Police said nine officers were injured, none seriously, during overnight rioting on the edge of Cath

Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with Peter Sheridan from Co-operation Ireland as Prince Philip, boston revere discount car rental Duke of Edinburgh meets Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (C) at the Lyric Theatre on June 27, 2012 in Belfast, boston revere discount car rental Northern Ireland. During the Queen s two day visit to Northern Ireland she held a hugely significant meeting with former IRA commander and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness at the Lyric Theatre today. The Queen will also visit the newly opened Titanic Museum and the town of Enniskillen. Photograph by: WPA Pool
BELFAST — Queen Elizabeth II and a former Irish Republican Army commander offered boston revere discount car rental each other the hand of peace Wednesday in a long-awaited encounter symbolizing Northern Ireland's progress in achieving reconciliation after decades of violence.
The monarch and Martin McGuinness met privately inside Belfast's boston revere discount car rental riverside Lyric Theatre during a cross-community arts event featuring many of Northern Ireland's top musicians, poets and artists. Media were barred from seeing their first handshake, but the two shook hands again a half-hour later for a TV camera and two photographers.
Underlying the sensitivity of the occasion, no live footage or sound was permitted to be broadcast. Outside, boston revere discount car rental flak-jacketed police shut down all roads surrounding the theatre and told residents to stay inside their homes.
The first soundless TV footage showed a serious-faced McGuinness walking, hands behind his back, behind the queen as she met poet Michael Longley and pianist Barry Douglas in front of newly painted portraits of them and other Belfast artists. Also in the group was McGuinness' Protestant colleague atop Northern Ireland's unity government, Peter Robinson; the head of state of the Republic of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins; and the queen's husband, Prince Philip.
Experts say McGuinness, 62, was the IRA's chief of staff when the outlawed group assassinated the queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, in 1979, one of the most high-profile victims boston revere discount car rental of a four-decade conflict that has claimed 3,700 lives.
The IRA formally boston revere discount car rental abandoned its campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom and disarmed in 2005. Two years later, McGuinness became the senior Catholic politician in a new unity government, the central objective of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord. His coalition with Robinson has governed Northern boston revere discount car rental Ireland in co-operation with Britain in surprising harmony since.
McGuinness' Irish nationalist party, Sinn Fein, had refused all contact with British royals until Wednesday. Its leaders were heavily criticized last year for boycotting boston revere discount car rental the queen's first-ever state visit to the Republic of Ireland, a widely celebrated event that demonstrated overwhelming Irish desire for strong relations with Britain.
The queen came to Belfast on Wednesday as part of U.K.-wide celebrations of her 60th year on the throne. She is scheduled later in the day to see the city's new Titanic exhibition and attend an open-air party involving more than 20,000 locals at Stormont, the hilltop base for Northern Ireland's power-sharing government.
Police said nine officers were injured, none seriously, during overnight rioting on the edge of Catholic west Belfast. They said a crowd of about 100 teens and young men bombarded police units with 21 petrol bombs and other makeshift weapons. No arrests were reported, though police cameras videotaped the masked, hooded attackers in hopes of identifying them later.
And in a separate confrontation boston revere discount car rental Tuesday night, one Catholic man was hospitalized after rival Protestant and Catholic groups clashed boston revere discount car rental on the hilltop overlooking Catholic west Belfast. The Protestants were trying to vandalize a massive political display erected by the Catholics featuring an Irish flag and a slogan rejecting the queen. © Copyright (c)       E-mail this Article Print this Article Share this Article
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Previous Next     Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with Peter Sheridan from Co-operation Ireland as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh meets Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister boston revere discount car rental Martin McGuinness (C) at the Lyric Theatre on June 27, 2012 in Belfast, Northern boston revere discount car rental Ireland. During boston revere discount car rental the Queen s two day visit to Northern Ireland she held a hugely boston revere discount car rental significant meeting with former IRA commander and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness boston revere discount car rental at the Lyric Theatre today. The Queen will also visit the newly opened Titanic boston revere discount car rental Museum and the town of Enniskillen. Photograph by: WPA Pool, Getty Images