RTÉ’s decision to broadcast the Queen’s funeral is akin to “doffing the cap to the Brits”, a former Lord Mayor of Dublin has said. 

Queen Elizabeth will be buried on Monday and heads of state and government from all over the world will descend upon London for her funeral service at Westminster Abbey. 

Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Britons are also expected to line the streets to bid farewell to the much loved monarch. 

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II famously shook hands with Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, then-Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister, in Belfast in June 2012. Picture by: REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

However, for Cllr Nial Ring, it is not the type of event that Ireland’s national broadcaster should concern itself with

“I have very strong reservations,” he told The Hard Shoulder.

“I think it’s really over the top. It’s actually just perpetuating this national inferiority complex that we have, the doffing the cap to the Brits, the West Brits are here loving all of this. 

“Now in saying that, the Queen herself was a magnificent woman! I mean 70 years on the Throne, she held firm to her own speech when she came onto the Throne to serve her people and her God and I mean she did it for 70 years. 

“So I’ve no issue with the British people being in mourning. I do object to your own [Newstalk’s] last news bulletin talking about how David Beckham had queued for 13 hours. So what? Really! 

“That’s just a distraction from the issues that we have to deal with here.”

He added that the funeral would be broadcast on numerous channels and as such there was no need for RTÉ to duplicate what will be a very British event. 

“There’s ample opportunity for people to put on their Union Jack boxer shorts and parade around and adore the Queen,” he added. 

“And good luck to them if they want to do that, I’ve no issue but they’re a national broadcaster. At some stage we have to say, ‘Stop, we’re an independent republic.’” 

The Queen’s funeral will begin at 11am, after which her body will be taken to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor for burial.

Main image: Members of the British royal family stand watch beside Queen Elizabeth II's coffin in St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture by: @RoyalFamily on Twitter