The Queen's four-day visit to Ireland will be first by a British monarch since George V almost 100 years ago

The Queen has visited 129 countries in the course of the second longest reign in British history, from Iceland to Indonesia, but never has she ever set foot in the 130th: Britain's nearest neighbour, the Republic of Ireland.

Her four-day visit from Tuesday will be the first by a British monarch since her grandfather, George V, was greeted by cheering crowds in Dublin almost 100 years ago in the boiling hot July of 1911, and the Irish government has been playing down the resonances that many still feel.

However, demonstrations are expected and the government has instituted a huge security operation, targeted dissident republicans and borrowed water cannon from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Eamon Gilmore, the tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and foreign minister, told the Guardian: "It is very historic and symbolic that the Queen is coming, but really there should be a lot of surprise that it hasn't happened before.

"She is the head of state of a neighbouring country and state visits are very much part of what we do. She will get a very warm welcome. Her visit will herald a much more normal relationship between Ireland and the UK."

Gilmore, who in his youth was a member of Official Sinn Féin, the non-violent wing of the republican movement that became the Workers' party, says he will greet her on arrival, but not bow. Asked if he ever thought he would be welcoming the Queen to Ireland, he replies: "I think it is a question of an old book opening a new chapter … She is going to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority. Those who are opposed do not represent a significant slice of opinion."

The visit – which will be accompanied for part of the time by David Cameron and William Hague, the foreign secretary – will carry the panoply of a state occasion: a formal dinner, a visit to the Dáil and meetings with the president, Mary McAleese, and taoiseach, Enda Kenny, but also includes a trip to the national horse stud in Kildare and the English market in Cork.

It ends three days before the arrival of Barack Obama, who will be stopping over for 24 hours to visit his Irish family roots in Moneygall, County Offaly, on his way to a state visit to Britain.

But the Queen's visit is laden with reminders of a fraught and violent past century. She will lay a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, built to honour those killed fighting for Irish freedom, from the 1798 rebellion of the United Irishmen to the Easter Rising and the Irish war of independence of 1919-21.

And, most resonant of all, she has been invited to Croke Park, where British auxiliary troops fired on a crowd at a gaelic football match in November 1920, killing 14, in savage reprisal for the IRA's assassination of undercover agents in Dublin earlier that morning. It is not so very long since no Briton could have set foot there, let alone a British monarch.

Eirígí, the Irish republican socialist movement, has pointed out that the Queen will arrive on the 37th anniversary of Ulster Volunteer Force bombings in Dublin. Anniversaries and historic wrongs remain important. Brian Leeson, the Eirígí spokesman, said: "For as long as the British occupation of the six counties continues the prospect of a British head of state attending a ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance is as insulting as it is provocative. The entire spectacle is nothing short of disgusting."

Officials expect the visit to produce large crowds and worldwide attention. About 5,000 Garda Síochána officers will be on duty. Senior sources in the Garda have criticised the Irish government's decision to publish the itinerary in advance, believing it has given dissidents time to organise demonstrations. Republican Sinn Féin, linked to the terror group the Continuity IRA, plans protests throughout the visit.

The biggest confrontation may come at the Garden of Remembrance. One security source said: "The demonstrators will only be 300 to 400 yards away. This is the biggest test. The force has to repel any attempt to break through and this is where they will try their damndest."

The special branch has rounded up dissident ringleaders and made arrests.

The government – and the Irish tourist board – hope that the visits by the Queen and Obama will lift spirits after months of political turmoil and financial crisis, and boost tourism from Britain and the US. Alex Connolly, Failte Ireland's spokesman, said: "The Queen's visit brings us exposure money can't buy."

At the end of his visit to Dublin in 1911, George V was surprised by the warmth of the welcome he had received – a "natural impulse of goodwill and true Irish welcome we shall never forget".

He declared: "Looking forward as we do to coming amongst our Irish people again and at no distant date … we can now only say that our best wishes will ever be for the increased prosperity of your ancient capital and for the contentment and happiness of our Irish people." He could never have realised "no distant date" would take another century.

Royal visits



Royal visits to their Irish realm were not uncommon in the late 19th and early 20th century, despite rising political tensions over home rule. After Edward VII's visit in 1903, the nationalist Cork Examiner declared: "No sovereign visiting our shores ever met with anything like the hearty goodwill, the honest, unaffected welcome extended by the people of all classes. This fortnight has made history ... provided materials for nation building."

When George V paid what would be the last official visit in 1911, the king noted that he and Queen Mary had received a reception "as warm-hearted and enthusiastic as any that he has ever received."

Dublin Corporation's nationalist members voted to play no part, but the king was greeted by thousands of spectators, lining the eight miles from Kingstown - now Dun Laoghaire - to the city centre and received loyal addresses from 130 organisations. Lord Mayor John Farrell told the Manchester Guardian that the king would receive a heartier reception in Dublin than he would get in London as "the Irish people were peculiarly suited by temperament to express a welcome when they had it in their hearts."

Resorting to quoting his cabbie, the paper's correspondent reported: "My jarvey told me with the air of one who had known him from the cradle that King George was a very decent fellow and he went on to assure me that the Irish people, coming as they did from very decent stock themselves, would give him the welcome that he deserved."