Irish President Mary McAleese and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth held a low-key “private meeting” at Hillsborough Castle, Co. Down. It was the fourth occasion that the two public figures had met but the first time such an encounter took place on Irish soil.
“We both found ourselves in Northern Ireland on the same day coming up to Christmas and it seemed an opportune time to meet and to chat,” President McAleese told reporters, adding that although no date has been set she would welcome the prospect of the Queen visiting Dublin for the first time. ♦
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