Editor's Blog Jun 29th 2012
The Irish Royal Visit
The Queen visited Belfast the day before yesterday. She was greeted by thousands, who had been waiting for hours to get a glimpse of her and her husband.
There where lots of flags and the Northern Irish capital was in a grip of royal fervor, much as Gibraltar was a couple of weeks ago.
Well not all of Belfast was caught up in a royal fervor. The other inhabitants, those against British rule, made their point very clear by painting in very large letters Erin is our Queen, and graffiti popping up all around the city telling Lizzie that she could stuff her jubilee.
So much can be said about her visit being inappropriate, at least for those who do not support the Monarchy, and the spate of unrest culminating in the arrest of at least 100 people and leaving nine injured in the Broadway area for rioting, has once again pulled off the scab and exposed the old festering wound.
The people that handle the Queens movements (No nothing to do with the throne), feel that it is fine for her to visit a place that shares some remarkable similarities with Gibraltar (Less the Violence).
I enjoyed our own jubilee celebrations here in Gibraltar, and found Edward and Sophie to be just right in their approach during the whole visit, but I would have preferred the Queens Handlers to say “well she is getting on a bit, lets get her to Gibraltar before she pops her diamond slippers and to hell what politicians think.”
The Queen is the one of the most redeemable figures in recent times, by extending the hand of friendship to the now Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland, Mr. Martin McGuinness. He wasn’t always a politician; Old Marty boy was an IRA guerrilla commander during the undeclared war that ravaged most of the city for the last free decades.
What has this landmark handshake achieved? Well in my opinion, not a lot, other than a symbolic gesture to show that the two leaders of the warring factions can shake hands and continue to agree to disagree.
Like Gibraltar, there will be a need for a couple of generations to live a trouble free life before they start warming up to their neighbours, as there is always someone ready to remind you of the past.
Ed.
