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Charles Visits Site Of Mountbatten Murder

Prince Charles has visited the village where his beloved great-uncle Lord Mountbatten was murdered 35 years ago.

He spent 10 minutes in a peace garden in Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, before heading to the seafront to speak to some of the hundreds of locals who turned out to greet him.

The prince, who has been on a tour of Ireland, earlier spoke of the loss of the "grandfather I never had" at the hands of the IRA.

He also described current UK relations with the Irish Republic as a "blessed era of friendship".

Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was Prince Philip's uncle, was blown up by a remotely-detonated bomb on his boat in August 1979.

Two of his relations, including his grandson, and a 15-year-old Irish boy, Paul Maxwell, also died in the attack.

During his visit Prince Charles met Mullaghmore residents involved in the rescue and some of Lord Mountbatten's former staff.

He was accompanied by Timothy Knatchbull, Lord Mountbatten's grandson, who was pulled from the water after his twin brother Nicholas was killed.

He also had a private meeting with Paul Maxwell's family - the Irish schoolboy was helping out on the boat when the bomb exploded.

Richard Wood-Martin, one of the people who helped rescue survivors, said he hoped the visit would bring "closure".

He was only 200m away when the bomb went off.

"There was a puff of smoke, a loud bang and a shower of bits of timber and the boat was gone," said Mr Wood-Martin.

In a speech earlier at Sligo arts centre, Prince Charles said his great-uncle's death had helped him understand the Troubles.

He said he hoped visiting the spot could continue the "healing process" that had been under way since the IRA ceasefire in 1994.

The Prince told visitors: "I am only too deeply aware of the long history of suffering which Ireland has endured ... In August 1979, my much-loved great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, was killed.

"I could not imagine how we would come to terms with the anguish of such a deep loss since, for me, Lord Mountbatten represented the grandfather I never had.

"So it seemed as if the foundations of all that we held dear in life had been torn apart irreparably.

"Through this dreadful experience, though, I now understand in a profound way the agonies borne by so many others in these islands, of whatever faith, denomination or political tradition."

He later attended a multi-Christian religion service at St Columba's Church at Drumcliffe, which he said he was doing in the hope the next generation would continue the peace process.

The day Lord Mountbatten died was a particularly violent one.

Sixteen members of the Parachute Regiment and two other soldiers also killed in the Warrenpoint Ambush in Northern Ireland, close to the border with the Republic.

The prince's historic handshake with Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams on Tuesday was considered particularly significant, as he is the Paras' Colonel-in-Chief.

His comments came after a year in which Irish President Michael Higgins made two historic visits to the UK, the Queen shook hands with Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, and Charles and Mr Higgins took part in Gallipoli commemorations in Turkey.

Sky's Ireland Correspondent David Blevins said just over 25 years ago, such events would have been inconceivable in an era when Irish republicans and the British state were at war.

The peace process accelerated after the Downing Street Declaration in 1994 when John Major and Albert Reynolds affirmed both the right of the people of Ireland to self-determination, and that Northern Ireland would be transferred to the Republic if - and only if - a majority of its people were in favour.

Referring to Mr Higgins' visit, and one by the Queen to Ireland four years ago, Prince Charles told the audience in Sligo: "The success of those visits is clear evidence of the maturity of our relations, which are now better than ever.

"We have shed our inhibitions about acknowledging the value that we bring to each other.

"Neither Ireland nor Britain enjoys such a deep and broad engagement with any other country.

"Our current, blessed era of friendship and cooperation is not, however, founded on pretending that the past did not happen.

"Recent years have shown us, though, that healing is possible even when the heartache continues."