Queen Elizabeth visits scene of "Bloody Sunday" Irish

Queen Elizabeth visits scene of "Bloody Sunday" Irish


- Queen Elizabeth of Britain on Wednesday had a bolder diplomatic engagement of his reign, when stepping on the lawn of the stadium Croke Park, Ireland, scene of a massacre by British troops.

In a gesture that symbolized the current union between the two former enemies, the queen was taken to the stadium for Hogan Stand, which is named in honor of a dead player in the "Bloody Sunday" of nearly a century ago.

She met the players, talked about the sport and attended presentations Irish music and traditional dances, although the stadium is completely empty - a reflection of hard security plan for the visit of the monarch.

Before visiting the Irish National Stadium, the Queen laid a wreath of poppies to honor the nearly 50,000 Irish soldiers killed fighting for Britain in World War I - a group that often goes unnoticed in the history of Ireland.

In his state visit of four days, the first by a British monarch since Ireland won independence from London in 1921, the Queen has shown determination to face the bloody past and offer powerful gesture of reconciliation.

Ireland hailed his decision to offer a wreath in tribute to the Irish killed in the struggle for independence from the British Crown, which Elizabeth did on Tuesday and in the streets of Dublin people hoped the queen's visit to Croke Park would enhance this effect.

The stadium Croke Park is a place full of symbolism for the nationalists. In 1920, during Ireland's war for independence, British troops machine-gunned the crowd at the stadium, in retaliation for the deaths of 14 British intelligence agents the previous night.

14 civilians died, one of only 10 years, and thus was born the phrase "Bloody Sunday", which became a slogan of the nationalist cause. Some years ago, the presence of the queen, commander of the British Armed Forces, in a place so sacred to the Irish nationalists would have caused offense to many Irish.

But a 1998 agreement that ended the guerrilla warfare of Irish nationalists against British rule, and the apology made by British Prime Minister David Cameron for "Bloody Sunday" in Northern Ireland - where British troops killed 13 demonstrators in 1971 - paved the way for it.

Prior to coming to Croke Park, the Queen visited the Guinness brewery. Wearing turquoise hat and coat combining wool Swiss, the king also had a meeting with Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny.

Accompanied by her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, she talked to Kenny and his wife before a portrait of Michael Collins, the revolutionary leader who ordered the murder of British spies in the night before the "Bloody Sunday."

Later on Wednesday, Kenny will have a meeting with David Cameron, who is making his first official visit to Ireland and attend the state banquet to be held at night, in which the queen will make a