Live: The Queen is attending a state banquet at Dublin Castle where she will make her only public speech during the historic trip
Queen’s sympathy for Irish people
The Queen is due at Dublin Castle for a banquet at which she is to make her only public speech of her Irish visit.
Earlier she visited sports stadium Croke Park in Dublin, where 14 people were killed by British forces during a Gaelic football match 91 years ago.
Gaelic Athletic Association president Christy Cooney said her presence “does honour to our association”.
On the second day of her visit to the Republic of Ireland the Queen also laid a wreath honouring Ireland’s war dead.
She is the first British monarch to visit the country for 100 years.
The Queen was met at the main entrance of Croke Park by Mr Cooney and President Mary McAleese, who is hosting the visit.
A display of Irish set dancing was followed by a meeting with GAA officials.
Addressing the Queen, Mr Cooney said the visit would underpin and advance the peace process and “go down in the history of the GAA”.
He said: “Your presence does honour to our Association, to its special place in Irish life, and to its hundreds of thousands of members.”
At the scene
On Tuesday, the Queen had laid a wreath in memory of those who died fighting for Ireland against her own country’s forces.
Less than 24 hours later, she was on the opposite side of Dublin for another memorial – this time, honouring Irishmen who fought and died for Britain in WWI.
Dignitaries, including the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and many other representatives from the unionist community, looked on as the Queen laid a wreath of poppies.
A lone piper played a lament and the band the Last Post before the Queen went to look at the Roll of Honour – the names of 49,400 men who went to war for the crown and did not return.
He added that he was “deeply saddened” to attend the funeral of GAA member PSNI Constable Ronan Kerr last month.
The Queen was presented with a limited edition book outlining the GAA’s history, and Prince Philip was presented with a hurley stick and a sliothar (hurling ball), with the aside that he should use it “in the back garden”.
Dublin footballer Kevin Nolan, who was one of four players from across Ireland to meet the Queen at Croke Park, told Radio Ulster’s Evening Extra it was a “great honour” to represent the GAA at the event.
On 21 November 1920, during the War of Independence, 13 spectators and one player were killed when British forces opened fire at a football match at the home of Gaelic sports.
Earlier that day, IRA assassination squads had shot dead 14 suspected British intelligence agents in Dublin.
The BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the Queen walking out on the hallowed nationalist turf at Croke Park represented “the once unimaginable becoming the norm”.
Her speech at Wednesday’s state dinner is likely to acknowledge past UK-Irish difficulties without offering an apology, he added.
The Queen laid a wreath at the Irish War Memorial in Islandbridge.
The Queen and Prince Philip were shown how to pour a pint of Guinness on their first stop of the day, but declined a taste of Ireland’s most famous export.
They then met Prime Minister Enda Kenny and were shown around government buildings in the capital.
The Queen then laid a wreath honouring almost 50,000 soldiers at the Irish National War Memorial.
The Queen’s attendance at the ceremony honouring the Irish soldiers who died in World War I reflects an aspect of history that has been troubling for her hosts.
For decades, when the focus of admiration was on the rebels who fought and died in the 1916 Easter Rising, the soldiers’ contribution went unrecognised.
“At the Guinness Storehouse Prince Philip leaned on the bar. Looked relaxed”
Peter Hunt Royal correspondent, BBC NewsFollow Peter Hunt’s coverage of royal visit Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson on Twitter
Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson, who was among the dignitaries at the ceremony, said: “Everyone remembers the past but we have to look to the future, but there are clear indications as a society – in the UK and Republic – people are moving on.
“They want better relations and we are in a new era.”
In Dublin Castle, which used to be the seat of British rule, the monarch will deliver a speech in the same room where Queen Victoria once dined.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron will be present at the state dinner, after flying in and holding talks with the Taoiseach, Mr Kenny, on Wednesday evening.
Mr Kenny has said he wishes to discuss the release of UK government files on the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in which victims’ relatives believe there was British state collusion.
At prime minister’s questions on Wednesday, Mr Cameron told MPs that the relationship between Britain and the Republic of Ireland “probably has never been stronger”.
“I think the scenes on our television screen last night of the visits that Her Majesty made, to heal the wounds of the past, but also to look to a very bright future between our two countries, are remarkable and hugely welcome,” he said.
The first day of the royal visit went smoothly, although there were some protests.
During the Queen’s visit to the Garden of Remembrance, in Dublin, riot police officers jostled with demonstrators at two separate protests on streets several hundred yards away.
The garden is dedicated to people who fought for Irish independence from Britain.
As the Queen, with President Mary McAleese alongside her, laid a wreath in the garden, the sounds of protesters could be heard and black balloons were released by some demonstrators.
Broadcaster RTE reported that 20 men had been charged with public order offences on Tuesday night in relation to the afternoon’s violence.
Early in the day it emerged that a pipe bomb found on a bus bound for Dublin on Monday had been made safe by the Irish army.
One of the country’s biggest security operations is in place for the Queen’s four-day visit.
President’s residence 
The Queen and Prince Philip’s signatures on the visitors’ book at the official residence of the Irish president
Garden of Remembrance 
Wreath-laying at the Garden of Remembrance, the Queen (left) with President Mary McAleese (right)
Trinity College 
The Queen inspects the Book of Kells at Trinity College
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Government Buildings 
The Queen signs the visitors’ book at Government Buildings, while meeting the Irish prime minister, on right
National War Memorial Gardens 
Irish veterans meet the Queen and the Irish president at the Irish War Memorial Gardens
Guinness Storehouse
The Queen is offered a pint at the Guinness Storehouse
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