Queen Mother of the West Taoist thought, has the Queen Mother taking an inferior role to Laozi, calling him "Primordial Lord" (the title of his highest manifestation) and pays homage to the sage. The "Bamboo Annals" record that in the 9th year of reign of the legendary sage king Emperor Shun, "messengers from the western Wang-mu (Queen Mother) came to do him homage." It further notes that "the coming to court from the Western Wang-mu was to present white stone rings and archers' thimbles of gem." Shun's immediate successor was Yu the Great, who was Shun's prime minister and already present in the court at
State visit of Elizabeth II to the Republic of Ireland and Britain... The visit by the Queen of England provides a unique opportunity for the British establishment to make it clear that this is its intention also." Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Féin deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, declined invitations to attend ceremonies at the Garden of Remembrance and the National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge, saying the royal visit was "premature". However, the cost of the visit was a cause for concern for some. Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins asked in Dáil Éireann if "the Queen of England might be politely asked to contribute to the cost of her