Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla visit Heaney HomePlace
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have visited the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy.
Last updated 9th May 2017
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla were treated to a musical rendition of "The Burial at Thebes" by children from Rainey Endowed School in Magherafelt, upon their arrival.
The musical performance had been arranged by Derry musician Frank Gallagher.
The Royal couple then toured the centre and Prince Charles, who is a fan of the former Nobel Laureate, spoke to those gathered.
"Our varied histories, voices, and traditions can create all the greater harmony when they come together," he said.
"After all it is differences that make harmony possible, even as it is the barriers that have been overcome to make friendship all the stronger."
He alluded to Northern Ireland's emergence from conflict.
"All this is in the spirit of the great poet whose extraordinary work we are celebrating here today.
"One who saw differences as opportunities for understanding and exchange, one who learned in Bellaghy what it means to belong and who with great generosity extended that belonging to the world.
"Despite the prizes and the praise, he never forgot the place that was the centre of his ever widening circle of friendship.
"So often it is the poets who can find the words which identify the essential beyond the superficial, the sense beyond the slogan and which can discover, beyond the external things which separate us, the humanity that we share."
Prince Charles's voice can be heard among the exhibitions at the centre, where he reads some of Heaney's works.