Prince Philip hailed for historic visit to Ireland - 'Came as a man on a mission'
PRINCE Philip has been hailed by the former Irish President Mary McAleese for playing a pivotal role in healing the relationship between Britain and Ireland.
Prince Philip praised for Republic of Ireland visit by McAleese
Mary McAleese was President of Ireland during the Queen and Prince Philip's historic state visit to the country in 2011. The occasion has been recognised as marking a key juncture in Ango-Irish relations, being the first time a British Monarch had set foot in the Republic of Ireland for a century. Ms McAleese revealed to BBC presenter Andrew Marr the important role performed by the Duke of Edinburgh during the visit.
The former President of Ireland said: "He, of course, accompanied her on the four days of that visit one of the longest state visits we have ever had in Ireland.
"But undoubtedly also the most historic visit since no British Monarch had set foot in the Republic of Ireland in 100 years.
"There was all that baggage of history to be dealt with.
"Neither of them exhibited any nervousness but you could understand the security was very high, concerns were very high."
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Ms McAleese added: "So he was there as she has described in the past as her rock.
"But he was also there as a character in his own right, a man who had come on a mission as she had come.
"Both of them had come on this mission in their own right to try and heal history to ensure that for the future these two neighbouring islands would be characterised by good neighbourliness.
"So he wasn't just there as her company if you like, her inevitable company, he was also there making a statement."
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She continued: "One of the remarkable things that didn't happen on that visit was of course that he subsequently met Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness.
"A former member of the IRA and he would have probably have met him in Dublin on that visit if Sinn Fein had agreed.
"We had invited Martin McGuinness to all the events but Sinn Fein had decided for their own reasons not to support the visit and not to be there.
"So he was willing even then to met people who had been so closely associated with the murder of a man who meant so much to him, Lord Mountbatten."
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The Queen made history on May 17, 2011, when she became the first reigning British Monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland.
Her grandfather King George V was the last British king to tour the region, back to when the full island was part of the United Kingdom.
During her three-day visit alongside Prince Philip, the Queen delivered a speech at Dublin Castle in which she spoke about the past conflict between the islands.
Other members of the Royal Family have visited Ireland in recent years.