All Queen visit related discussion goes here.

Irish Fire

I think it's great that all went well, she'll be back for the derby next year.....

ejmaztec

Dionysus wrote: »

Now that this is all over, I'd just like to say that in terms of the greatly overused word 'historic', it's far more amazing that the party of Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson has been sharing power successfully with the party of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness for over four years now.

That's an extraordinary turnaround in this country's history, and one of the very few genuinely positive achievements amid the economic misery. The word 'historic' is way overused for this visit; to use it to describe the work invested in uniting, to quote John Hewitt, planter and Gael seems like an understatement.

We are living through a very historic period in our country's history, and long may the north continue to surprise. There's more goodwill between both communities than I have ever seen - the appearance of leading members of the DUP at Michaela Harte's funeral being the most poignant recent example of that. Amazing. It's a pity more people on Boards.ie couldn't give the historic improvement in the north the credit it deserves. It's far from perfect, but it's also far better than most people could have imagined in the most polarised years of the Troubles. Keeping both communities working together in the north will be a far greater source of pride and achievement for Irish society than the ephemeral media-driven "pride" of "our behaviour" during the visit of a British monarch to Ireland. Let's get perspective.

I think that most people are aware of how things have improved in the North, and give credit where credit's due, and the visit adds to the positive mix. I've always been anti-royalist, but even I can see that this visit has had an overwhelmingly positive effect.

State visits are bound to overblown because that's the nature of the beast.

My name is URL

They ripped the piss a fair bit just now on Have I Got News For You

Saru

My name is URL wrote: »

They ripped the piss a fair bit just now on Have I Got News For You

Uh oh, what was it like?

robinph

My name is URL wrote: »

They ripped the piss a fair bit just now on Have I Got News For You

Damn it, forgot it was on.

Hurry up with the upload iPlayer...

Wibbs

Regardless of any politics, what impressed me is her and Philips (or is that Pheeleeps) stamina. These are two very elderly people. She's 85(6?), he's 90. 90! FFS. I caught a bit of the Cashel thing. Where the chopper landed in a field(well planned there Ted) and this 85 year old and this 90 year old marched across said field and then up the hill. Then engaged with the locals and this isn't just one hour in one day. We see her and him in detail Ireland, but every state visit goes pretty similarly. Philip seems to keep the taking the piss muscle sharp wit exercised and like I say he's 90. This guy was born when the Irish civil war was kicking off or just before. Though she does it in heels, hat and handbag. Credit where credits due. Sod this I'm taking up eating swan sandwiches washed down with lashings of ginger beer DuBonnet and gin/Martini and never retiring.

Actually the latter is probably the marrow of it. Duty has been drilled into her from birth and after her father reluctantly got the king gig she was really primed and trained for the duty thing. The only job she could have. And she got to live it. Look what happened to her sister, the heir to spare who didn't. But old as she is she is valued. Hence she has a valuable life. How many equally valuable older people are around you that are no longer valued? IMHO Phil and Liz should be lauded for their rejigging of what it means to be really old farts.

sideswipe

I'm sad she's gone- come back QEII
We'll have to go back to talkin about how f***ed we are......IMF........recession......EU blah, blah, blah

*Well after Mr President has gone home anyway

shadowninty

sideswipe wrote: »

I'm sad she's gone- come back QEII

dude.
its only a ship

Gypsies

sideswipe wrote: »

I'm sad she's gone- come back QEII
We'll have to go back to talkin about how f***ed we are......IMF........recession......EU blah, blah, blah

*Well after Mr President has gone home anyway

lol - as a small business owner, totally up the swanny, having the Queen here somehow made my life a bit brighter. Now, I'm looking forward to Obama's visit. How sad am I?

iamwhoiam

Alastriona73 wrote: »

Thank God this whole farce is now over with. We have had our media dominated with this topic for 4 whole days. While there were some people against the visit and some all for the visit the vast majority had no interest at all. If you were to believe the media you would swear we were all overcome with excitement at the thought of this visit. Over the last 4 days at my workplace, at social events and at the school gates not once was this visit brought up in conversation. I had to stop watching telly or listening to the radio as it appeared nothing else was going on in the world. Frankly if RTE coverage of events was based on the amount of people actually interested in the topic it would have only got a 5 minute slot on the news.

