Both the Irish and British Prime Ministers have suggested that the newly appointed president, Michael D Higgins, will make a state visit to Britain, to follow on from the Queen’s historic trip to Ireland last May.

If the visit goes ahead, it would be the first official state visit by an Irish president to Britain.

During her tenure, Mary Robinson enjoyed tea in Buckingham Palace in 1996, however, there is yet to be a full state visit. Britain would have to extend the invitation to prompt an official visit.
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In the RTE documentary, 'The Queen's Speech', which aired on Tuesday night, David Cameron described a possible visit by Michael D Higgins as a “great idea”.

"We have now what ought to be proper, normal relations between two states and so we should be doing state visits with each other," he said.

"But the great thing about the British-Irish relationship is there's nothing normal about it, it is much closer than normal.

"There are these great bonds and common interests in language and culture and so many things that we share. And I can imagine a state visit, what we call an incoming, an inward visit from an Irish president."

Meanwhile, Enda Kenny assured that a visit by the Irish president would happen after an “appropriate lapse of time".

"I think it would be looked forward to by the million Irish people living in Great Britain with great interest," Kenny added.