Prince Charles has shaken hands with Gerry Adams, during what was the first ever meeting between a British royal and the Sinn Féin president. Mr Adams has described the meeting as 'symbolic'.

It comes ahead of a visit by the Prince of Wales to the scene of the IRA bombing, which killed his great-uncle in 1979.

Prince Charles himself has thanked the Irish people for their hospitality, and says he is always made to feel welcome in Ireland.

The meeting of the Prince - the Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment responsible for Bloody Sunday - and Mr Adams has been described as a symbolic one for the peace process.

It follows Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II in Belfast three years ago.

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

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

He then introduced the Prince of Wales to the man standing next to him, before Charles continued down a queue of assembled dignitaries.

Their cordial handshake and brief chat lasted all of 23 seconds, but comes 36 years after the Prince's great-uncle was murdered by an IRA bomb blast. Gerry Adams says the visit is step towards 'healing' that loss.

Mr Adams said both he and Prince Charles 'expressed regret' for deaths in the North during the Troubles.

Mr Adams says both he and Prince Charles are looking to the future - but are mindful of the past. 

The meeting came as Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla, were entertained at a celebration of Irish art and culture. The Prince himself was impressed by the spectacle.

The heir to the British throne will now meet the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, visit the Burren in Co Clare, and have dinner with President Michael D Higgins.

Charles and Camilla touched down on a chartered flight at Shannon Airport, before travelling to Co 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.

"I don't have any expectations other than this being an engagement which I hope is symbolic and practical, and will assist that entire process," he said.

"It will by its nature be a relatively short engagement. But I don't buy into not shaking hands."

It comes on the eve of what is expected to be an emotional walkabout for Prince Charles in the seaside village of Mullaghmore, Co 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 Drumcliffe.

They will also visit the grave of poet WB Yeats, who is buried under the shadow of Benbulben.

The Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall will end their four-day tour with a series of engagements in Northern Ireland.

Richard Palmer is royal correspondent with the Daily Express.

He told Newstalk Breakfast earlier that the trip to Mullaghmore will be very emotional for Prince Charles.