Oh never mind , now you can go back to Vincent Brown lamenting , IMF bullying , Brian Dobson full of doom and gloom , moan and groan at the news , listen to the weather forecast of rain and more rain . Petrol prices up and up , dole queues longer . Enjoy the news now that she gone , The teli should be a howl now

The Left Hand Of God

I thought it went quite well.

She looked like she was actually enjoying herself rather then the face she has when she visits places she has to for ubber political reasons. Real serious and like a bee stug her.

Fair play to all involved. The logistics must have been a nightmare.

Chris P. Bacon

Wibbs wrote: »

Regardless of any politics, what impressed me is her and Philips (or is that Pheeleeps) stamina. These are two very elderly people. She's 85(6?), he's 90. 90! FFS. I caught a bit of the Cashel thing. Where the chopper landed in a field(well planned there Ted) and this 85 year old and this 90 year old marched across said field and then up the hill. Then engaged with the locals and this isn't just one hour in one day. We see her and him in detail Ireland, but every state visit goes pretty similarly. Philip seems to keep the taking the piss muscle sharp wit exercised and like I say he's 90. This guy was born when the Irish civil war was kicking off or just before. Though she does it in heels, hat and handbag. Credit where credits due. Sod this I'm taking up eating swan sandwiches washed down with lashings of ginger beer DuBonnet and gin/Martini and never retiring.

Actually the latter is probably the marrow of it. Duty has been drilled into her from birth and after her father reluctantly got the king gig she was really primed and trained for the duty thing. The only job she could have. And she got to live it. Look what happened to her sister, the heir to spare who didn't. But old as she is she is valued. Hence she has a valuable life. How many equally valuable older people are around you that are no longer valued? IMHO Phil and Liz should be lauded for their rejigging of what it means to be really old farts.

Wibbs,you are the glue that holds boards.ie together,this place wouldnt be the same without you

*I mean that in a good way*

Zillah

Even as someone largely in favour of the visit, I have to say, this article from the BBC is so flattering and gushing it makes me feel a little bit sick.

K-9

Kind of wondering what all the fuss was about before hand!

Cork Lass

I'm really sad that this visit has come to an end. Now we have to return to our normal daily groans and grumbles. I don't care tuppence about what the begrudgers think, as far as I'm concened Queen Elizabeth II rocks - as does our President. They have achieved what we thought would never be possible and I am proud of them both. It's great that Obama is coming to ireland too but I really think that the queen has kicked him to the kerb:)

Gunsfortoys

Cork Lass wrote: »

I'm really sad that this visit has come to an end. Now we have to return to our normal daily groans and grumbles. I don't care tuppence about what the begrudgers think, as far as I'm concened Queen Elizabeth II rocks - as does our President. They have achieved what we thought would never be possible and I am proud of them both. It's great that Obama is coming to ireland too but I really think that the queen has kicked him to the kerb:)

I really wish the word 'begrudgers' was banned in AH, most of the people that say it have no idea what it means.

purplepanda

Thought the Queens visit was an very important event historically & it was received well in Ireland & England.:D

However my Welsh Missus got upset with me watching it all on TV, switched channels & said the sooner that Wales is independent of England the better :eek:

The only time I've ever seen her cheer England is when they played Argentina because of the Falklands War, & she says the Queen is not Welsh so doesn't want her rule. Once she supported Germany against England in the World Cup

Her mother is even still moaning about Prince Charles of Wales!!! Saying who does he think he is speaking Welsh. And normally she moans about neighbours sometimes speaking Welsh instead of English.;)

flahavaj

I was utterly indifferent to this whole thing since it was announced, and I've never had any time for royalty, but Queen Elizabeth won me over this week I have to say. She put in a genuine effort to reach out to the Irish people, she kept a punishing schedule that someone a quarter of her age would struggle to keep up with and the footage of her speaking in Irish made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, she was dignified and respectful when she had to be and otherwise went about things with a smile on her face. President McAleese also carried off the whole thing with such poise and dignity. A wonderful lady and someone in high office that we can be genuinely proud of for once.

