(Transcript from World News Radio)
The heir to the British throne, the Prince of Wales, and the leader of the Irish republican party Sinn Fein have met from the first time, shaking hands in public.
It was a symbolic milestone during an official royal visit to Ireland.
Phillippa Carisbrooke reports.
The historic first meeting of Prince Charles and Irish republican leader Gerry Adams was at a crowded reception at a university campus in Galway.
The heir to the British throne became the first royal to shake hands with the president of Sinn Fein - the political wing of the outlawed Irish Republican Army paramilitary group.
Speaking at the event the Prince spoke of the "irresistible magic" of Ireland.
"I have been so overwhelmed and so deeply touched by the extraordinary kindness, the welcome, the enthusiasm, indeed the fun of being in Ireland."
The Prince is Colonel-in-Chief of a British army regiment whose soldiers were responsible for the killing of unarmed civilians during what became known as the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre.
After the reception formalities, he had a private meeting with Mr Adams.
The Irish republican figurehead says in that meeting both men expressed regret over the 30-year sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland which left 3,500 people dead, and thousands more injured.
"We did discuss the need for the entire process to move forward particularly in terms of people who have suffered, families who have been bereaved, and the need to heal, to have relationships between the people of these islands (the United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales, Nth Ireland) and the people of this island (Ireland aka Irish Republic)."
Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister and Sinn Fein deputy leader is Martin McGuinness.
He was also invited to the meeting with the prince, and says no apologies were sought or received.
"We didn't ask anybody, of the people who were in that room, to apologise for anything. What we all have to do is recognise as leaders our responsibility to provide a better future for our children. And I think when you consider where we were 20, 30 years ago and where we are now, it's a far better place."
On the Prince's schedule is a deeply personal trip to a stretch of coastline near where the IRA assassinated his godfather, Lord Louis [LOO-ee] Mountbatten, in 1979.
He'll be the first British royal to visit the spot.
Gerry Adams has always rejected allegations that he was a key figure in the IRA, which blew up the boat killing the Prince's mentor and three other people.
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