Professor John Loughlin, Director of the Von Hugel Institute and Fellow of St Edmund’s College, was one of 300 guests invited by H.M. the Queen to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace on 25 March 2014 to celebrate the contribution made by Irish people in the UK to academic life, the arts, industry and other fields. This was the first of a series of events to mark the state visit by an Irish President Michael D. Higgins which will take place on 8-11 April. This will be the first state visit by an Irish president since Irish independence and follows the successful visit by H.M. the Queen to Ireland in 2012 during the presidency of Professor Mary McAleese, Honorary Fellow of St Edmund’s and Patron of the Von Hugel Institute.