History in the Making.

This evening I watched as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England began her key note speech in Dublin castle in Irish. She began with the line, 'Uachtarán agus a cairde', in English, President and friends, she followed this bold and historic statement with a speech which was hopeful, inspiring and an honor to watch, as was the speech given by our own President.
To watch as the Queen makes are journey around Dublin City and tomorrow comes to my home town I am proud to be Irish and I am proud to see how far we have come and the progress we , as a country have made. Both the Queen and the President in their speeches spoke about cultural and economic unity between Ireland and the Untied Kingdom but above all both of these powerful female figures stressed the point of equality between the two states, something which would have been unheard of so many years ago.
the Queen extended her sympathies to the families of those who fought for England in the first world war and also to those who died fighting for independence this showed a recognition of the significance of this visit and also an understanding of how much we sacrificed for our country.
Today I watched as history was made right in front of my eyes as the Queen spoke words of friendship in a language which was once condemned by our English colonizers, these past few days are a turning point in relations between Ireland and Great Britain. I know it will not solve the problems of the conflict between north and south but the first step of Queen Elizabeth on Irish soil yesterday was a step forward into the future where perhaps the troubles could be solved and Ireland could be a peaceful nation once again.

D. Mount