LONDON -- Prince Charles met Sinn Fein party president Gerry Adams during a trip to western Ireland on Tuesday in what was billed as a significant moment for Anglo-Irish relations.
Charles, holding a cup of tea, exchanged a few words with Adams at a reception in a crowded, noisy room at the National University of Ireland at Galway -- the first time a senior member of the British royal family had met with Adams.
Adams has always denied being a member of the Irish Republican Army, though former members have identified him as a leading figure in the organization, which until 1998 led an armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. The group killed the prince's great-uncle Louis Mountbatten in 1979.
In recent years, there have been a number of significant handshakes and visits in the long road to reconciliation between Ireland and the United Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy where Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state.
In 2012 during a visit to Belfast, the queen extended a gloved hand to Martin McGuinness, a Sinn Fein member, deputy first minister of Northern Ireland's provincial government and a former IRA commander.
The meeting Tuesday with Charles, the queen's oldest son, carries particular weight because he is the colonel-in-chief of the British Army's Parachute Regiment. The regiment played an important role in the "Troubles," the name given to the three decades of violence and bloodshed in Northern Ireland that largely ended in 1998 with the Good Friday peace accord. The regiment's soldiers were involved in the killing of 14 unarmed Irish protesters during a march in 1972, an incident that became known as Bloody Sunday.
Adams now leads Sinn Fein, a nationalist party that in recent years has become a major political force across Ireland. Analysts said Sinn Fein is keen to be linked to the peace process and to move further away from its association with the Troubles.
Sinn Fein's participation in this royal visit is in sharp contrast to the queen's visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 -- the first official visit by a British monarch in a century -- when the party was seen to be standing on the sidelines.
"When the queen came to the republic in 2011, Sinn Fein was on the outside looking in, and I think that was regarded as a misjudgment. They are keener with the Prince Charles visit to make themselves a part of the narrative of the visit," said Diarmaid Ferriter, a professor of modern Irish history at University College Dublin.
For Sinn Fein, Charles's visit is a balancing act, Ferriter said. On one hand, to win over more voters in the Irish Republic, the party wants to be associated with peace and reconciliation and symbolic visits such as the one by Charles. On the other, Sinn Fein needs to stick to the party line and its dedication to the unification of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is controlled by the United Kingdom.
Ahead of the meeting, Adams issued a statement that seemed to appeal to different constituencies. He acknowledged Charles's role in the British Army but also noted that the heir to the British throne had suffered at the hands of Irish republicans. He also praised the good work of the "English queen."
"Thankfully, the conflict is over, but there remain unresolved injustices. These must be rectified and a healing process developed. There is a responsibility on us all to promote reconciliation and seek to promote healing," Adams said.
As part of his four-day trip to Ireland, Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will visit Mullaghmore, the seaside village where Mountbatten was killed.
A Section on 05/20/2015