The Brits are scouting for consultants to employ when their Muslim population starts blowing up stuff.

Queen Elizabeth once again demonstrates the importance of the Royal family to the United Kingdom.

I never thought I'd the day when IRA and the British Shook hands.

Cheers to both!

This happened many years ago and the queen is irrelevant in the modern age. It is a nonevent. Don't get too emotional, and why does she always wear matching colors in this sort of thing. Be yourself.

why does she always wear matching colors in this sort of thing.

When doesn't she wear matching colours?

She pulled your chain. Hardly irrelevant.

One day you are defined as a terrorist; the next day a statesman. I have to applaud the IRA. The Irish were barbaric-ly treated by the British, the Black & Tan, for centuries. The British viewed them as pigs and slaughtered families with impunity and destroyed their homes. They imprisoned IRA soldiers and refused to recognize them as legitimate revolutionaries. Thank goodness the Irish organized themselves and fought back.

Paul Greengrass, the director, made an excellent film called Sunday, Bloody Sunday, that shows the deceit and brutality of English soldiers. Other good films include In the Name of the Father, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, and, of course, Steve McQueen's incredible film Hunger.

This is not the way Ghandi chose to rid his country of British imperialists, but violent revolution and wars is often used to accomplish goals.

The Queen is a better person than me. I could never shake the hand of someone responsible for killing my loved one. Good for her

Why is everyone patting the Queen on the back for this? Maybe everyone should read up on what the English scum did to the Irish over the past 800 years. The IRA commander should have introduced her to St. Patrick (left hand) and St. Michael (right hand). I also dont get why everyone in our country (USA) gushes over the royal family. What is the big deal with them? They dont impress me one bit.

Fuc k the old bag... many Irish were murdered with her knowledge.

No need for these "royals" anymore.

They are sucking the life out of the "lower" class in England too.

They need Northern Ireland to keep trade alive. Give the poor in YOUR country jobs.. you old bag.

The queen represents your slavery. You belong to her.

It is a great example of letting bye-gones be bye-gones. Very difficult for those of us who were in the middle of it but infinitely better than the Hatfields and McCoys or hating all Germans and Japanese for ever. Life goes on and letting hatred eat you up is a losing proposition.

WWJD - Well done Your Majesty; you too Mr. McGuinness.

Slainte

Back in the year 2000, I was sent to the UK by my employer to do some retrofits of some machinery we made in our factory.

I had a UK co-worker drive me to the location outside of London; a car "backfired" on the street and this guy jumped & then dove for the ground! He said he thought it was the IRA detonating a bomb.

There had been a IRA threat made public in London that morning, and he was nervous about it......

@keensight, well stated. This article troubles me deeply. The bias manner in which it is written, is difficult to overlook and frankly angers me. One cannot retell the tragic history of Ireland within this contained space, but genocide of the Irish race by the British sums it up accurately. One point in history worth mention; the Great Famine. The first myth is that the Irish grew potatoes out of desire. The truth is they grew it out of necessity. The British divided Irish land into ever smaller plots, rendering the potato the only crop viable. When the potato crop failed leaving over a million to starve or flee for their lives, the British Monarchy continued to export huge quantities of food to England. It isn't the Queen who should be commended on shaking hands with McGuinness, it's McGuinness who has the bigger axe to grind. The death of his Country and people by British rule.

Yes, your Majesty, now if you could kindly give back their language and 400+ years of hell during which your country slaughtered, neglected (famine), and debased their people, that'd be just grand.

I can't believe those you say this is a good thing. Nonsense, what would you say if Obama shook the hand Bin Laden before he was killed. Those comments are typical, it's good for other but not for us Americans. You all seem to forget that Guinness is a murderer.

Kenobi,, your ignorant of the facts, the famine was because England imported potato seeds from America and gave them to the Irish farmer so you need to stop running your mouth unless you know the truth. Yo make it sound like the Queen took away the Irish language, again you show your ignorance. The Irish language is still used in Eire and some parts of the north and if someone wants to learn the Gaelic they can. You need to look at America where there is a push for english only.

