You could not mistake the atmosphere in Dublin this week: the state visit of the Queen and Prince Philip has had the full panoply of a historic occasion. It was obvious that the Irish state was wholeheartedly committed to its success, with the most formal protocols in place. Both David Cameron and William Hague have accompanied the Queen for part of the trip, which is highly unusual. The Queen agreed to visit locations associated with those who rose against the Crown — the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square — and showed a graceful sense of respect. It has been impressive and even moving. Yet it was also sad — at least in Dublin. Because there is a small but extremely violent minority of dissenters, Dublin city was eerily empty of people. Security barriers blocked off all the main thoroughfares. The desolation of the city streets enhanced, in a way, the beauty of the buildings. Strange to think that hardly a generation ago there were Irish politicians who wanted to knock down Georgian Dublin because it was ‘ancien regime’, and fill the spaces with concrete car parks. Thanks to the wonderful Desmond Guinness (Max Mosley’s half-brother), most of Georgian Dublin was saved, and it looked especially glorious as the royal party sped by.

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J.P. Walsh – 22 May 2011

On June 22, 1921, when he opened Stormont, King George V said, ‟I appeal to all Irishmen to pause, to stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive and forget and to join in making for the land which they love a new era of peace, contentment and goodwill.” On 18th May 2011, at a State Dinner in Dublin Castle, Queen Elizabeth II said, “Indeed, so much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history, its many layers and traditions, but also the importance of forbearance and conciliation – of being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.”

I understand that England withdrew from Ireland gradually during the 19th century and this culminated in the Home Rule process, the emergence of Northern Ireland and then the Irish Free State and its evolution into the Republic of Ireland. The latest manifestation of English support for Ireland is a royal visit, following on the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent Anglo-Irish agreements. It appears to me that the London government wishes all of Ireland well. I believe that the UK government seeks and has always sought to protect the Irish population from the consequences of Irish extremist positions, tensions and actions from whatever group these arise. Royal utterances reflect this position very clearly.

I come from an Roman Catholic background and I find the church in Ireland and the Catholic population have changed in thinking and religious practice way beyond anything I would have ever dreamed possible as I matured during the 1950s and 1960s. This deep change in belief and practice has changed Ireland profoundly. I feel the mainstream Irish population is now very similar to the mainstream English population in religious attitude. Perhaps the majority of English people would describe themselves as ‘C of E’, but set foot in church only very rarely. Similarly, most Irish people would now describe themselves as Catholic but only set foot in church very rarely.

Now that Irish ‘difference’ is so much reduced, I believe that many, indeed perhaps most, Irish people have discovered that the UK is no longer threatening in any way to their sense of identity. The Irish population have in fact become more English in attitude and behaviour. This is not surprising as the population of Southern Ireland is largely English in origin anyway. Hence the success of the Queen’s visit.

I find myself asking, is Ireland now returning to the relationship with England which Ireland threw away so thoughtlessly after 1920? The Queen’s visit symbolises to me some sort of very belated effort by the Irish – and very much encouraged by London – to try to repair some of the damage. Everything to do with the Queen’s visit shouts out to me that Ireland should never have left the UK. The shared history is just too profound.

In 1911, Ireland was a united country and a free democracy. Order was kept by largely RC police forces. Ireland had religious freedom, freedom of speech and was economically pretty prosperous. Irish government was simple, cheap and efficient, and Ireland was well defended. By 1923, Ireland found herself divided into two sectarian states because of the stupidity of many Irish people. By 1931, basic freedoms were curtailed throughout the island. Many had died violently, so the most basic freedom – the right to life itself – was no longer guaranteed. Ireland was determined to cut herself off from her main markets, and sought to undermine her own defence. Common citizenship with the UK was thrown away. Eventually an uneasy sort of peace developed which ended in 1969 with the resurgence of yet more trouble. More deaths have occurred since 1969 than took place in the 1916 to 1923 troubles.

No wonder the extreme Irish republicans protest the visit as it shows the failure of this form of republicanism so clearly. Sadly, Ireland can scarcely be described as normal when the Queen has to drive around in an armoured Range Rover through cleared streets and the public are not allowed near her. Curiously enough though, the Queen was allowed to mingle with ordinary people in the streets of ‘rebel Cork’!

William Hague remarked in Dublin last week that there are 6 million UK residents who are Irish born, or with Irish parents or grandparents (figures from Foreign Secretary Hague). That fact speaks volumes.

For me, the royal visit underlines the failure of Irish dreams and the strength of English pragmatism.

Where do we go from here?

We are not the most oppressed people ever, in fact, we are among the least oppressed, says Ruth Dudley Edwards

JOHN, an old friend, English and well-informed about history, rang me on Wednesday night to rant about the coverage of the Queen’s visit.

“Dammit!” he cried. “They’re going on about the 1916 executions without mentioning that this insurrection took place when the UK was fighting for its life! Maybe it was unwise to hang or shoot these people, but surely it’s understandable. It’s being presented as an atrocity, which it bloody wasn’t.”

I agreed with him. I’m always annoyed at our lack of perspective about the wrongs done us by our colonisers. Look, every country in the world has trouble with the neighbours. We had only one neighbour, so all our grievances are focused in one direction. What do you think it was like being Poland? What do you think Germany or France would have done in the face of an armed revolt when they were fighting a war in a place they thought was part of their territory? They would have rounded up all the rebels and killed the lot, that’s what.

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