Queen 'should pay for Irish B&B'

The Queen should be asked to pay for "bed and breakfast" to cushion the cost of her state visit on hard-pressed Irish taxpayers, it has been claimed.

With the Dublin and London governments finalising details of next month's historic trip, Taoiseach Enda Kenny was urged to ask the Royal Family to foot some of the bill. Mr Kenny said the full cost of the visit was not yet known.

In the Dail parliament, the Socialist Party's Joe Higgins suggested that the Queen pay for food and board given that Ireland was "almost sleeping rough" which prompted laughter from some deputies.