Mikem... you are like so many here who comment and make outlandish remarks and know nothing about history. Your typical, just because America is a new country and has no real history then you want to dictate to other countries how they should be run. BTW, I'm from Belfast and have lived it so stop showing your ignorance.

Well said, Winker. Only those who have lived through the Troubles, whether in Northern Ireland or Eire can possibly know what we went through. Belfast is magnificent today and I would hope everyone kind enough to poke their nose into this page would take time to go visit.

Winker, it so happens that I know a lot about Irish history and have read many accounts of the English doing NOTHING to help while millions starved. They never took steps to avoid the great famine of 1845 although the potato crop had failed many times in the past century. They belittled the farmers - landlords would lease their land to cotters and charge them exorbitant rent. Any improvement of the land came with higher rent, and so many of the cotters couldn't even improve their farms.

By the way, most scholars are uncertain how Phytophthora infestans arrived in Europe. The fact that you state that the English gave the Irish "potato seeds" from America seems to imply that you have no knowledge of the potato at all. The "seed" of a potato is the potato itself. Some claim that it may have been from the ships coming from America to Ireland with potatoes being a part of the crew's diet.

Add to this the fact that the English government only spent around 100,000 pounds to buy inedible maize from America to feed the Irish, WHO ALREADY GREW CORN BUT WERE NOT ALLOWED TO EAT IT BECAUSE IT WAS EXPORTED TO ENGLAND, says a lot. The Corn Laws in those days also artificially drove up the cost of bread. And many officials in England were more concerned about the reaction of the market and the violation of laissez faire than with the millions of Irish starving. In fact, the aristocracy saw the Irish as little more than dogs at this time. The failure of the British government during the Famine is akin to the American failure during hurricane Katrina, only the Famine lasted seven years!

While the Irish language, Gaeilge, is still used in Ireland today, there are only about 20,000 people who speak it as their first and native language. Many people in the Republic resent having to take it in school because they cannot use it on a daily basis. The FACT is that Great Britain outlawed Irish culture (including dress, language, sports, music, etc...) under the Penal Laws. I could go on and on about the atrocities of the Black and Tan thugs who terrorized Irish civilians and shot up a Gaelic football field with an armored personnel carrier. I could also go on about how the IRA killed civilians with numerous car bombs and assassinations. Neither side was right in killing innocent civilians, but let's not pretend that the IRA suddenly just decided to kill the English for no good reason.

By the way, I do look at America and see the push for English only, and I think it is disgusting. Many cultures made this country what it is today. Immigrants MADE this country. You need only look at our conservative party (of which I am not aligned with) to see why there is this xenophobic push.

Some people see a queen, I see an old person, who is given stupid amounts of money. An old person who's butt is thoroughly kissed because of her genetics, which is the only thing that determines royalty. She is no smarter than most, no better in any way other than her wealth.

Kings and Queens bleed just as easily as us "commonfolk" do.

To me the only thing British royalty represents is a bygone era of colonialism and an example of why royalty has no place in this world.

Go ahead little queen, have all the Jubilee's and handshake's you can get. Just keep pretending your very presence on this planet makes it a better place for the "commonfolk."

Agreed. Much of the "United Kingdom" was forcibly united and the British troops murdered hundreds of thousands over the centuries.

With the English economy tanking, England will be forced to make more concessions to the states around her.

Now if only the Queen and her family be removed from the political process.

Dummick - You mean kinda like the way the Native Americans were nearly killed off? You also don't have a clue about the NI situation. Not everyone wants a united Ireland and its your lack of understanding of that which frustrates people from there. So until you fully understand it or have lived in Belfast you should do some research.

And BEGreen, if it weren't for the UK opting to stay away from the Euro currency debacle that has occurred Northern Ireland would be suffering the same fate as the Republic. While not great, Northern Ireland's Economy is still better than the Celtic Tiger's is fairing at the minute.

