Prince Charles Meets Sinn Fein’s Adams In ‘significant Step’

DUBLIN — Britain’s Prince Charles and Gerry Adams, the leader of nationalist party Sinn Fein, shook hands on Tuesday in a landmark meeting at the start of the prince’s four-day visit to Ireland. Adams and another senior Sinn Fein leader, Martin McGuinness, were among a number of politicians to greet the prince at the National University of Ireland Galway. The meeting was the first of its kind in the Republic of Ireland between the Sinn Fein leadership and a member of the British royal family. Prince Charles and Adams smiled at each other, shook hands for a few seconds and exchanged brief remarks. Adams said the meeting was “a significant symbolic and practical step forward in the process of healing and reconciliation.” “All victims, including those bereaved by the IRA (Irish Republican Army), deserve justice and it is crucial that the process of healing and of reconciliation is enhanced and strengthened,” he said. “I hope today’s meeting will assist this and that the governments and political parties will build on this opportunity,” Adams said. In 2012, McGuinness shook hands with Queen Elizabeth at a function in Belfast’s Lyric Theatre in Northern Ireland, in his capacity as the region’s Deputy First Minister. The previous year, Sinn Fein declined to let McGuinness accept an invitation to a state banquet at Dublin Castle during the queen’s historic visit to Ireland. On Wednesday, Prince Charles, accompanied by the Duchess of Cornwall, is scheduled to visit the village of Mullaghmore in County Sligo, where his great-uncle, Earl Mountbatten, was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979. Later Tuesday, the prince was to visit the Marine Institute at University College Galway and an area of natural beauty known as the Burren. The couple are then due to attend a private dinner with President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina at Lough Cutra in County Galway. Security is expected to remain tight throughout the visit, with road closures and restricted access to all locations. ——— ©2015 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. ————— PHOTOS (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194): PRINCECHARLES-IRELANDRead more on NewsOK.com