Sinn Féin leader says Queen's visit offers 'unique opportunity' for mutual respect and equality on both sides
Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin, has said that the Queen's visit to Ireland could mark moves towards a new and better relationship between the country and Britain.
His remarks come as an unprecedented security operation gets under way in the Republic to protect the Queen from terrorist attacks or street disorder. The public will be kept back from the royal entourage as it passes along Dublin's quays, north of the river Liffey and the city's main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street.
Adams, the Sinn Féin president, said the three-day royal tour could provide "a unique opportunity" for mutual respect and equality on both sides of the Irish Sea.
His comments, in a column for the Irish Examiner, mark a change in his attitude to the historic visit. He said he had nothing against the Queen but he was opposed to the idea of monarchies in principle. He hoped the visit would hasten the day when a new and better relationship could be formed, but that would depend on what the Queen said.
Adams maintained that the visit was troubling for many people and found suggestions that the state visit was an indication that Irish people had matured insulting and patronising. In March, the Sinn Féin president had described the visit as premature.
His comments came as security forces on both sides of the border began a clampdown on republican dissidents who have vowed to disrupt the visit. In Northern Ireland, police arrested a man and a woman in Co Armagh in connection with dissident republican activity. Detectives from the PSNI's serious crime branch held a man of 25 in Lurgan and a woman of 26 in Armagh. Both are being questioned under the Terrorism Act.
Meanwhile, former IRA hunger striker and Old Bailey bomber Marian Price is still being quizzed about dissident republican actions by the PSNI. She was arrested at her west Belfast home on Friday.
Price was seen at Easter standing beside a masked Real IRA man at a dissident republican commemoration in Derry. She has been a bitter critic of Adams's and Sinn Féin's peace strategy, regarding their stance as a sell-out of traditional republican principles.
South of the border the Garda Síochána is continuing preparations for the arrival of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. More than 30 streets in central Dublin will have parking restrictions imposed, and these will remain in place all week. Up to 5,000 gardaí will be deployed on security duties to protect the royal couple. The force also has a number of water cannon in reserve, borrowed from the PSNI.
Barriers will remain in place throughout the royal visit and will keep the public away from the royal party, which will travel through the city in bulletproof cars.
Thousands of manholes covers and lamp-posts along the route through Dublin have already been checked and sealed as part of the security operation. Traffic restrictions on some routes through the city will begin on Monday.
Senior Garda sources, meanwhile, have expressed concern over the continuing ability of dissident republicans to acquire sophisticated new arms from sources abroad. They point to the seizure of a new type of mortar rocket launcher at Dublin airport at Christmas. The weapon is more accurate and has a greater range than launchers used in previous attacks on police stations in Northern Ireland.
In a series of follow-up operations, the Garda has also uncovered a new type of Russian explosive which the Real IRA is believed to have smuggled into the Republic within the past two years.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/15/queen-visit-ireland-gerry-adams
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