Amen Brother

Hey, no one is saying that the United States has not behaved in an equally imperialistic manner. This country has slaughtered Native Americans and Africans mercilessly and still exploit cheap foreign labor to achieve profits. The corporate exploitation of Mexicans to improve business profits was really sanctioned by the govt in its allowing Corporate Recruiters to go into Mexico to hunt workers en masse. One reason local govts are bankrupt is because they have had to provide the health, education, and welfare benefits for these "corporate employees."

You oppress a people, murder them, dehumanize them, of course you'll eventually get blowback. And we see that blowback happening all over the world, even here in this country.

"This country has slaughtered Native Americans mercilessly and still exploit cheap foreign labor to achieve profits."

Yeah, damn Americans slaughtering Native Americans before the United States of America even existed. I believe many of those people came from elsewhere.. Great Britain perhaps?

Northern Ireland is still Irish soil,stolen from the Irish people by the english crown.
no line on a map or border or handshake makes it any different.

Mr. G to you, I do have some clue as to N Ireland's desire to remain fragmented from the Republic. It lies within it's history. Northern Ireland was colonized by the English. Although the land in the south was owned primarily by English protestants, landlords were sparse or absent, preferring to run their huge estates from England. The north on the other hand, had a high concentration of English protestants and the benefits that came with being so. Mostly economic and power. The Irish Catholics were the minority. They could have fled to the south, but let's be honest, they would have been fleeing to despair, poverty, and no land to possess. The 1800's were not kind to the Irish They chose the worse of two evils, Northern Ireland and have been fighting for equality ever since. The descendents of protestant English and Irish catholics who assimilated into the British culture, have no desire to relinquish the power they have gained over decades. That is why they chose not to have a united Ireland.

Irishbound, you nailed it. Let the education continue to those who have never set foot there.

There is nothing but good happening in this as too many people around the world have a misguided view of the history.

One visit to the North or the South and they will understand they are not the places the media has portrayed.

More power to ya.

Northern Ireland was colonized by the English.

I would add one thing to this it wasn't just the English that colonized Ulster, it was us Scots as well.

Another Fine Mess, that is true. However, at this point in time Scotland was already a part of Great Britian and consider them one in the same.

how can you say that a 79 year old man, his mother in law, two grandchildern one boy who was a deck hand are legitmate war targets.

Easily! Mountbottom was always parading around in his military uniform. The others weren't targeted but collateral damage.

War is ugly and no one is immune to its effects.

All terrorists are cowards

Charlie, agreed! The cowards of the British Army who gunned down all those innocent unarmed civilians in 1972 are the real terrorists.

Steve, were you there?,

The British army, "Cowards", say that to a sqadies face. go back to your crack pipe.

One man's cowardice is another man's heroic umanned drone attack on an Afghan wedding.

William Wallace was Scottish, not Irish, even if the Scots are mainly descendants of the Irish that invaded and conquered the native Picts.

Norman Tebbit is both a jackass and a fool. One man shaking the hand of the thing upon the throne does NOT mean anyone has forgotten anything that has happened to Ireland under English monarchs starting with the Normans in 1169 CE. 843 years of invasions and enslavement are not soon forgotten, nor should they be regardless of what one man has shamefully done. All this really means is that Martin McGuinness will be ousted and a hardliner put in his place. My ancestors (including some of my Father's Cousins who lived in Ulster in 1916) were killed by the not at all "Great" British, others had their lands stolen and title as well. They drove my Great-Grandfather from Ireland in the 1860's because he attempted to take a ship headed to England laden with food while the Irish were left to starve (he and his band did destroy a warship that escorted the other ship but were unsuccessful in gaining control of the merchant ship and was forced to flee to the US).

History is littered with the just causes of the conquered, occupied and enslaved. If we dwell in that past, how can we ever move forward and have peace? Should the descendants of the Jews killed in Germany, Poland, Hungary, etc wage war upon their oppressors? How about the Africans that were sold into slavery? Should they all rise up against their age old oppressors in Europe and America? Should Native Americans band together to retake their country? The list of human transgressions goes on and on.

