Details of next month's visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabath are beginning to take firm shape this week. The queen will attend a state dinner in Dublin Castle and visit Croke Park and Cork, this according to official details of the visit announced by the Irish government. Elizabeth is making the state visit at the invitation of President Mary McAleese and will be in the Republic from Tuesday, May 17 to Friday, May 20. She will be accompanied by her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. The program will include a formal welcome by President McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin, a ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance; a courtesy call on Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Government Buildings, and a state dinner in Dublin Castle, at which the queen and McAleese will both deliver speeches. There will also be events at Trinity College Dublin, the National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin, the Guinness Storehouse and Croke Park. The visiting royals will also visit the National Stud in County Kildare. The trip will also take in Cashel, County Tipperary and Cork City. Security for the visit is expected to be massive if not unprecedented. There have been concerns expressed that dissident republicans will in some way attempt to draw attention to their campaign during the four days that the royals will spend in the Republic. All parties in the Republic with the exception of Sinn Féin are lauding the visit. Sinn Féin has dubbed it "premature" but the party is not actively opposing the visit and has called for the royals to be respected during their stay because they are an "elderly couple."
