McGuinness to shake hands with Queen
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will shake hands with Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness today in a gesture that will herald a major milestone in Anglo-Irish relations.
Stormont’s Deputy First Minister – a former IRA commander – and the Queen will join for a historic meeting in Belfast before making the symbolic greeting.
The handshake has been hailed as hugely significant by peace campaigners, while republican Mr McGuinness said it would reach out to hundreds of thousands of unionists.
Peter Sheridan, chief executive of Co-operation Ireland, a charity which promotes peace in the North and the Republic, said the gesture would alter things irrevocably.
“From my perspective it’s a huge act of reconciliation, you cannot underestimate how important this is,” he added.
“Whoever would have thought we would ever be in this situation – I think it says a lot about healing, human dignity and treating each other with respect.
“I think after today all of us will say things have changed – for me that’s the significance of it.”
The Queen last year broke down barriers on both sides of the Irish border through her conciliatory words and gestures during her visit to the Republic.
Today’s meeting with Mr McGuinness will take place at a Co-operation Ireland event at the city’s Lyric Theatre with the handshake being made in private alongside a handful of VIPs.
Ahead of the meeting Mr McGuinness said the gesture would be a vital step in securing reconciliation between nationalists and unionists.
Speaking earlier this week he said: “Obviously, it is physically impossible for me to stretch out the hand of friendship, peace and reconciliation to hundreds of thousands of unionists.
“I have shaken the hands of many unionists over the course of recent years, people who have appreciated my contribution and my party’s contribution to peace.
“But in shaking the hand of Queen Elizabeth I am effectively, symbolically, shaking the hands of hundreds of thousands of unionists.
“I think that is a good thing. I think that is something that is very important to do, particularly in showing unionists that a spirit of generosity on all sides can pay huge dividends for all of us.”
First Minister Peter Robinson welcomed the meeting, but acknowledged it would be difficult for the Queen, given that her own family was hurt by republican violence when the IRA killed Lord Mountbatten in a 1979 bombing in Co Sligo.
The Democratic Unionist leader added that republicans should pay due respect to the monarch as a recognition of her importance to many in Northern Ireland.
The Queen, who will be joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, is joint patron of Co-operation Ireland along with President Michael D Higgins.
The President will be present at the event along with Mr Robinson.
Leading figures from the arts have also been invited including actor Adrian Dunbar who has appeared in notable films like 'My Left Foot', 'The Crying Game', and 'The General'.
The meeting with Mr McGuinness is separate to the Queen’s two-day Diamond Jubilee visit to the North, which yesterday saw her and Philip tour Enniskillen.
Today the royal couple will travel to Stormont in Belfast for a garden party attended by 22,000 guests in the grounds of the famous building.
