Queen Elizabeth visits Catholic church, meets ex-IRA leader
June 28, 2012: Queen Elizabeth II made two unprecedented gestures during a visit
to Northern Ireland on June 26 and 27: stopping in a Catholic church and shaking hands
with a former commander of the Irish Republican Army. The Queen joined in an ecumenical
service in Enniskillen to honor those killed in bombings 25 years ago, and met with
parishioners at St. Michael’s church, on Tuesday. She was cheered by crowds at St
Michael's Church, her first visit to a Catholic church in her 20 visits to Northern
Ireland as queen. The following day, she met with Martin McGuinness, the Deputy First
Minister of Northern Ireland and head of the Sinn Fein party, who was once a top IRA
leader. Although the Queen has been to Northern Ireland 19 times before, her itinerary
includes visits that would have been unthinkable little more than a decade ago. The
Queen is on a visit to Enniskillen town as part of a two-day diamond jubilee tour
of Northern Ireland. After the thanksgiving service at St Macartin's Church, attended
by both Protestants and Catholics, the Queen was to have met the families of some
of the Enniskillen victims.