The Queen's arrival in Dublin later today has been overshadowed this morning by the news that the Irish army has made safe a bomb near Ireland's capital.
The "viable" improvised explosive device was discovered in the luggage compartment of a bus on the outskirts of Maynooth, Co Kildare, late on Monday night.
A controlled explosion was carried out and the device made safe by the Irish army in the early hours of this morning.
"An army bomb disposal team made safe a viable improvised explosive device overnight in Maynooth, Co Kildare," an army spokesman said.
The Foreign Office has said the Queen will still go ahead with her planned four-day visit to Ireland.
The discovery of the bomb comes amid an unprecedented security operation in the country, costing an estimated 30 million euro (£26.2m). The operation includes land, air and sea patrols and a huge number of police deployed around the centre of the Irish capital.
The trip will be the first time a British monarch has set foot on Irish soil for 100 years, and is the first visit by a monarch since the country became a republic. King George V was the last to visit in 1911.
The Queen's itinerary will take in Croke Park, the home of Gaelic football where 14 people were slaughtered by British troops in 1920.
We'll have more on the bomb and live updates as the Queen arrives in Ireland.
The Guardian's Ireland correspondent, has more on the bomb found in County Killdare this morning.
An army engineering unit had been deployed to a bus stop on the outskirts of Maynooth in response to a request by the Garda Siochana. An Irish military spokesman said viable IED which was located in the luggage compartment of a bus was made safe. A controlled explosion was carried out close to a local hotel.
The team arrived on scene at 11.10pm last night, the scene was declared safe at 1.55am. The remains of the device were handed over to the Gardai for their investigations.
At present the Irish Defence Forces are dealing with a bus alert on the LUAS tram line in Dublin.
Meanwhile due to the massive security operation in Dublin aimed at protecting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh the Irish capital's main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street has been closed to traffic.
A second device was found in a suburb of Dublin this morning, Gardai have confirmed to the Guardian, however the Irish army have declared it a hoax.
The device was found at 6am at the Black Horse tram stop in Inchicore, around two miles west of the centre of Dublin.
"The area was sealed off and the army EOD (bomb disposal team) were notified. The army EOD declared it a hoax, and the area was declared safe at approximately 8am this morning," a Gardai spokeswoman said.
She said the tram line is running again, and a road which was closed off has been reopened.
The Queen is due to land at the Baldonnel military base, 10 miles south west of Dublin, at 12 noon. No firm timings have been given for the itinerary, but here's a list of where Elizabeth is going and what she'll do there, beginning with a chance to show off her green fingers:
Áras an Uachtaráin
• Ceremonial welcome
• Meeting with President and Dr. McAleese
• Tree Planting Ceremony
Garden of Remembrance
• Wreath Laying Ceremony
Trinity College
• View Book of Kells
• Reception in the Long Room
Henry McDonald has more on the political backdrop to the monarch's visit to Ireland.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said this morning that Ireland would welcome the Queen and the symbolism speaks for itself" of her presence in the Republic.
"We are now focussed on the future, two modern countries working together in a spirit of co-operation," the Irish premier said.
Former Irish Foreign Minister David Andrews spoke fondly of the Queen remembering a dinner he had with her at Buckingham Palace when he was in government.
"She was talking about her family and her Annus Horribilis. I described her at the dinner as a fine woman..she is a very normal mother, very normal person with all the difficulty that family has. "
Below the line Cudds writes:
The vast majority of people, aside from a few on the lunatic fringes, wish to welcome the Queen to Ireland. The reason? It is long overdue as a sign of the maturity of relations between the two countries. Just remember, there are more people of Irish descent in the UK than live in Ireland and you will see the interdependence that exists.
Ignore the comments from Sinn Fein on how the visit is premature. They were brought into the peace process at a time when most people thought it premature. Noone would argue with that step now.
Therefore, yes, there might be some risk but to cancel such a visit concedes to the extremists - something England did not do in 1972 (in the midst of the troubles) when they came to Dublin to play a rugby international when other teams would not travel.
PA has some more information on the bomb that was found on a coach last night, and made safe this morning.
The device was a pipe bomb, and was discovered in a holdall in the luggage compartment of a "crowded bus", according to the agency. The bus, which was carrying 30 passengers and was on its way to Dublin, was stopped outside an hotel, apparently after a tip-off. Army bomb experts carried out a controlled explosion during a three hour operation.
The bus was operated by the state owned Bus Eireann company and had set off from Ballina, Co Mayo, on the west coast of Ireland.
