Belfast - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II took part for the first time ever Thursday in a traditional Holy Thursday church service in the formerly troubled province of Northern Ireland. Although tight security was in place, commentators said the monarch's participation in the Church of Ireland service in the city of Armagh confirmed the process of political normalization in the province over the past years.
Police said two "suspicious objects" were discovered ahead of the traditional Maundy Thursday service at St Patrick's cathedral in Armagh, south-west of Belfast.
The diocese of Armagh, Ireland's ecclesiastical capital, which traces its history to St Patrick in the fifth century, is seen as the cradle of Christianity in Ireland.
Police had warned earlier that dissident members of the pro-Irish republican movement in Northern Ireland had resumed activities despite the end of hostilities declared by the underground Irish Republican Army (IRA).
The queen, 82, and her husband Prince Philip, were driven right up to the cathedral entrance and walked only a few steps as crowds gathered nearby.
Representatives of the Jewish, Muslim and Hindu faiths and the main Christian denominations attended the service, at which Philip gave a reading.
The queen, head of the Church of England, has previously attended such services in England and Wales, but never before in Northern Ireland, which remains a province of the United Kingdom.
The Church of Ireland is a province of the Anglican Communion.
Commentators noted that the queen's participation, on the final day of a three-day visit to Northern Ireland, came close to the 10th anniversary of the peace agreement signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998.
Following a tradition that goes back to the 12th century, the sovereign handed out so-called Maundy money, a word derived from the Latin "mandatum," to 82 men and 82 women in recognition of serviced to the church or wider society.
The commemorative coins symbolize the giving of alms, and are worth 82 pence each, reflecting, like the number of men and women chosen to receive them, the age of the reigning monarch.
During her three-day visit to Northern Ireland, the queen had a meeting in Belfast with Irish President Mary McAleese, during which a future historic visit by the British monarch to the Republic of Ireland was discussed.
Ahead of the visit, officials in London had expressed concern at reports of a recent increase in violence in the province.
