Historic visit to the UK by the President of Ireland
A joint blog by Aingeal O’Donoghue, Ambassador of Ireland to Korea and Scott Wightman, British Ambassador to Korea.
From 8-11 April Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will host the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins for an official State Visit to the United Kingdom, the first ever by an Irish President. It will be a momentous occasion, following on from the State Visit of Her Majesty to Ireland in 2011, the first by a British monarch since 1911, when Ireland was still a part of the United Kingdom. President Higgins will also be the first Head of State that Her Majesty The Queen has officially hosted for a State Visit since President Park Geun-hye in November 2013.
This visit between two neighbouring islands may appear normal. In fact it is an extraordinary symbol of how historical pasts need not define present day relations.
In the case of Britain and Ireland, the history of our relations, like of so many neighbouring countries, is long, complex and often turbulent. Conquest, rebellion and conflict defined our relationships for centuries. The aftermath of World War I witnessed the independence of Ireland, achieved through confilict and at the price of civil war and partition, with Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom. More recently, over thirty years Northern Ireland suffered violent conflict until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in1998, which established a framework for peace. Crucially, the people of Ireland, North and South, voted in referenda to accept the agreement and the two sovereign Governments are its guarantors.
Today the Good Friday Agreement is cited world-wide as a model for reconciliation. The establishment of a successful power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland has pointed to the opportunities for establishing peace, prosperity and security for both of our nations, but critically in Northern Ireland itself.
Her Majesty The Queen’s visit to Ireland was an opportunity to remember all who had suffered from our troubled past. As her first engagement, Her Majesty visited the Garden of Remembrance to lay a wreath in memory of all those who died fighting to break the link with the United Kingdom. She also laid a wreath at the Irish war memorial at Islandbridge which commemorates the 49,000 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the World War I, most fighting for the British army. Later, she received a fantastic welcome by the people of Dublin and Cork. The abiding memory of the visit for Her Majesty was the warmth and hospitality of her hosts and the people of Ireland. The United Kingdom is determined to reciprocate this welcome for President Higgins.
A highlight of President Higgins’ visit to London will be Her Majesty hosting an official State Banquet in honour of President Higgins. The President will also be one of a small number of foreign Heads of State to address both houses of Parliament. The President will also lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminister Abbey. His visit also brings a focus to and celebrates the enormous contribution that the Irish migrant community has played in the success of the United Kingdom and the strength, breadth and vitality of the wider British-Irish relationship, both for peace in our islands and our joint prosperity. Up to one in four people in Britain has some Irish heritage and Ireland is Britain’s fifth largest market despite having less than 10% of Britain’s population.
To-day, the relationship between our two countries is widely considered to be at an all time high. Ireland and Britain have grown closer together through our shared membership of the EU and through our many years of working together promoting peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. The cooperation and connections we have in business and trade, science and technology, youth and community affairs, agriculture and food, sport and culture will all be marked during this week’s State visit, not least with a spectacular concert in the Albert Hall on Thursday evening.
As diplomats, much of our professional lives are spent living far away from home and taken up by addressing the big international challenges of the day, forging relations with countries distant from our immediate neighbourhoods.
The occasion of this visit by President Higgins reminds us that often our closest international partners are actually our next door neighbours.
Even as far away as Seoul, the relationship between our two nations feels real and tangible. At the British Embassy, the Aston Hall is named after the first British Consul to Korea who also happens to have been born on the island of Ireland. In the wider modern day expat community, Irish and British people are firm friends with a shared culture and identity. In Seoul, we have worked together closely for the last few years to celebrate the role that soldiers of Irish birth and heritage played in the Korean War, fighting in the British army and in those of other allies. Just last year, Ireland dedicated a new memorial at the War Memorial of Korea to these gallant soldiers.
We have much to celebrate through President Higgins’ visit: the strength of our reconciliation; the desire to collaborate for a better future; and, the rich and intertwined cultural tapestries of both of our nations. It will build on the success of the visit made by Her Majesty The Queen to Ireland in 2011.
History matters of course. It is as relevant and powerful in Ireland and the United Kingdom, as it is elsewhere in the world, including in Korea and North-east Asia. Whilst our relations are complex and multi-layered, we are neighbours and friends. The troubles of the past century leave a painful legacy, yet we are determined not to be enchained by them.; Successive steps that build confidence; gestures that acknowledge each other’s needs and rights; a commitment to partnership and mutual respect – these have played an essential part in the growing together in trust and friendship of our two countries