On Twitter, #queensvisit is the most discussed topic in Ireland at the moment (it doesn't even breach the top ten in the UK, where tweeters are more concerned with #ignoredtextmessages).
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Henry McDonald is out and about, and nearly getting arrested, in central Dublin:
At Parnell Square North the Garda Síochána are getting increasingly nervous and ultra security conscious. When I arrived at a crush barrier at the junction with Dorset Street a Garda sergeant in a yellow hi-vis jacket asked me to leave the area. On asking why I was then threatened with arrest if I didn't move on.
All the main routes from north Dublin into Parnell Square leading to the Garden of Remembrance – where the Queen will later lay a wreath on the spot dedicated to Irish republicans who once fought the British – are sealed off. Overhead a Garda helicopter is hovering around Dublin's north inner city.
Meanwhile Republican Sinn Féin has shifted their protest to the "Black Church" in nearby Mountjoy Street. It is a famous Dublin landmark which is mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses, and according to local legend if you walk anti-clockwise around it three times with your eyes closed when you open them again you are meant to see the Devil.
The dissident republicans will march from the church after a noon time rally towards the Garda lines at Parnell Square North. Further down that same street is the headquarters of the mainstream Sinn Féin whose response to the royal visit this morning has been the blaring of Irish republican ballads from a speaker system from one of their offices.
Morrissey has marked her majesty's impending arrival in Ireland by writing about the monarchy for the music magazine Hot Press. The singer used the piece to describe the Queen's existence as "entirely against any notion of democracy", and by claiming there is little difference between the monarch and dictators like Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak.
The full meaning of the Monarchy is, like the Queen herself, a complete mystery to most people. It is protected from any investigations by ridiculous stories of trivia and wedding dresses and on-again-off-again soap-drama romances. The most revealing statement came from Commander Christine Jones of the Metropolitan Police last month, when she warned that any British people carrying anti-royal placards who are "seen in the vicinity of the royal wedding would be removed under the Public Order Act." This means that any political dissent in England is silenced in order to protect the royals, which in itself goes against every principle of democracy.
The very existence of the Queen and her now enormous family – all supported by the British taxpayer whether the British taxpayer likes it or not – is entirely against any notion of democracy, and is against freedom of speech. For a broad historical view of what the Queen is and how she "rules", examine Gaddafi or Mubarak, and see if you can spot any difference.
You won't be able to.
The Queen also has the power to give back the six counties to the Irish people, allowing Ireland to be a nation once again. The fact that she has not done so is Fascism in full flow. What else could it be? Name one other European country that is controlled by its neighbour?
Below the line shimrod responds to DMCCUSKER12's inference that the Queen's visit is generally not welcome, claiming that the "vast majority of Irish citizens are either positive or mildly indifferent to the visit of the Head of State of the UK to the Republic".
A small number of people are objecting either because they object to Monarchy in general, (or the British one in particular) and are having peaceful demonstrations (as is their right), but lets be clear that this, in no way, respresents the majority view of the population.
Also, this visit comes because of a request made by the Irish President and the previous Government, not a request by the British Monarchy. I presume you are an Irish Citizen like me. In which case, you do accept the sovereign right of the Irish Government to invite whoever they want to Visit the Republic of Ireland don't you?
The Queen's plane has landed at Baldonnel, by the way. A long red carpet gushes from the open aircraft door, with a black Range Rover at one end and soldiers lined either side.
The Queen arrives in Ireland Photograph: Sky News
And... she's out. The first reigning British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland. Appropriately enough, the Queen is wearing green – hat and overcoat matching. She stops to collect a bouquet from a young girl, hops into the waiting car, and off they go.
Next stop Áras an Uachtaráin - the official residence of the President of Ireland – where she will meet President Mary McAleese.
Henry McDonald is out on the streets with dissident republicans who are protesting against the Queen's arrival:
Around 60 supporters of the hardline Republican Sinn Fein have gathered at a security barrier in the last few minutes north of Parnell Square. They are being kept away from the Garden of Remembrance where the Queen will visit later this afternoon. So far the protest is looking peaceful. RSF's founder Rory O'Bradoidh has denied that the turnout is disappointing for the republican dissident cause.
It appears the Queen has been delayed slightly, so BBC and Sky are treating us to beautiful panning shots of Áras an Uachtaráin. It's a fine looking residence, it must be said.
She's here. Mary McAleese is waiting for the Queen, the Irish President resplendent in bright pink. Together they look like a couple of Refreshers.
