The Irish president is in the second day of her three-day official visit to London and Leeds.
– Catherine Connolly spent Tuesday afternoon visiting the Chelsea Flower Show, before making an appearance at the London Irish Centre in Camden.
– On Monday, she met King Charles III where she invited the King to make a state visit to Ireland, which he “graciously accepted”.
– Connolly’s visit to England comes as the King and Queen Camilla made their first visit of the year to Northern Ireland.
– Connolly’s trip began on Monday with a visit to the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, London, where she said some Irish people were leaving Ireland because of a lack of housing.
– She also met those participating in an Irish language class, and enjoyed some musical and dance performances.
– It is Connolly’s first official visit to Great Britain since her inauguration in November.
– On Wednesday, Connolly’s trip will conclude with visits to Leeds University and Leeds Irish Centre.
– President Connolly will be briefed on the work of the Irish Health Centre in Leeds and will also meet representatives of other Irish centres in the region.
– It is the third official visit the president has undertaken since commencing her term of office, following visits to Northern Ireland and Spain.
– The Irish president’s trip comes following the detention of her sister, Dr Margaret Connolly.
– Dr Connolly was part of an aid flotilla to Gaza which was intercepted in international waters and boarded by Israeli forces on Monday.
– The flotilla organisers said 10 boats in a 60-vessel convoy were intercepted.
– Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid was “effectively neutralising a malicious plan designed to break the isolation we have imposed on Hamas terrorists in Gaza”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3e202380nyo