Pope Francis will make a ground-breaking visit to Northern Ireland when he travels to Ireland in 2018, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister has predicted.
Within moments of the Pontiff confirming a widely-expected trip to Dublin for a global gathering of the Catholic Church, Martin McGuinness said there was “no prospect” of him not crossing the border.
“I think there is no prospect whatsoever of him coming to Ireland and him not coming to the North,” he said.
Asked how why he was so sure, he replied: “Because I’m around a long time and I know how these things work.”
Great news that @Pontifex to visit Ireland in 2018,I believe he would receive a very warm welcome throughout the island.
— Martin McGuinness (@M_McGuinness_SF) November 28, 2016
Pope John Paul II was unable to cross the border into Northern Ireland during the last papal visit in 1979.
Instead, amid a welter of security fears and cross-community tensions, the then pope travelled as far as Drogheda, just south of the border, for a huge audience.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed Pope Francis would travel to Ireland in August 2018 after a 23-minute meeting with him in the Vatican on Monday morning.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny discussed past "difficulties" that he had with the Church during his private meeting with Pope Francis pic.twitter.com/0rYnxOmnuA
— Juno McEnroe (@Junomaco) November 28, 2016
Dublin is hosting the two-day World Meeting of Families, a gathering of the church.
After his audience with the Pope in the Apostolic Palace, Mr Kenny tweeted: “Pope Francis has been an important voice for the young, the poor & disadvantaged – glad he will visit Ireland in 2018.”
Pope Francis has been an important voice for the young, the poor & disadvantaged - glad he will visit Ireland in 2018 pic.twitter.com/vSn16otMAA
— Enda Kenny (@EndaKennyTD) November 28, 2016
Later, he told reporters: “We discussed what he might do and obviously that is a matter for His Holiness and the bishops and if that means that he also travels to Northern Ireland, then we will co-operate and assist in whatever arrangements are arrived at.”
