Leader ‘ready to go the second mile’ for peace

Mr Robinson said her determination to do so was underlined by her ground breaking visit to the Republic.

The ex-DUP leader told Radio Ulster on Friday: “The Queen was prepared to go the second mile, she was an encourager all the way” for the peace process.

He also noted the enthusiastic reception the Queen enjoyed on that pioneering trip to the Republic eleven years ago.

“The response from the ordinary person on the street in the Republic, indicated the welcome there was in the south for a new beginning and for relations north, south, east and west.”

His party colleague and current DUP chairman Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley said yesterday that the Queen’s passing was “a moment for both our nation and our communities to pause in grateful remembrance of her service, duty and sacrifice.”

Lord Morrow said: “While she was our Head of State somehow, in a peculiar way, we all felt we knew her.

“Truly as we end this Elizabethan era our national will never be the same without her.

“As others have said, our sorrow is so deep because we have been blessed to live through her reign not having known anyone else as our Sovereign.”

The John and Pat Hume Foundation on Friday paid their tribute to the Queen following a board meeting of the peace group.

Dr Sean Farren, the Foundation’s chair, said: “As an organisation dedicated to peaceful change-making and reconciliation, the John and Pat Hume Foundation acknowledges her role in promoting reconciliation among the people of these islands.

“Her State visit to Ireland in 2011 will be seen as a transformative occasion in those relationships and one that marked a new beginning.”