Queen to visit Croke Park stadium

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  • xman
    Admin
    • Sep 2006
    • 24007

    Queen to visit Croke Park stadium

    18 May 2011 Last updated at 04:54 ET The Queen is to visit sports stadium Croke Park in Dublin, where 14 people were killed by British forces during a Gaelic football match 91 years ago.

    On her second day in the Republic of Ireland, she will also attend a service honouring Ireland's war dead.

    Later at a banquet at Dublin Castle, she will make her only public speech.

    She is likely to acknowledge past difficulties, but is unlikely to apologise for past behaviour, BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said.

    Wednesday will start with a trip to tourist attraction the Guinness Storehouse, but later the Queen will move on to Croke Park in inner city north Dublin.

    Thirteen spectators and one player were killed at the home of Gaelic sports when British forces opened fire during the War of Independence in November 1920.

    BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt described it as "the once unimaginable becoming the norm" when the Queen will walk on hallowed nationalist turf at Croke Park.

    Soldier memorial An aspect of history which has been troubling for the Queen's hosts will be touched on when she attends a ceremony to honour the nearly 50,000 Irish soldiers who died in World War I.

    For decades, when the focus of admiration was on the rebels who fought and died in the 1916 Easter Rising, the soldiers' contribution went unrecognised.

    In the evening at Dublin Castle, which used to be the seat of British rule, the monarch will deliver a speech in the same room where Queen Victoria once dined.

    UK Prime Minister David Cameron will be present at the state dinner, after flying in and holding talks with Irish PM Enda Kenny on Wednesday afternoon.

    Mr Kenny has said he wishes to discuss the release of UK government files on the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in which victims' relatives believe there was British state collusion.

    Demonstrators charged The first day of the royal visit went smoothly, although there were some protests.

    During the Queen's visit to the Garden of Remembrance, in Dublin, riot police officers jostled with demonstrators at two separate protests on streets several hundred yards away.

    The garden is dedicated to people who fought for Irish independence from Britain.

    As the Queen, with President Mary McAleese alongside her, laid a wreath in the garden, the sounds of protesters could be heard and black balloons were released by some demonstrators.

    Broadcaster RTE reported that 20 men had been charged with public order offences on Tuesday night in relation to the afternoon's violence.

    Early in the day it emerged that a pipe bomb found on a bus bound for Dublin on Monday had been made safe by the Irish army.

    One of the country's biggest security operations is in place for the Queen's four-day visit.

    The Queen's itinerary

    Tuesday 17 May: Visit to the official residence of the Irish president, Mary McAleese and tree planting ceremony. Wreath laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance and visit to Trinity College to view the Book of Kells.

    Wednesday 18 May: Tour of the Guinness Storehouse; visit the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, at Government Buildings, wreath-laying ceremony at the Irish War Memorial Garden; Croke Park stadium to meet Gaelic Athletic Association; state dinner at Dublin Castle.

    Thursday 19 May: Visit to National Stud at Kildare.

    Friday 20 May: Tour of St. Patrick's Rock, Cashel and the English Market and Tyndall Institute, Cork.

    Are you in Ireland? What do you think of the state visit? Are you planning to attend any events or protests? Send us your comments using the form below.


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