On Thursday night I sat in the Royal Albert Hall at the Ceiliúradh (Celebration) concert in honour of President Michael D Higgins and something happened. I realised what it was to be Irish. I still can’t find the right words to describe the feeling but I felt the cultural aspect of the event was authentically Irish.
Two parts in particular were moments that I will never forget. When Amhrán na bhFiann was played and the crowd sang it proudly, and secondly when the artists got together on the stage and sang The Auld Triangle.
But the concert as a whole was an amazing experience. Glen Hansard’s performance of ‘Falling Slowly’ with Lisa Hannigan gripped everyone, and journalist Olivia O’Leary got the tone absolutely right in her essay on Anglo-Irish relations.
It was without doubt the highlight of my working week over here.
Up there with it though was the address by both Queen Elizabeth II and President Higgins at the State banquet on Tuesday night.
Two paragraphs from Queen Elizabeth’s speech changed the way Britain and Ireland will see each other from now on.
In August, we will mark solemnly the centenary of Britain’s entry into World War One, calling to mind the terrible toll it took. People from Ireland were involved in all the major campaigns and battles of the war. We will remember and honour their contribution and sacrifice, just as we remember our own.
My family and my government will stand alongside you, Mr President, and your ministers, throughout the anniversaries of the war and of the events that led to the creation of the Irish Free State.
And President Higgins spoke of how our past, can and will define the future:
The future we each desire, and seek to work towards is one where Ireland and the United Kingdom stand together to seek common opportunities and to face common global challenges as partners and friends.
Your Majesty: Ar scáth a chéile a mhairimíd. The shadow of the past has become the shelter of the present. While we grieve together for lost lives, we will not let any painful aspect of our shared history deflect us from crafting a future that offers hope and opportunity for the British and Irish people.
Those words will shape not some far distant future but the months and next couple of years ahead – because Britain and Ireland will now proceed together to work on Royal involvement in the commemorations in 2016, while we will also be involved as the UK looks back at World War I, with the Taoiseach acknowledging the roles the two nations will play together.
Ruth Clements, who is a vet on the farm, held one of the lambs for the Higgins.
Another memorable event this week was Sabina Higgins. The President’s wife wasn’t so much the focus of the attention, except maybe the colour pieces about her outfits.
Let it be said that at every event, in every outfit, she looked stunning, and fitted the role perfectly.
But on Wednesday the President and Sabina visited a farm in Oxfordshire. It was about food and sustainability. But the lambs, some only four days old, caught everyone’s imagination, including Mrs Higgins’.
I got the job of filing the reporters’ pool copy and Sabina Higgins was a revelation at the event.
Clearly taken by the visit, Mrs Higgins commented "oh how lovely” while giving the lamb a hug and nuzzling its face.
President and Mrs Higgins were also treated to a view of some pigs at the enclosures. Mrs Higgins spoke about a book she has called The Pig adding, "I must send it to you. It's about this wonderful creature.” Displaying her knowledge of the farm animals, she spoke about how pigs forage their food, saying "they remember their ground, rooting it out, it's in their genes".
On Friday the State visit finally met the people, and the people met the President.
Coventry was the final call before it was wheels up on the Government jet from Birmingham airport. The city of Coventry was chosen by the President himself. It has a sizeable Irish community, some recent emigrants, but most had settled there after troubled times over generations.
The Cathedral was bombed in World War II, and the next day the people decided to build a new one, next to the ruins, and incorporate them into the future. Irish men laboured on that job, alongside British men too. It was the message President Higgins wanted to get across.
There was a speech, but most of the event was about the people. Invited guests in a room – probably a couple of hundred of them, each got to shake hands and have a word or two with the President and Mrs Higgins.
There had been tears in the audience as the President gave the speech, talking about how we should never forget those forced to leave, "the leaving and the left, and the emptied landscape of possibility".
And this video of Michael D Higgins arriving at Coventry Cathedral highlights how he concluded his State visit to Britain, close to people, English and Irish:
This week was tough, long days, covering events as a broadcaster was technically and logistically challenging. But those are not the memories I bring home to Ireland. No, I bring home the ones listed above, and others too that shape my understanding now of what it truly is to be Irish.
