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Why Martin McGuinness should meet Queen Elizabeth

Queen to visit Northern Ireland this month as part of Diamond Jubilee

Irish Voice Editorial,

Published Thursday, June 7, 2012, 7:54 AM

Updated Thursday, June 7, 2012, 1:23 PM

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Martin McGuinness

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Martin McGuinness should meet Queen Elizabeth when she visits Northern Ireland this month as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister has displayed an amazing political ability since taking office.

He befriended former First Minister Ian Paisley in an astonishing development that turned Northern Irish history on its head.

They were one of the oddest couples in political history, but thanks in no small way to McGuinness’s efforts they made the fledgling new government in Northern Ireland work.

Following Paisley’s retirement McGuinness worked very closely with the new First Minister Peter Robinson and forged a bond. McGuinness stood by Robinson when his wife’s marital difficulties threatened to end his political career.

It all required the delicate diplomacy of a master politician, and McGuinness has clearly displayed that ability.

Now comes an even more daunting task, meeting with the Queen when she is over on a triumphal tour of her colony this week.

In fairness to Elizabeth she did much of the outreach already during her visit to Dublin last year.

She paid homage to Republican heroes at the Garden of Remembrance and memorably used several words of Gaelic when she spoke at Dublin Castle.

Her outreach did not go unnoticed, and Sinn Fein has made many positive noises about a potential meeting.

The rubber hits the road this week, and clearly there are many considerations at stake on both sides.

For Sinn Fein the Queen is the nominal commander in chief of the British Army as well as the living symbol of the state that partitioned Ireland.

For the Queen there is the matter of Lord Mountbatten, one of her closest royal allies who was blown up by the IRA in 1979.

The Northern Irish peace process has been a remarkable success and so many barriers have been broken down that it is almost passé to point out how many.

But McGuinness, the head of Northern Ireland’s Republican party in the Assembly and a renowned former IRA commander sitting down with Queen Elizabeth would be history indeed.

Seamus Heaney remarked that hope and history should rhyme in Northern Ireland, and this is yet another of those occasions when they appear to.

The meeting should go ahead.

Nster.com

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43 Comments

15 - 43 | See all comments

FallsRNat | Jun 12, 2012, 07:04 PM EDT

please can you show me the articles where the british govt admitted responsibility for involvement in the Finucane murder, but this momentous occasion seems to have passed everybody by & as Kenny has asked for an inquiry at every turn surely it would be all over the Irish papers. One fact of the recent court action by the Finucane family has been the withdrawal of remarks made that the British PM told Mrs F that an inquiry couldn't take place because of the 'shadowy' forces that wouldn't allow it to happen, people can decide whether no such conversation took place or that the real MIB do exist.

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RedBranch | Jun 12, 2012, 05:49 PM EDT

Wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall for that conversation.

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USlass1 | Jun 12, 2012, 02:38 PM EDT

The Poll that was taken that showed over 50% of the Irish felt Martin McGuiness should meet and shake hands with the Queen, was that poll taken before or after The Finucane family recently found out there will be no independent inquiry into Patrick Finucane's murder? The inquiry they have been fighting for, for decades. The British government has admitted they participated in the murder and has recently apologized for it.

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seanomelb | Jun 11, 2012, 09:47 PM EDT

Sirpeter it would appear that fallser is not hitching his pony at the Celtic Club. Maybe he's busy at the local lodge.BTW the clubs charter (1887) forbids the exclusion of anybody on religious grounds not like your l.o.l

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ancavker | Jun 11, 2012, 01:38 PM EDT

falls: You rip Dev apart (and he deserves a hare of ripping), and then you just glide right over with the British getting rid of arcane rules. Really!!! It is 2012!!!! It surely took them long enough. And always with the criticism of De Valera and the free state, and on an on it goes. And yet no criticism of the unionist,protestant, whatever you want to call it side. They are simply these loyal misunderstood British subjects, who we are supposed to believe have been under siege etc. etc. They shoulder a big responsibility for the mess that the partition of Ireland created. They could have said yes, or even maybe before no.

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Sparklet | Jun 11, 2012, 11:29 AM EDT

I'd say QE2 is more acceptable than vile bigot Paisley.

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seanomelb | Jun 11, 2012, 08:58 AM EDT

You're an idiot Ciaradexy when have I complained about immigrants into Ireland.I'm a member of an Irish club and hold memberships in other non-Irish organisations,there is only one Irish club in Melbourne and no one precluded from entering or joining regardless of their ethnicity.We even have a couple of dunderheads like you in the club.I'll introduce you to them when you're next in Melbourne.

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ciaradexy | Jun 11, 2012, 06:33 AM EDT

So Seano welcomes all irish people, to Melbourne? Seriously? Youre an immigrant in Australia and you have the cheek to complain about immigrants into ireland yet you hangout in irish clubs with irish people. Well done on the integration side of things there.

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IrelandNorth | Jun 11, 2012, 06:23 AM EDT

Few if any RC institutions remain dominant in any other part of Ireland - southern/eastern/or western! The Irish tricolour, modelled on the French anti-clericalist republiques of 1789/1848, symbolises peace between both major cultural traditions on the island. Unlike the imperialist sandwitching of the Saint Patrick's Cross of colonial Ireland in the British Union flag. A divided Ireland has meant ruination once again. Better to influence a nation from within than to fear it from without! There are Catholics who are British unionists and Protestants who are Irish unionists, even if they are exceptions to the abnorm. To protest is ideologically healthy. But why limit it to the realms of the religious?

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seanomelb | Jun 11, 2012, 02:10 AM EDT

LOL's sirpeter a reply from fallsers will be interesting,but he has nothing to fear we welcome all Irish people and he can trust me to look after him.

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sirpeter | Jun 10, 2012, 08:43 PM EDT

What's this? A discussion at the OK corral? The Good The Bad and it will definitely get Ugly. I must ring Helen and get her to put on the Theme music as Fallsers enters with his two lambeg drumsticks stuck in his belt. ;))

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seanomelb | Jun 10, 2012, 07:58 PM EDT

I'll try posting again.I will be in the Celtic Club Thursday 14th. at midday see you then Just ask Helen if Sean is around.

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seanomelb | Jun 10, 2012, 07:56 PM EDT

I'll be in the Celtic club Thursday at midday just ask for Sean. (Cnr.LaTrobe and Queen Streets city)

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FallsRNat | Jun 10, 2012, 05:17 PM EDT

answer the question or better still let's meet to discuss over a pint, i've been in melbourne for the last 2 weeks.

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seanomelb | Jun 09, 2012, 07:55 PM EDT

The Irish flag is a symbol of unity for all the people of Ireland.The flag was first introduced T.F. Meagher(1848),there was no geographical divide at the time and it was embraced by most Irish then as a flag of unity.Bitter Fallsrnat and his revisionist friends seem to be ignorant of these facts.

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