@NicolaRice82 Loving Mary's pink. #queensvisit
@iamdavidwebb Dear Elizabeth and Mary: those colours clash #queensvisit
We've just had a fly past, and now the Queen is inspecting the Guard of Honour. All seems to be well.
VincenzoScifoDieci writes that he's just passed through Dublin, and found it to be resembling a "coppers' convention".
The security can be an annoyance of course, but a necessity just the same.
Total indifference to this visit. The Windsors and their Royal brethren always struck me as comedic figures to be honest. They're as dysfunctional as most families. Liz, her wayward kids, her idiotic husband who is always putting his foot in it. I hope there is a couple of gems from him over the next couple of days!
Of course the historical context, is flamed by a minute vocal minority – yet balanced by the majority, who are more worried about how they are going to feed their kids in the sovereign black hole that is now Ireland.
The Queen has just planted a tree. Or rather she shovelled two very small piles of mud onto the base of a tree which looked suspiciously like it had already been planted. Fair enough though, she's not exactly dressed for gardening. The crowd applauds anyway.
Mary McAleese is now leading a tour across a portion of the gardens. I believe the pair will now depart for lunch.
A bit of lunchtime reading from my colleague Nick Watt, who writes on the Wintour and Watt blog that it was John Major who started the process which led to the Queen being received in Ireland today.
Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, the former British and Irish prime ministers, are rightly lauded for their historic roles in leading the Good Friday Agreement negotiations. But their warm and constructive relationship was only made possible after their predecessors had embarked on the hard graft of normalising Anglo-Irish relations.
The key relationship was between John Major, prime minister from 1990-97, and Albert Reynolds, Taoiseach between 1992-94. The two men, who had formed a strong bond as finance ministers at EU meetings in Brussels, had a straightforward and open relationship.
Major and Reynolds had a tough job. Their predecessors, Margaret Thatcher and Charles Haughey, had a tetchy relationship. Their relationship started well at the famous famous "teapot" summit in 1981 when Haughey presented Thatcher with a silver Georgian teapot and they agreed to examine the "totality of relationships" between the two islands. But Thatcher became alarmed by Haughey's determination to press ahead what she regarded as overly nationalist plans.
The breakthrough in Anglo-Irish relations took place under John Major and Albert Reynolds in 1993 at, of all places, the Baldonnel military airbase where the Queen was welcomed today. Lord Butler of Brockwell, the former cabinet secretary, flew to the airbase for a secret meeting with Reynolds who had an early draft of a proposed new Anglo-Irish declaration. This eventually became the Downing Street Declaration of December 1993 which was one of the first steps on the lengthy road that led to the Good Friday Agreement four and a half years later.
There was a pretty good interview with John Major on the Queen's visit on Newsnight last night (about 40 minutes in).
"It puts a seal on the past and builds for the future," he says.
"We've moved a great deal since the 1990s... we're huge trading partners, we have a huge Irish population here in the UK, quite a few Brits living in Ireland... there are 200 flights a day from London to Irish airports. It's become a very close relationship."
Stephen Bates is out on the road as part of the press pack on the Queen's four-day trip, and reports that the large media centre at Dublin Castle is filling up: "there is huge international interest".
As the Queen landed at the Baldonnel airfield, the headquarters of the Irish air force, the Irish media centre staff burst into spontaneous applause – though whether that was because of relief at the safe arrival, or that they had all won money on the bookies' bet that the Queen would wear green (that was a pretty odds-on bet) may be a moot point.
Irish pundits on RTE are noting that the Queen's dresser Angela Kelly, though Liverpool-born is of Irish descent and so would have advised HM on what to wear (as if she needed it), and also that the Queen's dress is blue – St Patrick's colour – so a double whammy.
Irish celebrities from north and south are gathering at Aras, the president's house and former British vice-regal lodge in Phoenix Park, ready for lunch: John Hume and David Trimble from the North. Mary McAleese, the president, likes to point out she sleeps in the bed at the Aras that was made for George V on his visit in 1911.
Few Irish people have seen the Queen yet: Phoenix Park was cleared of members of the public, unlike when George V drove in an open carriage the eight miles from the port at Kingstown 100 years ago, waving to crowds all the way.
The Manchester Guardian reported at the time that the wear on his hand was "only one of the minor penalties royalty has to pay for its popularity, but these courtesies must impose a very severe physical tax when they have to be measured by the mile." No danger of that today – but unlike quite often – the Queen is being very smiley today and looks genuinely pleased to be here.
@shoutinthewind @guardian @AdamGabbatt - Have the Irish got the money for this visit - It must be massively expensive and for what - A visit from the Queen!
