Queen And McGuinness

From the BBC:
"Queen and Martin McGuinness shake hands"

The final day of the Queen's two-day visit to Northern Ireland was marked by an historic handshake and a huge party. Her Majesty and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness shook hands for the first time. The meeting between the monarch and Northern Ireland's deputy first minister took place at a charity event in Belfast on Wednesday morning. In the afternoon she attended a Diamond Jubilee party attended by 20,000 in Stormont. The Queen and Mr McGuinness shook hands at a private meeting and later shook hands in public. The private meeting, in a room at the Lyric Theatre, involved a group of seven people, including Irish President Michael D Higgins and Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson. It is understood Mr McGuinness welcomed both the Queen and the Irish president in Irish. The deputy first minister is said to have commented on the Queen's visit to Dublin last year, and in particular her comments regarding all the victims of the Troubles.

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Not only did the Queen and Martin McGuinness shake hands, they wore a matching colour.

Needless to say it was green. It may be a trivial point, but it spoke volumes.  The image will help Sinn Fein reach out to voters, previously reluctant to support a party linked to the IRA.  But the picture could lose them a small number of party members for whom a meeting with the British head of state is a republican step too far. As for the Queen, it will not be the favourite moment of her 60-year reign, but it is certainly one of the most significant.  Sinn Fein said Mr McGuinness told the Queen that their meeting was a "powerful signal that peace-building requires leadership".Later, as the Queen left to continue her Diamond Jubilee tour of Northern Ireland, the pair shook hands again, this time in public. As they shook hands for a second time, Mr McGuinness wished the Queen well in Irish, which translates as: "Goodbye and God bless." When asked how it was to meet the Queen, Martin McGuinness replied "very nice."

^ It seems that some things have changed since the peace accord in 1998 (at least officially.) Queen Elizabeth 2 is the Queen of Northern Ireland (regardless what some people want) and so needs to show the Irish there that she is there for them whether they are Catholic or Protestant. I don't know much about what the Queen officially said about The Troubles when they were happening, but I hope it was much better than what most MPs in the British Parliament said in statements (basically the Catholics are at fault and nothing will ever change unless they (the British) stop them.) ^

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18607911