On his first official visit to the Republic of Ireland Prince Charles gets a warm welcome from Dubliners and a kiss from one admirer.
Prince Charles is in Dublin on the first official visit by a member of the British royal family since Irish independence.
The Prince of Wales leaves the British Tourist Authority office on Dame and is greeted warmly by the crowd who gather along the short route along College Green towards Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
However protesters are also out in force and while Prince Charles chats to a woman, eggs are thrown. Two of the eggs hit the Prince's car while a third narrowly misses him. Gardaí arrest three men in the crowd of spectators in connection with the incident.
The Prince is welcomed to TCD by Trinity Chancellor Frank O’Reilly and Provost Thomas Mitchell. He signs the visitors book and visits the Long Room where he receives a private viewing of the Book of Kells.
Prince Charles also makes a quick walkabout and chats to a cheering crowd that includes 63 year old mother of five from Kilbarrack Bernie Fitzgerald who insists,
Give us an aul kiss
She asks the Prince for a kiss
Because he’s gorgeous.
The Prince obliges and Bernie says
He loved it he stayed in my arms for ages.
The Prince of Wales is then welcomed at St Andrew’s Resource Centre on Pearse Street in Dublin’s inner city. He spends almost an hour talking to staff, local people, groups who use the centre, the elderly and representatives of of the voluntary and community organisations from around the city.
The Prince is given his first taste of Guinness and he receives a portrait from three year old Gemma Murphy who goes to the crèche in St Andrew’s day-care centre.
One 82 year old woman feels privileged to have met he Prince of Wales. Another elderly woman says
He’s a gentleman he is.
The 1995 visit by Prince Charles is regarded as a step on the way towards the eventual visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 2011.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 June 1995. The reporter is Michael O’Kane.
