This afternoon
Captain Enrique Torres Pineyro (above left) with President Michael D Higgins on board of the The Spanish Royal Navy training ship, the Juan Sebastian de Elcano [the third largest Tall Ship] which is currently mooring at Dublin Port.
No need for the little step, gringos.
(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)
Squeeee.
Darragh Doyle writes;
“From the brand new series of School Around The Corner, primary school students from all over the country are asked if they know who the man in the photo is…”
School Around The Corner on RTE One at 6.30pm from Sunday, May 11.
The Independent’s Robert Fisk on that state visit.
The Irish papers, normally so acerbic in their coverage of all things royal, positively purred with self-satisfaction that “the Queen” – not Queen Elizabeth, mark you, as she would have been called by any other self-respecting republic – had greeted the Irish President with all the Queen’s horses and all the Queen’s men.
I have always suspected that deep in the soul of every middle-aged Irish lady – far more than Irish men, perhaps – there lies a sneaking affection for the tiaras, and brocade, and the palace, and the castle, and the pomp and circumstance that their grandparents rejected in 1920 (though not so wholeheartedly as we may believe – Ireland remained within the Commonwealth until after the Second World War).
….But last week was revealing in other ways. While the British media dwelt upon the sins of Martin McGuinness and his IRA past and his handshake with the Queen of England, the Irish papers fulfilled the role of the British press in sanctifying the rule of Good Queen Bess.
The London correspondent of The Irish Times wrote of the “kaleidoscope of memories” which the royal week had left behind. Miriam Lord, normally stabbing (accurately) the hypocrites of Dail Eireann – was at her softest when it came to our beloved Queen and the Irish President’s success – “then it was back to Windsor Castle for a special reception with a Northern Ireland theme…”
FIGHT!
(Aras/Photocall Ireland)
Scenes from day two of President Higgins’ State visit to the UK
From top: with Professor John Pethica (right) ‘ Physical Secretary’ of the Royal Society, and Joseph Roche of the Science Gallery Ireland demonstrating quantum locking at The Royal Society; At University College London Hospital with 95-year-old Mary Talbot, who moved to London from Ballinasloe, Co Galway in 1938, her daughter Philomena is to her left; with Pauline Conway, a staff nurse at UCH from Co Wicklow; with David Cameron in Downing Street; with Boris Johnson, Mayor of London; with Sabina Higgins on the River Thames at Tower Bridge; arriving at the Guildhall Banquet hosted by Alderman Fiona Woolf, Lord Mayor of London.
More to follow
(Photocall ireland/Aras)
Meanwhile…
Outside Buckingham Palace today.
Thanks Andrew Gibbons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lWT7mUPnBM
For the day that was in it.
Fergal Keane’s report for de BBC on the pomp, pageantry and whatnot of the first day of President Higgins’ state visit to Britain. Top: Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall leave the Irish Embassy, Chapel Street, London. this afternoon.
(Malcolm McNally/Aras/Photocall Ireland)
#IrishStateVisit Mr President on delicate ground with references back to Eire’s role in the First World War….
— Alastair Stewart (@alstewitn) April 8, 2014
President Higgins address to the joint Houses Of The British Parliament in London today.
Via President.ie:
A Chairde:
Tá fíor-chaoin áthas orm bheith anseo libh ar ócáid an chéad cuairt stáit seo.
On the first day of this State Visit, I have been graciously and warmly welcomed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, and I have come to this place from a poignant and uplifting visit to Westminster Abbey. I am greatly honoured to be the first President of Ireland to address you in this distinguished Palace of Westminster.
As a former parliamentarian, honoured to have spent twenty-five years as a member of Dáil Éireann, and a further decade serving in our Upper House, Seanad Éireann, it constitutes a very special privilege to be speaking today in a place that history has made synonymous with the principle of democratic governance and with respect for a political discourse that is both inclusive and pluralist.
At the very foundation of British democracy is, of course, the Magna Carta which includes the powerful statement:
“To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay, right or justice.”
Those beautiful and striking words have echoed down the centuries and remain the beating heart of the democratic tradition. Their resonance was felt almost immediately in Ireland through the Magna Carta Hiberniae – a version of the original charter reissued by the guardians of the young Henry III in November 1216.
They are also words which echo with a particular significance when we have indeed so recently seen the adverse consequences of a discourse that regards politics, society and the economy as somehow separate, each from the other; this is a divisive perspective which undermines the essential relationship between the citizen and the State. Today, as both our countries work to build sustainable economies and humane and flourishing societies, we would do well to recall the words of the Magna Carta and its challenge to embrace a concept of citizenship rooted in the principles of active participation, justice and freedom.
Such a vision of citizenship is shared by our two peoples. It is here, in this historic building that, over the centuries, the will of the British people gradually found its full democratic voice. It is inspiring to stand in a place where, for more than a century, many hundreds of dedicated parliamentarians, in their different ways, represented the interests and aspirations of the Irish people.
Next month marks the centenary of the passing of the Home Rule Act by the House of Commons – a landmark in our shared history. It was also here that the votes of Irish nationalist Members of Parliament in 1911 were instrumental in the passage of the Parliament Act, a critical step in the development of your parliamentary system.Continue reading →
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/121854193″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Oliver Callan’s take on President Higgins staffing arrangements during his tour of Central America from RTE R1’s Callan’s Kicks.
Meanwhile…
“Mr [Kevin] McCarthy was his driver during the presidential campaign but, according to those close to the campaign, he increasingly became an all-round assistant.
Mr McCarthy is quiet, diligent, trustworthy and is said to have formed a strong working relationship with Mr Higgins.
Earlier this year, the Irish Independent reported that Mr McCarthy accompanied Mr Higgins on a holiday in Lanzarote to work for the President.
It is understood Ms van Lieshout was unhappy with the level of access to Mr Higgins she was afforded on a day-to-day basis in the Aras.
Previously: Aide Decamps
Sabina stays at home as Michael D jets off to sun (Fiach Kelly, Irish Independent 4/1/13)
Listen to full episode here
(RTE)
Yesterday, The Sunday Times reported that President Michael Higgins’ chief adviser, Mary Van Lieshout, above, resigned from her job just 18 months into her position.
The paper suggested the growing influence of Mr Higgins’s executive assistant Kevin McCarthy – and the apparent need to constantly go through Mr McCarthy in order to communicate with Mr Higgins – was one of the main reasons Ms Van Lieshout quit.
The president lifted the wage cap of €80,000 to pay Ms Van Lieshout a salary of €103,000.
However, this morning, the Irish Independent reports:
‘”There is no basis for the main contention of this report. Meetings are arranged through the Mr Higgins’s private secretary not through Mr McCarthy, and no one has any difficulties in relation to access to the President,” a source said.’
Hmm.
Gareth Chaney/Photocall Ireland
President Higgins discusses Seamus heaney’s legacy outside the 1913 Living the Lockout exhibition on Henrietta Street, Dublin, following news of the poet’s death.
Higgins: Heaney’s ‘contribution to humanity was immense’ (irish Examiner)
(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)