K-9

flahavaj wrote: »

I was utterly indifferent to this whole thing since it was announced, and I've never had any time for royalty, but Queen Elizabeth won me over this week I have to say. She put in a genuine effort to reach out to the Irish people, she kept a punishing schedule that someone a quarter of her age would struggle to keep up with and the footage of her speaking in Irish made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, she was dignified and respectful when she had to be and otherwise went about things with a smile on her face. President McAleese also carried off the whole thing with such poise and dignity. A wonderful lady and someone in high office that we can be genuinely proud of for once.

What struck me and resonated was the hug she gave Iris, would make an interesting video that!

Seriously, it was a nice touch for a woman who has been through the mill recently and must have been a difficult decision to attend.

In contrast to Mary Robinson, McAleese shows great social intelligence though she can be a bit OTT at times.

Pun away.

Sir Oxman

Was worth the time and effort in the end.

Highlights -
1. Garden of Rememberance and that bow. Not for what RTE kept telling me it was historic for "we are now equals", feck off we always were. It was an historic recognition that the men and women of that period were legitimately freedom fighters and not terrorists Stick that in your revisionist pipes whoever says they ever were terrorists.
2. Islandbridge - a lovely simple, ceremony that finally and openly said that the men who died in British uniforms at that time on foreign fields were deserving of recognition and not disdain.
3. The two speeches - I was very impressed by both. The British queen's was simple, short and to the point. I liked the nod she gave to her bow to the Irish heroes of the struggle for independence when she talked "of being able to bow to the past but not to be bound by it"
That was a very powerful statement.
4. Cameron and Hague being there - it really underlined the importance of what was happening.

Lowlights -
1. Tubridy.
2. RTE sycophancy and shyte (a bit was expected) but being told how I must feel and think every hour of each of the 4 days.
3. The sight of Ahern and Cowen at three of the important events - really, any sort of protest should have been aimed at these two anti-Irishmen
4. The sight of a thousand nobodies, the 'great and good' of Ireland hanging around like a bad smell for the 4 days - as you can see, I have a problem with arselicking nobodies hogging queenytime. That really got on my wick.
5. Dublin turned into a ghost town.
6. That British embassy concert, most of it's guestlist and the acts. And the host.
7. Garret FitzGerald kicking the bucket when he should have been at the top table and the front row of every important gathering. RIP.

Overall, the good outweighs the annoying (just watch out for moves for us to rejoin the Commonwealth in the not to distant future!)

Adamisconfused

gambiaman wrote: »

.
.
.
.
2. Islandbridge - a lovely simple, ceremony that finally and openly said that the men who died in British uniforms at that time on foreign fields were deserving of recognition and not disdain.
.
.
.

I agree with pretty much all you wrote. Just something on this point I got thinking about earlier. All of us who respect the fight for Irish freedom and laud Tom Barry and many others who previously wore British uniforms at one point, barely pause to realise that if he had been killed in the service of the crown, like so many others, we would have ignored and probably denigrated the memory of the man every day since his death. We would have overlooked all the important characteristics of a principled man and concentrated on his uniform at the time of his death. How many others, who were unfortunate enough not to make it out of that dreadful war, have we failed to respect?

Like yourself, I found a lot of the rhetoric from RTE nauseating much of the time, but the visit may have helped make some of us become more appreciative of a certain history we previously found uncomfortable.



Respecting those who fought for their King and country is another issue. I'm purely thinking of many who fought for nationalist ideals at the moment.

MarchDub

Adamisconfused wrote: »

Respecting those who fought for their King and country is another issue. I'm purely thinking of many who fought for nationalist ideals at the moment.

