Hillsborough Castle

Hillsborough Castle in County Down is the official royal residence in Northern Ireland of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and members of the British Royal Family. It has been an official royal residence since the 1920s.

It is also the residence of the British monarch's official representative in Northern Ireland. From 1921 to 1972 the official representative of the sovereign was the Governor of Northern Ireland. That post was abolished in 1973. Since 1973 the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the British cabinet minister for Northern Ireland, has also served as the Queen's representative, and as such he or she resides in Hillsborough Castle.

Contents

1 Origins 2 Secretary of State 3 Anglo-Irish Agreement 4 Political talks 5 Breaking new ground 6 Prominent visitors

Origins

The large georgian mansion was the seat of the Marquis of Downshire, a prominent peer, until 1922 when the sixth marquis sold the mansion and its grounds to the British government. By buying it the government solved a practical problem. Under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 a new state called Northern Ireland had been created. Executive authority had been vested for both Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland in the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who was supposed to be one of two all-Ireland features (along with the Council of Ireland) in the new home rule structure. However that office was abolished in a law change following the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which in effect abolished Southern Ireland (which had in reality only existed on paper) and replaced it with the Irish Free State. A new theoretical chief executive office for Northern Ireland alone was created to fill the void, that of Governor of Northern Ireland. But the unexpected necessity of creating an office in Northern Ireland, rather than use the Lord Lieutenant in the Viceregal Lodge in Dublin, necessitated the creation of an official residence. Hillsborough Castle, though outside the capital, Belfast, was deemed a suitable location. After some renovations, the first Governor, James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn, moved in in 1925.

Secretary of State

Following the decision to abolish the majority rule Stormont system of government, all old Northern Ireland governmental posts, including that of governor and of Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, were abolished. Those two posts were in effect combined to create the office of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. As the Queen's representative the Secretary of State resides in Hillsborough Castle, through members of the Royal Family, when visiting Northern Ireland, stay there also.

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh stayed in Hillsborough Castle during their visit to Northern Ireland as part of the Golden Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom in 2002.

Anglo-Irish Agreement

Hillsborough Castle became the controversial location of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Garret FitzGerald believed that signing the Agreement in Hillsborough Castle would mollify unionist opposition the Agreement somewhat. However many unionists took offence at the signing of the Agreement in the Throne Room of the Castle, it igniting their opposition further.

Political talks

Many of the crucial talks leading up to the signing of the Belfast Agreement took place in the secretariat attached to the Castle. Leaders such as Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin), John Hume (SDLP), David Trimble (UUP) and on occasion the Rev Ian Paisley met secretaries of state to discuss sensitive political and constitutional issues.

Breaking new ground

Hillsborough Castle broke new ground for a royal residence when then Secretary of State Peter Mandelson, with royal agreement, lived openly with his gay partner as a couple in the residence during Mandelson's period in office. Some media reports critical of Mandelson's sexuality had speculated that he might decide to live elsewhere during his period in Northern Ireland, and simply use Hillsborough Castle as an office. Others speculated that his partner would not live with him at all in Northern Ireland but would continue to reside in London.

His precedessor, Mo Mowlam, broke her own new ground when she became the first Secretary of State to open up the extensive grounds of the castle to the public. Previous Secretaries of State had not done so because of the fear of Provisional IRA attack. The security impact on the Castle can be seen (top photo) in the presence of bullet-proof glass in plastic frames in front of the georgian windows at the public front of the building.

Prominent visitors

Apart from members of the Royal Family and politicians from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom some international figures have visited or stayed at the Castle. The most prominent was the President of the United States George W. Bush in 2003.