Martina Devlin: 'Well, Philip -- I think that went off rather well . . .'
The royal visitors made a huge effort for us and our President was a class act, writes Martina Devlin
IF A week is a long time in politics, then it's a revelation how much royalty can achieve in four days. Tradition paints us as a nation of charmers -- but Queen Elizabeth quickly turned the tables and comprehensively beguiled most of us.
Two cameos stand out from her first and probably last visit to Ireland: her bowed head at the Garden of Remembrance and her cupla focail at Dublin Castle.
They showed the queen paying her respects to the Irish people -- past and present -- at a time when the rest of the world occasionally gives the impression it would gladly pay us just to go away.
By the time she took her leave yesterday, many people who were neutral or even ambivalent about the royal visitors had experienced a change of heart.
On her final day, she even managed to squeeze in a walkabout outside Cork's English Market -- an opportunity to meet some of the locals who waited to welcome her with goodwill but no great expectations of an encounter.
But as one of the nuns at my convent school was fond of reminding us, noblesse oblige.
After the monarch took the plunge, under the vigilant eyes of her security detail, the crowd banged bodhrans and exercised vocal cords to convey their appreciation.
One thing I've learned from watching this royal progress is that being a queen is hard work.
She must engage with strangers; she must be continuously gracious; she must wear bright yet formal clothes so she can be picked out in a crowd; and she must express interest in everything from goat's cheese to high-technology medical devices.
Her role requires her to appear taken by whatever she's shown, even if the reality is that she's longing to put her feet up and have a taste of the Earl Grey tea brack in her English Market hamper.
The queen seemed genuinely involved with Angie Benhaffaf and her once-conjoined twins, Hassan and Hussein, during a comparatively lengthy chat. The baby boys didn't return Elizabeth's interest, but even monarchs find it notoriously difficult to impress 17-month-olds.
Bouquets were presented wherever she went (I'd love to know what happens to them after she hands them over to a lady-in-waiting), as she moved around, bestowing smiles and nods, untangling the web of Irish-British relations.
The atmosphere was more informal in Munster, where the queen paid close attention to restoration work at the magnificent Rock of Cashel, and engaged in what might almost be described as banter with a fishmonger in Cork's landmark market. However, I suspect this relaxed mood was influenced by the end of the visit in sight, and the realisation that security threats hadn't materialised.
It was significant that the queen chose to travel outside Dublin, emphasising the tour as not just a courtesy visit but a comprehensive one. This was no superficial stopover.
An 85-year-old woman spent four days standing for lengthy periods, hopping in and out of cars and helicopters, walking up and down steps, trailing along corridors and shaking a sea of hands. Why? Because she cares, and because she understands how much weight her visit carries.
And Prince Philip, the queen's third cousin and husband of 63 years, who once commanded a Royal Navy frigate -- no wonder he always looks so shipshape -- was equally genial. Both royal guests made a considerable effort on our behalf.
While these past four days reminded us why the queen is the world's most photographed woman, it also showcased the class act that is Mary McAleese.
Our President shone throughout -- bringing a snap, crackle and pop to events where zest was required, and gravitas where a more nuanced demeanour was appropriate. Her performance should persuade us to pause and consider the calibre of person we choose to follow in her footsteps.
I was in Co Down on Thursday, where members of the unionist community sang her praises. They judged her to have more than held her own alongside the queen -- no faint praise on their part. We haven't had too many reasons to feel proud in the past few years, and their enthusiasm was touching. Detente has taken place in more directions than one.
The difference in style between the two was striking: the President kissed people she recognised, putting her arm around shoulders and under elbows. The queen -- product of a different age, class and tradition -- restrained herself to brief handshakes, but nevertheless conveyed warmth.
A reader wrote in to say he allowed himself a quiet smile when he read an article earlier this week, in which I described my mother's lifelong admiration for the queen. He said I could just as easily have been outlining his late mother's attitude to Elizabeth. Thousands of Irish people felt the same, he suggested; people who -- until this week -- have felt unable to express their appreciation of our neighbours' queen.
Just one incident marred the royal visit for me and it had nothing to do with Elizabeth or Philip. I was dismayed to see Denis O'Brien, just weeks after the damning Moriarty Report, invited to meet the queen at Dublin's National Convention Centre on Thursday. It was inappropriate for him to be on the guest list, and inappropriate of RTE to use a sound bite from the businessman as though he was just another run-of-the-mill VIP.
It smacked of the same disregard for integrity and honour as when Michael Smurfit invited Michael Lowry and Michael Fingleton to meet Prince Albert in Ireland last month.
As the royal flight left, it would have been fascinating to be a fly on the wall. Still, I'm fairly confident I can make a stab at what the queen said to Philip once they were taxi-ing down the runway.
"That went off rather well," she probably remarked, with typical English understatement.
- Martina Devlin
Irish Independent
