Queen’s Visit: Day One as it happened

Published Tuesday, 26 June 2012
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The Queen has completed the first day of her visit to Northern Ireland, as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour.

Queen’s Visit: Day One as it happened
The Queen waves to well-wishers in Enniskillen. (© Getty)

Among the day's events were visits to St Macartin's and St Michael's in Enniskillen where thousands turned out to greet the Queen as she extended the hand of friendship to the Catholic community.

It was followed by the official opening of the new South West Acute Hospital, before the monarch retired to her official residence at Hillsborough.

On Wednesday, the Queen is set to meet Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness for a historic handshake.

Live Blog: Queen's Visit
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Memorable montage

The highlights of Day One of the Queen's visit to Northern Ireland.

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Where was Her Majesty's crown?

Well, that's almost it for today's live blog coverage - we'll be back tomorrow to keep you up to date with the best pics, videos and tweets from our reporters.

Until then, we'll leave you with a nice snap of Her Majesty meeting some local school children during her earlier visit to the new South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen.

And this little gem ...

During the hospital visit, eight-year-old Conall Corrigan - who was saved from heart failure - asked the one question we all secretly wanted to know. Where was Her Majesty's crown?

Apparently the Queen replied: "I do not always bring it with me."

So now you know!

Our final post will bring you a montage of the day's highlights ...

Thanks for your company!

Where was Her Majesty
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New era ...

Political Editor Ken Reid joins Alison at Hillsborough to discuss the significance of the Queen's visit.

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Hospital visit ...

As Jane Loughrey reports, the Queen officially opened the new South West Acute Hospital.

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Meet-and-greet ...

As Sara Moore reports, the Queen enjoyed a walkabout in Enniskillen.

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How it all began ...

As Mark McFadden reports, the Queen arrived this morning and headed straight for an historic visit to St Macartin's and St Michael's in Enniskillen.

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As it happened ...

To round off our coverage of the first day of the Queen's visit, we'll bring you the highlights of the events.

First up though, from Her Majesty's final destination for the evening - her official residence in Northern Ireland, Hillsborough - Alison Fleming brings us this report ...

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Hillsborough arrival

Alison Fleming tweets: Huge cheers greet her arrival and chants of we want the queen ... Unveiled a new statue in castle grounds - crowd now singing national anthem.

Political Editor Ken Reid tweets: The Royal Standard has just been raised at Hillsborough Castle.

According to Ken, the crowd have just been told the Queen isn't coming out to greet them ...

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17:32
Travel advice for Wednesday

While we wait for the Queen to arrive at Hillsborough, we've got some very important traffic and travel advice from the police for anyone who's going to be in Belfast tomorrow ...

Unfortunately for motorists, there's a distinct possibility of disruption from early morning to late afternoon - particularly in the Stranmillis and Annadale areas during rush hour.

Police say that, where possible, motorists travelling in to the city centre from the Saintfield Road/Forestside direction should use the Ravenhill Road and Ormeau Road, avoiding the Annadale Embankment area.

Traffic travelling from Dunmurry and Lisburn direction should use the motorway and Malone Road and avoid the Stranmillis Road.

From early morning to late lunch, police say a number of traffic diversions will also be operating in the Queen's Road/Sydenham Road area.

Advice for guests at the Jubilee event at Stormont

Guests attending the Jubilee event in Stormont Estate are encouraged to use public transport. No parking will be available within the Estate or at the entrances.

Free Park and Ride facilities will be available at the D3 Area at Airport Road West and at Sydenham Road in the Harbour Estate. There will also be a Park and Ride facility at Giants Park, Dargan Road (Fortwilliam). All locations will be sign-posted.

A free shuttle bus service will be in operation from Laganside Bus Centre Belfast from 10:30am.

The 4A Metro Bus service from Belfast will be in normal service.

Vehicular access to certain streets in the vicinity of Stormont Estate will be restricted to residents only.

People intending to travel to Belfast to participate in the visit are advised to leave extra time for their journey. Car parking, it is expected, will be at a premium. Police ask motorists to park with courtesy and consideration for residents and to be aware of large numbers of pedestrians in the area.

The event at Stormont Estate is scheduled to run until 6pm. Traffic congestion is anticipated as people leave the event.

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16:55
Next stop Hillsborough

Jane Loughrey tweets: The Queen has just left the new Enniskillen hospital and is on her way to Hillsborough. Another busy and historic day tomorrow.

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© UTV News
Comments Comments
17 Comments
Ciaran in Omagh wrote (331 days ago):
A good day for NI
jimmy mac in Canada wrote (333 days ago):
POOR OLD NORMAN... HE HAS NO WISDOM!!!!
henry in north belfast wrote (333 days ago):
well lets all bake a cake
ruby m in Ballymena wrote (333 days ago):
Watching the Queen's short walkabout in Enniskillen, I was disappointed to see her ignore outstreched hands and only reach for those who held flowers etc. I am now more than surprised that she will shake hands with a self admitted IRA man i.e. McGuinness. I shall no longer consider myself a Royalist.....
sam omagh in omagh wrote (333 days ago):
why spoil the queens visit am sick of hearing about this hand shake that is going to happen tomorrow you would think thats all this visit is about. give over about and lets enjoy this visit for what it is why does everything in our we country have to come down to politics
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