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Irish president continues first official visit to GB

PA Media A woman in a blue suit and blue dress, with a navy top looks down at an out-of-focus flower bedPA Media
The first event Catherine Connolly attended on her second day of the trip was the Chelsea Flower Show

The Irish president is in the second day of her three-day official visit to London and Leeds.

Catherine Connolly spent Tuesday afternoon visiting the Chelsea Flower Show, before making an appearance at the London Irish Centre in Camden.

On Monday, she met King Charles III where she invited the King to make a state visit to Ireland, which he "graciously accepted".

Connolly's visit to England comes as the King and Queen Camilla made their first visit of the year to Northern Ireland.

PA Media A woman with short grey hair, wearing a blue suit and navy top turns to her left and laugh's as she receives a cup of tee from a long-blonde haired woman in a dark-green polo top. PA Media
The Irish president attended the London Irish Centre in Camden

Connolly's trip began on Monday with a visit to the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, London, where she said some Irish people were leaving Ireland because of a lack of housing.

She also met those participating in an Irish language class, and enjoyed some musical and dance performances.

It is Connolly's first official visit to Great Britain since her inauguration in November.

On Wednesday, Connolly's trip will conclude with visits to Leeds University and Leeds Irish Centre.

President Connolly will be briefed on the work of the Irish Health Centre in Leeds and will also meet representatives of other Irish centres in the region.

It is the third official visit the president has undertaken since commencing her term of office, following visits to Northern Ireland and Spain.

Global Sumud Flotilla/Handout via Reuters Video footage from the Global Sumud Flotilla showing armed commandos boarding a sailboat from a raiding craft in the Mediterranean, west of Cyprus (18 May 2026)Global Sumud Flotilla/Handout via Reuters
A live stream from the Global Sumud Flotilla showed armed commandos boarding a boat on Monday

The Irish president's trip comes following the detention of her sister, Dr Margaret Connolly.

Dr Connolly was part of an aid flotilla to Gaza which was intercepted in international waters and boarded by Israeli forces on Monday.

The flotilla organisers said 10 boats in a 60-vessel convoy were intercepted.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid was "effectively neutralising a malicious plan designed to break the isolation we have imposed on Hamas terrorists in Gaza".