Twins capture royal hearts despite work of great minds

Queen Elizabeth II arrived at the Tyndall Institute in Cork yesterday -- home to some of the most cutting-edge innovation in Ireland -- however was captivated instead by formerly conjoined Irish twins, Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf.

Yesterday, Anglo-Irish relations certainly entered their most cloud-free period for generations. The queen -- accompanied by a obviously fascinated Duke of Edinburgh -- was given a tour of the gleaming high-tech labs and the various research demonstration 'pods'.

The fastest microchips in use have been developed here

The fastest microchips in use have been developed here and the queen was shown photonic, micro-needle and wide-band radar technologies which will revolutionise computing and medical systems over the then and there decade.