12/06/2014

Martin McGuinness To Meet Queen In Belfast

Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has confirmed that he will meet the Queen for a second time this year during her visit to Belfast with the Duke of Edinburgh between 23 and 25 June.

The Sinn Féin MLA and former IRA leader shook hands with Queen Elizabeth for the first time during the Queen's last visit in 2012, when she visited NI as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and it was seen as a symbolic gesture towards peace and reconciliation.

Mr McGuinness, who toasted the Queen in the Windsor Castle during the April state visit of the Irish president Michael D Higgins, said he would be meeting the Queen "as a representative of all our people".

He said: "The visit by Queen Elizabeth is an opportunity to demonstrate mutual respect and to further build on the process of reconciliation, despite the current difficulties, I am determined to provide positive, forward-thinking political leadership."

(CVS)

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