There is still time for President Higgins to change his mind about the Northern Ireland centenary service in Armagh

It is always sad to see a figure for whom one has respect make a series of annoying missteps.

Let us hope that President Higgins does attend the service in Armagh, alongside the Queen, to mark the centenary of Northern Ireland. There is still time for him to change his mind.

Wise people, like former Taoiseach John Bruton, have spotted his error and the potential for a major row. I was particularly struck by Mr Higgins’ claim to be the ‘President of Ireland’. He did not like being referred to, in the invitation, as the ‘President of the Republic of Ireland’.

The official title ‘President of Ireland’ is not a problematic one most of the time, but the way and context in which he made the observation suggests clumsiness and pedantry at best, and at worst something very foolish and sinister.

As Mr Higgins knows very well he is no more the ‘President of Ireland’ than the Queen is the ‘Queen of Ireland’ if we are seeing Ireland as a geographical entity. Words and the context of words matter.

He picked the fight on this issue, saying something that could be construed as regressive and reactionary in the context in which he spoke. He should know better than to make such a childish and unforced error.

In reality he the President of the Republic of Ireland, and the Queen is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That does make her an Irish Queen, by the way, but not of the whole island. This is not difficult to grasp.

There is still time for Mr Higgins to change his mind, attend the service, sit by the Queen, and help bring people together.

If he remains stubborn he will slide across the balance sheet and start to become part of the problem, not part of the solution. If he becomes part of the problem we should deal with him accordingly, for the remainder of his term.

He has some serious thinking to do. I suggest he puts down his poetry and history books, puts aside his fanciful notions, takes a long look at himself in the mirror, and gets real.

John Gemmell, Wem, Shropshire

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