We have endless reasons to fight and make war, but the only way forward is through peace. Stoking the flames of age old rivalries gets us nowhere.

Name one country which has not been grown in the blood of the conquered.

How long should grudges from the past be perpetuated and avenged in the present?

Should it be 100 years, 200, 500, 1,000....?

It is particularly aggravating to be told to hold grudges by the descendants of emigrees who have never been to the country they hold so dear.

Should the whole world resemble the Balkans?

Have we learnt nothing.

Ligeti,

Have we learnt nothing.

No, we have not and may never.

DOTCOMCEO, I see your point but the Nazis were defeated in 1945. Their armies retreated from Poland, Hungary and all the other countries they invaded. The Nazi war criminals were tried and executed. The Jews got a homeland and reparations.

Don't the Irish deserve the same? British troops still occupy parts of Ireland. When will the British war criminals be brought to trial? When will the Irish have their homeland restored? Shouldn't the Irish get reparations for 800 years of occupation. Germany just recently finished paying off reparations for WWI. When will the British start paying for their ongoing sins?

Northern Ireland is the last colony of a dying empire. They would rather be citizens than subjects.

Steve - never been there have you?

Northern Ireland is not a colony. It is a proud independent country with its own government.

The Irish Free State was created in early 1922 by the Anglo-Irish Agreement to allow the 32 counties of Ireland independence. Northern Ireland voted to opt out of the Irish Free State and stay with Britain. Votes to unite the two countries are periodically called for but Eire would not know what to do with 1 million protestants and Northern Ireland prefers to stay in the United Kingdom. The cultures are very different and will always be so.

The last country to invade Ireland was Norway by way of the Vikings. Dublin was a Viking settlement for many years.

Oh and Steve. Keep your opinions about the Queen to yourself.

CP

William Wallace was Scottish, not Irish, even if the Scots are mainly descendants of the Irish that invaded and conquered the native Picts.

This isn't quite right, look out for a history series called A History of Scotland presented by Neil Oliver

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fl78x

The handshake is symbolic and as such is important to both sides, whatever anyone else may think it shows that violence isn't the only way.

Actually, I have been there. I'll gladly come back if I can couch surf at your place. The vote was rigged and you know it. Britain wanted to keep all of the industrialized areas and leave the poorer agricultural behind. They moved the Protestant population around so they would have a majority in the 6 counties.

Steve: Who would have rigged the vote? The majority of citizens in Northern Ireland are Protestant, many originating from Scotland. The minority - perhaps 40% - are Catholic in heritage. Regardless of ideological heritage, there is an economic advantage to both factions in being able to participate in Great Britain's social programs. The vote is never that close. Eire, regarded as one of the most Roman Catholic countries in the world has little desire for an influx of one million disgruntled Protestants, knowing it would not make a United Ireland the nirvana it might seem from a distance.

While we are on the subject; much of the conflict in NI during the 60's. 70's and 80's was not religious per se. It was middle -aged gang bosses using the ideology of youth to collect protection money within their little fiefdoms. I know - I paid it.

Brits by right of Uti possidetis.

my feelings exactly. Why is it that the Irish have to apologize. Why isn't the bitch Queen offering an apology for invading Northern Ireland?

"I am glad that Mr McGuinness appears to have now accepted on behalf of IRA/Sinn Fein the sovereignty of Her Majesty over Northern Ireland, and I hope that this is a step towards a public recompense and confession of his regret for the violence unleashed by them in his name."

Do they admit a defeat by shaking hands with the Queen mum? They seek apologies for the IRA's actions, but what have the Brits done to apologize for centuries of oppression?

The Irish people are not Brits.... true but the vast majority of Northern Irish people are, not just by nomenclature, but by holding dear British laws, customs and religion. If Ireland is unified what might D.R. Doc Smith recommend be done with them.... ethnic cleansing perhaps? Mass deportation to a mainland Britain they weren't born in and may never have visited. If they were integrated into a united Ireland and formed an independence army of their own for their right to their own country would Americans support this right of self-determination according to their preferred laws, culture and religion?

