Britain's Queen Elizabeth helped normalise relations with nearest neighbour Ireland, Prime Minister Micheál Martin said on Thursday, remembering a "crucial" 2011 visit, the first by a monarch since independence from London almost a century earlier.
"On behalf of the Government of Ireland, I would like to convey my deepest sympathy to the British people on the loss of their beloved monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth," Martin said in a statement
"Her State Visit to Ireland in 2011 marked a crucial step in the normalisation of relations with our nearest neighbour. That visit was a great success, largely because of the many gracious gestures and warm remarks made by the Queen."
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Conor Humphries)
