It was a moment of historic healing as Queen Elizabeth this week laid a wreath and bowed her head in a “hugely symbolic act of reconciliation between Ireland and Britain”.
The first ruling British monarch to visit the country in a century paid tribute at the Garden of Remembrance to the Irish rebels who died resisting British rule — a move that impressed even the cynics.
From the moment the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived, and she appeared in green, the tension broke.
She also visited Croke Park, the stadium where 14 civilians were killed by Crown forces in the “Bloody Sunday” of 1921.
The Queen began her speech in Dublin Castle with an unexpected Irish greeting, ‘A Uachtaráin agus a chairde’ (President and friends), a remark met with spontaneous applause.
(READ the story in the Telegraph)