shown Ireland’s oldest book, the Book of Kells.

The Queen will spend the night in Ireland’s official state residence, Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park, the former home of the Guinness brewing dynasty.

During the visit to Trinity, the Queen met the former Irish president and human rights campaigner Mary Robinson, whom she invited for tea in 1993.

Dr Robinson said President McAleese had played an invaluable role in securing the visit – the first to Irish shores by a British monarch since King George IV in 1911 and the first in the history of the Irish Republic.

“It is wonderful that now it has come to fruition for both islands,” Dr Robinson said.

It is wonderful that now it has come to fruition for both islands. Mary Robinson

“It would be good if she could meet larger numbers of people during her visit but security has to be taken seriously and there were sufficient indications that there might be a problem.”

Dr Robinson said the visit would not have been possible without the peace process.

“For our relations between these two countries this is a very good visit,” she added.

The Queen’s engagements begin on Wednesday with a visit to the Guinness Storehouse and a “windows” tour of Dublin from the Gravity Bar.

The monarch will also meet Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Government Buildings before attending the war memorial at Islandbridge, Croke Park and a state dinner at Dublin Castle.

The Queen will make her only public address at the banquet which the President will also address.