Henry McDonald reports from central Dublin:
A second larger republican dissident demonstration has just set off towards Garda lines blocking off routes to the Garden of Remembrance. Around 100 protesters, lead by radical republican group éirígí are now being held back by gardaí close to Dublin's Rotunda hospital.
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Here we are – video of the Queen arriving in Ireland. She looks very pleased to be there.
The Queen is expected to leave Áras an Uachtaráin, and will travel to the Garden of Remembrance in central Dublin. Steve Bates is at the garden now, and reports that all is peaceful, "except for the helicopter overhead".
If there are protests we can't hear them over the noise. There is word of garda firing pepper spray at demonstrators in Dorset Street not far away, but the police presence is very heavy: there are marksmen on the rooves of the Georgian houses overlooking the garden, where in a little while the Queen and Irish president will lay wreaths in memory of Irishmen and women killed, by Britons, while fighting for independence from British rule. A very resonant moment indeed - maybe the most symbolic of the whole visit. Hope the helicopter does not drown it out....
Adam Gabbatt has finished his royal duties for the day and has handed the baton to me, Mark Tran.
The Queen has come out from her lunch and is heading to the Garden of Remembrance to lay a wreath, the highlight of the visit. The cavalcade moves off led by a bevy of outriders. 150 demonstrators are waiting for her, Henry McDonald tells me over the phone. I can hear some shouting in the background over the line, but Henry says it's all peaceful. It's a lockdown and the protesters are about 300-500 yards from the garden, says Henry.
The streets are devoid of people as the Queen's Range Rover pulls up to the Garden of Remembrance. She and the Duke now make their way into the garden.
God Save the Queen is being played before she lays the wreath.
A soldier offers the Queen a large laurel wreath, which she places before a large black sculpture, representing the children of Lir, who were turned into swans. President Mary McAleese also lays a wreath and they stand heads bowed during a minute's silence, with the sound of a helicopter overhead. The Garden of Remembrance, which opened in 1966 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Easter uprising, honours all those who fought for Irish freedom from British rule.
A bit of oom-pah-pah music as the Queen and President McAleese remain in front of the wreaths.
The Queen and the president now make their exit, past the green reflecting pool. The symbolic act of reconciliation has gone off smoothly, albeit with some shouts from the protesters in the distance. The Queen is back in her car and heads off for her final engagement at Trinity college on the first day of her state visit. Only another three days to go.
Here's a bit of Press Association copy on the wreath-laying ceremony.
The Queen, wearing an ivory coloured coat with light green trim, laid a wreath first before stepping back to bow, in an extraordinary moment in Anglo-Irish history.
The president then stepped in to lay a wreath before a minute's silence. The Irish poem Rinneadh Aisling Duinn (We saw a Vision) was read out before the guard of honour presented arms and the last post sounded.
As the ceremony drew to a close the Tricolour was adjusted to full mast and the Irish national anthem Amhran na bhFiann was played. The small scale protests could not be heard in the garden.
Pictures courtesy of the BBC show some pushing and shoving among demonstrators opposed to the Queen's presence.
The Queen was cheered by students and staff as she arrived in the grounds of Trinity College, where she views the Book of Kells, one of the earliest and most beautiful of illuminated gospels, from the 7th century. The Long Room of the library looks magnificent.
The Queen is doing much meeting and greeting in the Long Room, going down a long line. She's doing a good job of showing interest in the people she's chatting to, looking quite cheerful. They say customer-facing jobs are quite exhausting. Well she's meeting lots of complete strangers today and she's still smiling.
Close-ups of the Queen show her looking quite perky and engaged, not at all tired. Looks like she's enjoying the whole experience of being in the Long Room, checking out the artefacts and being introduced to yet more people.
Both the BBC and Sky News are carrying split screens of the Queen's visit and David Cameron appearing before the Commons liaison committee, taking questions on the economy. That's being being covered by Andrew Sparrow on his live blog.
The Queen is now meeting members of the public; many clap politely. Big smiles from those she stops to chat to. But not everyone is so welcoming and there have been protests in Dublin.
Photograph: Niall Carson/PA
The visit to Trinity College is over and the royal caravan moves off, rounding off the last of the Queen's public engagements of the day. According to RTÉs political correspondent, David Davin-Power, gardaí are still involved in a standoff with few dozen protesters on Dorest St. But on the whole, the trip seems to have gone off very smoothly. The highlight was the solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Remembrance Garden. The former Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, described the ceremony as "historic and an important explicit expression of the relationship between two countries". We'll end this live blog here. Henry McDonald's story on the first day will be on the site shortly.