Britain’s Queen Elizabeth arrives in Dublin for historic state visit surrounded by security after makeshift bomb found

Britain's Queen Elizabeth arrived in Dublin on Tuesday for a historic state visit surrounded by security after a makeshift bomb was found.

The monarch, dressed in an emerald green coat and matching hat, was greeted by Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore upon arrival at Casement Aerodrome, a military airfield named after a British diplomat executed in 1916 for aiding the Irish nationalist cause. She met Ireland's president Mary McAleese, reviewed a Guard of Honor and was given a 21-gun salute.

The visit came a few hours after the discovery of a bomb in the luggage compartment of a bus headed for Dublin. Militant nationalists opposed to British control of Northern Ireland are suspected of planting the device, which was destroyed in a controlled explosion by the army in Maynooth, 25 km (15 miles) from Dublin, after a telephone warning to police.

The monarch's visit is about reconciliation and emphasizing the strong bond, built on generations of Irish emigration, that existed between the two countries even before a 1998 deal brought peace to Northern Ireland.