9th Apr 2014 14:35
London (Alliance News) - Ireland President Michael Higgins met British Prime Minister David Cameron in London on Wednesday, on the second day of his historic state visit to Britain, the first by an Irish head of state.
Higgins was invited to Downing Street for a private lunch, after a series of morning engagements that included a meeting with Irish staff at a London hospital to mark their contribution to Britain's National Health Service.
The programme of the four-day visit has been designed to reflect Britain and Ireland's complex web of cultural, economic and political ties.
Around 400,000 Irish live in Britain and millions more can claim Irish descent. The neighbouring island states also have deeply interconnected economies, trading around 1 billion euros (1.4 billion dollars) worth of goods and services every week.
This despite the fact that the conflict in Northern Ireland, the British province created after Ireland effectively became independent in 1922, had poisoned political relations until the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought peace.
Since then the relationship has been transformed, culminating in Queen Elizabeth II visiting Ireland for the first time in 2011.
At a banquet hosted by the queen on Tuesday, Higgins made reference to her visit, telling her that her "apt and considered words when you addressed some of the painful moments of our mutual history" had been appreciated.
Later Wednesday he was to meet Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at Buckingham Palace, and attend a banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor of the City of London.
Copyright dpa