Prince Charles Shakes Hands With Gerry Adams

Prince Charles has become the first member of the Royal family to meet Gerry Adams - a man once deemed such a threat that his voice was banned from the British airwaves.

He shook hands with the Sinn Fein president at the start of his first official tour of Ireland, where his great-uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA.

It follows Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness shaking hands with the Queen in Belfast three years ago, and is seen as a sign of deepening relations between the UK and Ireland.

The heir to the throne exchanged a few words with Mr Adams as Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall met guests at the National University of Ireland Galway.

The two men, both 66, smiled at each other and shook hands for several seconds in the packed hall.

:: Who Is Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams?

Charles was holding a cup of tea as he greeted Mr Adams, who leaned forward to speak into the Prince's ear several times.

Later, the Prince of Wales held a 15 to 20-minute meeting with Mr Adams and the North's Deputy First Minister Mr McGuinness behind closed doors.

Mr Adams said they spoke of their mutual sense of loss and relief that "the war is over".

He said it was a "great meeting and a great engagement", adding: "It was obviously a big thing for him (Charles) to do and a big thing for us to do."

Charles and Camilla touched down on a chartered flight at Shannon Airport in County Clare before travelling to Galway for their first engagement in a packed agenda.

Mr Adams arrived there at midday and told reporters he hoped their meeting would boost the Northern Ireland peace process.

Sky News has learnt the invitation came from Charles after Mr Adams requested a meeting.

The Sinn Fein leader is one of the most prominent and controversial republican figures of the past 50 years.

The historic handshake comes on the eve of the Prince's emotional walkabout in the seaside village of Mullaghmore, County Sligo.

Lord Mountbatten was murdered there in 1979 when the IRA remotely detonated a bomb on his fishing boat.

Three others were also killed - his grandson Nicholas Knatchbull, Nicholas' paternal grandmother, the Dowager Lady Brabourne, and Paul Maxwell, their local boat boy.

Within hours, another IRA bomb claimed the lives of 18 British soldiers at Narrow Water, Warrenpoint, in Northern Ireland.

Charles and Camilla are due to visit Mullaghmore on Wednesday following a service of peace and reconciliation at St Columba's Church, in nearby Drumcliffe.

They will also visit the grave of poet WB Yeats, who is buried under the shadow of Benbulben, before ending their tour with a string of engagements in Northern Ireland.