ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: As we all know the IRA used to target members of the Royal Family but this week one of its former commanders, Martin McGuinness, will be at a dinner hosted by the Queen. It is part of the first ever state visit to the United Kingdom by an Irish President and I’m joined now from Dublin by a man who’ll be travelling  with the President, Ireland’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Eamonn Gilmore, a very good morning to you Mr Gilmore.  What’s the Irish government’s position on a former IRA man breaking bread with the Queen?

EAMONN GILMORE: Well I think it’s a statement of how much things have moved on.  The Deputy Prime Minister didn’t participate in the events when Queen Elizabeth visited Ireland in 2010/11 and I think it says a lot for the progress indeed we’ve made even over the last three years that the Deputy First Minister will attend the events in London this week. 

DM: Okay, so glad to see it and how would you describe them relations between the UK and Ireland after the Queen’s visit to Ireland in 2011 and now this reciprocal visit? 

EAMONN GILMORE: I think they are better than they have ever been.  I think what we now have is a very good neighbourly relationship between two states … by a number of things, first of all an enormous volume of trade between our two countries. There’s about a billion euro every week in trade between Britain and Ireland.  Britain is Ireland’s largest market, Ireland is Britain’s fifth largest market, Britain exports more to Ireland than it does to China, India and Brazil together so there is an enormous amount of trade.  There’s also an … 

DM: Oh dear me.  Well we seem to have lost the link there, it’s a bit blowy there as you can see by Dublin Bay and we seem to have lost Eamonn Gilmore there just as he was telling me about the trade relations between Ireland and the UK.  If we can get the line back it would be interesting to have another word with him.  I’m not sure he can hear us.  Mr Gilmore, I think our link is back, good to see you.  That’s taken a bit of time away from us … and I think you’ve been taken away from us again.  Just let me try one last question to me Mr Gilmore before the wind intervenes.  No, it’s no good.  My apologies to the Tánaiste, no doubt we’ll hear plenty from him when he is over here with Michael D. Higgins.  That state visit, the banquet we were referring to at Windsor Castle will take place on Tuesday, there’s a Lord Mayor’s banquet then for the President and many other events as well which will be covered on Sky News.