Peculiarly, the Brits of Wales, Scotland and the West Country are genetically from the same line as the Irish - all having been shifted forcibly by the invading Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Normans.

What's ignored is that there are three-quarters of a million Irish born people living in the UK and millions more of Irish descent: they seem far less bitter and more forgiving than the many fervent Irish-Americans who seek to continue a conflict that many Irish, Northern Irish and British have become completely worn out by - if it was tiring in Britain to wonder if there was going to be a bomb in one of the major cities just imagine how much more exhausting for all sides living in Northern Ireland with the more certain and daily threat (again from both sides). It's very easy for Irish-Americans to fervently support ongoing conflict - so long as they don't actually have to live anywhere near the consequences of their support.

I also have it on good authority from Irish (Eire) friends and colleagues that once you get 50 miles south of the border there is minimal interest in Northern Irish politics and reunification.... far less so than Irish-Americans (those and their recent ancestors who have never been to Ireland or Britain and yet feel they know the political and cultural situation with a fine and nuanced detail that seems to elude anybody directly involved).

Of course, by the logic of 'governing by their own laws, customs and religion', in a few years time, the US will be a Spanish-speaking, Catholic country. Unless China calls in their markers and request Mandarin be made the official language.

Ligeti,

Having been born and raised in Belfast and being evacuated from the city center when a bomb scare was involved, I can honestly say 99% of people both north and south of the border dont care!

It is the tiny portion who still have hatred and anger in their hearts, some for understandable reasons who make it seem a lot worse than it truly is. Yes it was a terrible time but it is so much better now, just like in America where there is racists who hold hatred in their stupid hearts there will always be a few rotten apples.

My best man at my wedding and best friend is a Catholic from a very strong republican town in the north and im a protestant lad brought up in East Belfast. We even have the ability to joke with each other about the issues that get blown way outta proportion esp in the media and the Irish-Americans who feel that their great granddad has given them a right to voice an uneducated opinion just because that's how they were told it was!

Ligeti,

Do not think that I am some jackleg who chooses to "fervently support ongoing conflict - so long as they don't actually have to live anywhere near the consequences of their support."

My family has lived in the South since the 1850s. We have paid the price for our support of the struggle for freedom from tyrannical rule. My family has paid in blood and we won't even get into the number of dollars because you would never believe it anyway. Suffice it to say that my family has suffered the loss of our land's "troubles" for 150 years now.

My People are under economic attack by our political "leaders" and since 2008 my wife and I have fought back on that fiduciary battlefield. We know we are throwing pebbles at an army tank... but we throw anyway. It has cost us far more than I think you yourself would ever sacrifice for the sake of freedom.

Living near the consequences of our support. Pfft. I live IN THE CONSEQUENCES of my support. There is a war being fought on American soil you obviously know nothing about. Plenty of US are living IN THE CONSEQUENCES of our support.

Maybe you should get back to your tea and crumpets now.

CNN is incapable of proper grammar or common sense.

because the UK and the US are allies in more ways than one!!

Last offer for a free headline. How about, "Irish Patriot Shakes Hands With Wealthy German Hausfrau" ?

It is very one sided starting with the headline. There are other countries and other queens. The way the headline is written presumes there is only one queen and we Americans should just accept that she is our queen too.

The author should also pay more attention to how he describes Ireland. Eire, the Republic of Ireland, is not Southern Ireland. It is Ireland.

Lord Mountbatten was tempting fate by holidaying in Sligo. I didn't condone it, but I did understand that he was a valid target at the time.

Times have changed. Adams and McGuiness realised they could not win a war and have achieved so much with politics. The British realised they could not control the situation with an army. There are still too many people in the 6 counties who turn to the gun far too quickly. Criminals love to hide behind a facade of idealism, to impose their will on the people. But it is changing, and hopefully will continue to do so. I take my hat off to all those who lost family and friends, who are prepared to move on with good will and optimism for the future.

Shouldn't that be Éirinn go Brách?

The Queen never takes her gloves off when shaking hands. Facile ill-informed comment.

