It has been an extraordinary few years for the relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland. When Prime Minister David Cameron and Taoiseach Enda Kenny met in London in March, they commented that relations between our two countries had never been better. That’s a bold statement to make. And yet it was confirmed earlier this month, with the return State Visit of President Higgins – the first ever by a President of Ireland to the UK – following The Queen’s ground-breaking visit to Ireland in 2011.
At the Windsor Castle state banquet, Her Majesty said: “We, the Irish and British, are becoming good and dependable neighbours and better friends.” President Higgins earlier told members of both Houses of Parliament: “The relationship between our two islands has achieved a closeness and warmth that once seemed unachievable”.
To get to this stage has required an extraordinary amount of work, and imagination, on both sides of the Irish Sea. And also beyond. Here at the British Embassy to the Holy See we have been delighted to play our own small part. Relations between the British and Irish Ambassadors to the Holy See have been strong in recent years, and we have been keen to keep working closely together during the absence of a resident Irish Embassy over the last two years. I am delighted at the Taoiseach’s announcement that the Irish embassy will re-open here later this year, and look forward to developing close contact with my new Irish colleague.
During their visit as heads of the British delegation representing The Queen for the canonisation of Saints John XXIIII and John Paul II, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester also paid a visit to the Pontifical Irish College here in Rome. They had in 2012 been the first members of the Royal Family to visit the three main British Colleges – the Venerable English College, the Pontifical Scots College, and the Beda College – and they were able to achieve another Royal first on this occasion.
The Irish College community includes students from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland – because of the all-Ireland nature of the Irish Catholic Church hierarchy – and they gave a warm and friendly welcome to Their Royal Highnesses. It was summed up with the presentation at the end of their visit by the Rector, Monsignor Ciaran O’Carroll, of a plaque on which a single word was inscribed in the Irish language: “Friendship”.
Faith has always been bound up with the complex relationship between our two countries. It has sometimes provided a barrier to friendship, and often been a pretext for division. And yet it can also be a reason for coming together. Pope Francis showed this with the gathering of a million pilgrims from all over the world to Rome last weekend. And I believe we also did so, over an Anglo-Irish cup of tea at the Pontifical Irish College the day before.