Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Dublin Tuesday for a historic four-day visit meant to highlight reconciliation between Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
The Queen, dressed in emerald green, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived mid-day Tuesday at a military airbase near Dublin, greeted by an honour guard, Irish President Mary McAleese and other dignitaries.
Beaming smiles by the Queen and McAleese ? a Belfast-born Catholic who has spent 14 years lobbying for Elizabeth II to visit ? demonstrated genuine warmth between the two women, who have met several times before.
At McAleese's official residence, the president said Britain and the Republic of Ireland were "determined to make the future a much, much better place." The Queen didn't comment ahead of her planned speech Wednesday night at Dublin Castle.
More than 8,000 Irish police are in the streets of Dublin amid the tightest security ever seen in the Irish capital. About 1,000 Irish soldiers are also on stand-by.
Authorities had already detonated a pipe bomb found on a bus in Maynooth, about 25 km west of Dublin, just hours before the Queen arrived. Police said the bomb was properly constructed but not primed to detonate.
A second suspicious device that police investigated near a light-rail line in the western district of Inchicore on Tuesday turned out to be a hoax.
No group claimed responsibility for either incident.
Later, police responded to at least two more reports of suspicious packages in working-class districts of north Dublin, but no further bombs were confirmed.
Despite the threat of violence, the royal visit ? the first since George V in 1911, when Ireland was still part of the British empire ? is seen as a strong indication of improving relations between Britain and the Republic of Ireland. CBC's Susan Ormiston said a cheer went up at the media centre in Dublin when the Queen landed.
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