Higgins, the first Irish president at the coronation of a British king

The President of the Republic of Ireland, Michael D Higginsand his wife Sabina will attend this Friday in London to a reception organized by the king Charles III and queen consort Camilla in the Buckingham Palaceon the eve of the coronation of the British monarch.

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This will be the ninth meeting between the two heads of state, who maintain a good friendship, although no Irish president, a mainly representative position, had ever attended the coronation of a sovereign of the United Kingdom.

The British ambassador in Dublin, Paul Johnstonhas highlighted that the presence of Higgins and the Irish Prime Minister, leo varadkarin this historic event demonstrates “in an emblematic way” that both countries “they have a close and unique relationship”, despite the fact that it has been affected by the Brexit in recent years.

Even more significant is the attendance at the coronation of the vice-president of the Sinn Fein, Michelle O’Neill, who comes as leader of the republican formation in the British province of North Ireland and chief minister-elect of the autonomous government, which, however, has been suspended for more than a year.

O’Neill has recalled that “We live in times of great change” in which it is necessary “respect our different but equally legitimate aspirations”, for the purpose of “focus on the future and the opportunities that the next decade offers”.

Stock Image | Irish President Michael D. Higgins inspects an exhibition dedicated to the victims of the Irish Famine (1845-1852) at the Hyde Park Barracks Museum in Sydney on October 18, 2017. (Photo by BROOK MITCHELL/POOL/AFP) (BROOK MITCHELL/)

The leader of the sinn feinformer political arm of the already inactive GONNA and defender of the unification of Ireland, already attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London last September, as a sign of the progress made to improve relations between the republicans and the british crown.

For its part, the invitation extended to the sinn fein by the new monarch represents a further step in this process of overcoming the past conflict, which also directly affected the royal family with the attack on the GONNA that caused the death in 1979 of Lord Mounbattenthe favorite great-uncle of Carlos III.

Every gesture counts in Northern Ireland politics, which is now going through its umpteenth crisis due to the veto of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) -second formation- to the post-Brexit trade arrangements agreed by London and Brussels for the region.

Consequently, the pro-British unionists refuse to form a power-sharing government with the sinn feinafter his historic victory in the regional elections last May.

Source: Elcomercio