Tributes paid to queen

Cork County Hall will fly its flag at half mast on Monday to mark the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Speaking at a full meeting of Cork County Council on Monday, Fianna Fáil Cllr Gearoid Murphy said it would be fitting to pay respect to the late monarch in recognition of the “special connection” between Ireland and the UK.

“At least a quarter of British citizens have Irish ancestry and the number is likely quite a bit higher than that,” said Cllr Murphy.

He added: “I think we should recognise the efforts which she personally made during her state visit to Ireland 10 years ago, such as bowing to the graves of our freedom fighters and addressing the president in Irish.”

However, Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Danny Collins did not quite share the view of his colleague.

Referring to the flag being lowered to half mast, Mayor Collins said: “My own feelings on it, I’ll be honest about it, are quite mixed, but we did get a directive from the Taoiseach’s office so I suppose we have to do it.”

Meanwhile during Monday’s Cork City Council meeting, Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Deirdre Forde passed her condolences to the queen’s family and the people of the UK on her passing.