It was a joke. I am aware the queen never takes her gloves off when shaking hands. It is because she believes she rules by the divine right of kings and as such, everyone is beneath her.

Sorry about that - by the time I read it the arguements across the board were getting so heated and filled with misinformation it was all starting to blur into a great big mess and I missed it completely!

Northern Ireland was only invaded by the IRA.

Not true, just your apparently stilted opinion. This is moving towards peace because the Northern Six are slowly losing the Protestant majority. The Catholics will be stronger in very near future, if not already, or this would not be happening. That is a possibility.

Mr. G. that is an incredibly ridiculous statement. The Brits have never belonged in Ireland nor in any other country they decided to take over. The English have this nasty habit of going places where they don't belong, and have a rather shocked expression when those people wish to come home with them.

No one is saying that IRA violence is the answer- clearly it isn't. But we need to stop putting the English and especially the monarchy on some kind of pedestal. Until you've been paid a lower wage because you're a Catholic, you've been targets of military police violence for your ethinicity and religion, you can not live where you please, Protestants throw nail bombs at your children walking to school, you're not permitted to own property (all of which have occurred under the rule of the English), I can't say this "IRA has invaded Northern Ireland" statement holds any bit of water. Any person with an iota of common sense in that situation would have supported any group to overthrow your suppresors.

Im not saying either side was right, however history will show you that while the IRA planted bombs in the North very limited violence was pursued south of the border. And i lived in Belfast my whole life and have seen the atrocities first hand. Both sides have been treated unfairly and im just glad its pretty much over.

Im not a loyalist or anything. Im British by birth, i respect the monarchy but dont put it on a pedestal. I just think a number of people are making comments based on the stories they are told. Yes Bloody Sunday was Bad, but so too was Omagh! Too much blood was spilt.

Again, Mr. G the Irish were pushed to violence. Violence was not pursued more or less because the English let it go some time ago. No need to tell me about Omagh - the family is from Tyrone and I was the one who heard the screaming and crying that day. Northern Ireland never would have experienced any violence or bloodshed if it wasn't for English rule and English oppression. Violence is never an answer, but these people have been treated subhuman by English policies for so long - enough is enough. Funny how the Brits wouldn't let Ghandi starve himself, but you didn't blink an eye when Bobby Sands died of starvation. Hypocracy at it's finest - practically an English and admittedly, American pasttime!

I learned quite quickly that to many English I am beneath them and treated as such - no need for me to even respect their "monarchy".

The IRA in one form or another existed long before the Third Reich and outlasted it too. If anything the Third Reich collaborated with the IRA to oust the British from Ireland.

And what information do you have Steve, to support such a claim?

Wow, you had the honour of cleaning up the queen's horse's @!$%#e! I'd like to shake your ha...wait a minute, never mind. Good day to you, now be on your way.

We need more people like QE2 in America. The leaders we have so far remind me of car sales people :)

Its not 1776 anymore kids, grow up ;)

@Johnbarker, bowing, curtsying, and bootlicking are not 'honors'. Please, do these things in the privacy of your bedroom. Do not subject Irish people to your perversities, please.

The wom,an doesn't have any power in government, only giving a symbolic rubber stamp to what Parliament does.

"This is the same Queen that approved Winston Churchill to be Prime Minister before WW2. Dont forget that."

Please tell everyone how that is possible when she became Queen in 1952?

There is no way youi would get a chance to meet the Queen of England anyway Unless of course you were a former Irish terrorist from 1973 :)

Maybe if i was the family dentist. Brits are known for bad teeth.

What she should have done is to get down on her knees and apologize for 800 years of murder, starvation, and tyranny.

June-2163694 what did the queen do that she needs to apologize for.

I grew up with the cowards setting bombs off on trains, buses, in pubs, anywhere. they cared nothing about who they killed.

Oh Barry, you guys started it. You only have the stomach for violence when you're the one committing it. Poor mightiest empire in the world, did those bad Irish men scare you?

The Romans started it. All depends on how far back you trace these things.