Prince Charles to begin four-day Ireland visit

The Prince of Wales begins an official visit to Ireland later, during which he will meet Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.

Over the course of his four-day trip, the prince will also go to the area where the IRA murdered his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, in County Sligo.

Prince Charles visited the Republic of Ireland in 1995 and 2002, but this is his first official trip with his wife.

The royal couple's first engagement is a celebration of Irish culture at National University of Ireland, Galway.

They are due to meet a number of Irish politicians at the Galway event, including Mr Adams and his party colleague Martin McGuinness.

The meeting will be the first in the Republic of Ireland between the Sinn Féin leadership and a member of the British Royal Family.

It comes after the Queen made a state visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 and then visited Belfast in 2012, where she shook hands for the first time with Mr McGuinness, a former IRA commander.

It comes after the Queen made a state visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 and then visited Belfast in 2012, where she shook hands for the first time with Mr McGuinness, a former IRA commander.

Some republicans have objected to the Galway meeting because Prince Charles is Colonel-in-Chief of the parachute regiment which killed 14 civilians in Londonderry in 1972, in an event that became known as Bloody Sunday.

Sinn Féin chairman Declan Kearney said his party's Ard Chomhairle (National Executive) had taken a decision on Saturday to support the meeting.

"This was agreed to promote the process of resolving past injustices and promoting reconciliation and healing," Mr Kearney said.

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have engagements north and south of the Irish border from 19 to 22 May.

Later on Tuesday, the prince is due to explore his environmental interests with visits to the Irish Marine Institute and the Burren in County Clare.

The couple will end the first day of their joint visit with a private dinner with Irish President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina.

On Wednesday, the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall will meet members of the community in Mullaghmore, which is where Lord Mountbatten was killed in an IRA bomb attack on his fishing boat in 1979.

They are expected to meeting some of those involved in the rescue operation.

They will also attend a service of peace and reconciliation at St Columba's Church, in Drumcliffe, County Sligo.

When they travel north of the border on the second half of their trip, they will visit Northern Ireland's oldest peace and reconciliation centre at Corrymeela, County Antrim.

The royal couple's itinerary also includes visits to a number of cultural and historical sites, including the County Sligo grave of Irish Nobel Prize-winning poet, William Butler Yeats.