Yes, it is an important historical note to remember that many Irish who fought in WWI in British uniforms were nationalists who were doing so with the belief that they were fighting for Irish Home Rule. A huge amount of them signed up as John Redmond's 'Irish Volunteers'. And of those who were not killed - many came home from WWI and joined the IRA.

It seems to be getting lost in the new rhetoric of our 'recovered memory' to now lump them all together as fighting for King and Empire. Not so.

MarchDub

gambiaman wrote: »

Was worth the time and effort in the end.

Highlights -
1. Garden of Rememberance and that bow. Not for what RTE kept telling me it was historic for "we are now equals", feck off we always were. It was an historic recognition that the men and women of that period were legitimately freedom fighters and not terrorists Stick that in your revisionist pipes whoever says they ever were terrorists.

+ 1. Well said.

Show Time

Mr Cork Man wrote: »

Im sorry we didn't have enough skangers causing havoc for you ya clare mucksavage.:pac:

You are from Youghal which makes you more of a Waterford man then anything.

celtictiger32

Mr Cork Man wrote: »

Cork is better than Dublin because it isn't full of filthy junkie scum unlike Dublin.:pac:

good man yourself!!:rolleyes:

sure why dont you just call it londoncork

AckwelFoley

Gunsfortoys wrote: »

I really wish the word 'begrudgers' was banned in AH, most of the people that say it have no idea what it means.

Its more of a polite way of saying Arseholes tbh

gigino

RonMexico wrote: »

Olivia O'Leary spoke as if the Queen wasn't in the same room. All her taking about refusing to curtsy and mentioning the government minister who said likewise was not humorous, it was bloody rude. We know you don't have to do it, but there is no need to harp on about it to her face. The stuff about the horse was pathetic. I was half expecting her to say - "We still hate you really."

What will she do next, make a speech about Obama and keep mentioning that he is black?

+1. Not only did "Olivia O'Leary spoke as if the Queen wasn't in the same room", but she said it in an ugly tone of voice, and her jokes at the Queens expense were not polite, and nobody laughed. The Queen went out of her way for an 85 year old woman by coming here ( accepting the invitation from our President ), and was as reconcilitary as possible in all things. A few other posters have commented at how they thought her nose was being rubbed in it, by being brought to see her reaction to The IRA memorial, the GAA stadium / bloody Sunday site, the old Protestant university ( founded by her ancestors) taken over by the Irish state etc. There are plenty of Irish people who were victims of the IRA, and who died and gave their lives as good citizens, trying to uphold the law of the land...its funny she bows at a memorial dedicated to " all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom", but no mention of their victims ?

Lets hope OLeary does not speak at a concert in front of Obama , and then speak about him and the blacks as if he is not in the room.

Pauleta

gigino wrote: »

+1. Not only did "Olivia O'Leary spoke as if the Queen wasn't in the same room", but she said it in an ugly tone of voice, and her jokes at the Queens expense were not polite, and nobody laughed. The Queen went out of her way for an 85 year old woman by coming here ( accepting the invitation from our President ), and was as reconcilitary as possible in all things. A few other posters have commented at how they thought her nose was being rubbed in it, by being brought to see her reaction to The IRA memorial, the GAA stadium / bloody Sunday site, the old Protestant university ( founded by her ancestors) taken over by the Irish state etc.
Lets hope OLeary does not speak at a concert in front of Obama , and then speak about him and the blacks as if he is not in the room.

I fully agree. I see all her mates in the media are lauding her speech as well. It was a freaking disgrace. If it had been made in Britain, im sure The Queen may have even walked out. If she was writing it as a column then i would say fair enough but she was in her presence. My granny is around the same age as The Queen. If she said that stuff about falling off the horse about my granny, i would of personally thrown her out on the street. Im sure the Queen only humoured her because she knew she was on a healing wounds type of visit.

Nodin

gigino wrote: »

+1. Not only did "(........)in the room.

The third time you've made essentially the same post in this thread. You obviously didn't get the reaction you wanted the other two times, what makes you think it'll be third time lucky?

My name is URL

I really don't get the outrage over what Olivia said. Why are people assuming that the Queen was made to feel insulted?