Talk:State visit by Michael D. Higgins to the United Kingdom

Contested deletion

This article should be speedily deleted for lack of asserted importance because... (This page acts like a subtopic for Michael D. Higgins I think it should be under a subtopic of Michael D. Higgins instead of a separate article) --TheQ Editor (talk) 21:27, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Contested deletion

This article should not be speedily deleted for lack of asserted importance because this visit is a historic first and was given a lot of coverage by the international media. There are a number of state visits every year but this visit will be very significant in the United Kingdom - Ireland relations mainly because of the tensions between the 2 countries for around a century. The first visit by Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland and the first state visit to the UK by Pope Benedict XVI were similarly historic firsts because they were the culmination of the thawing of relations between the countries and they both have a separate article. So this visit also deserves a separate article. The article is very short but can surely be expanded. See Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland and Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom. I guess this article can also be expanded on similar lines.  Gurumoorthy Poochandhai  22:57, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Completely agree. The first visit to Britain by an Irish Head of State. A senior Sinn Féin politician receives and accepts an invitation to attend a banquet held by the Queen. Higgins addressed both Houses of Parliament (a not unheard of, but rare honour). This is a historical event for all sorts of reasons, and there's more than enough media coverage to do the topic justice. I had thought of creating it myself, so was very pleased to see it already here. This is Paul (talk) 19:37, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

Also, not wishing to plug my own article, but there's Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom, which wasn't a state visit, but important nonetheless given the UK's history. This is Paul (talk) 19:44, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

According to her Wikipedia article, Mary Robinson as President of Ireland visited Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, and was the first serving President of Ireland to do so. So what is the difference between her visit and that of Higgins? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.141.126.243 (talk) 02:53, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

Ok, Mary explains it herself rather well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.141.126.243 (talk) 03:01, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

The difference is that President Robinson's visit in 1993 was informal, cautious, experimental, and not a state visit while President Higgins's visit in 2014 was a full-blown, ceremonial, formal state visit, the first of its kind from an Irish president to the U.K. Thus, it was of enormous political and symbolic significance in both countries, given the difficult diplomatic history that preceeded the historic breakthrough. Spideog (talk) 16:58, 7 February 2024 (UTC)

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