During an official visit to London yesterday the President, Mrs McAleese, indicated that the deepening friendship between Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland meant a state visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth was "getting closer".
Mrs McAleese took up the issue of the "future of Europe" debate and Ireland's No vote in the Nice Treaty in a speech to the Irish Studies Centre at the University of North London, in which she said there was a responsibility on all European citizens to be better informed about the EU.
Although Mrs McAleese said it was not her role to advise people how to vote in a referendum, she noted that despite its achievements, many people felt disconnected from the European Union. There was a consensus in Ireland that EU membership was beneficial and support for enlargement was strong, but low levels of awareness of EU institutions were "underscored" by the poor turnout in the Nice referendum.
European institutions also had a responsibility to inform citizens about their policies.
Insisting all EU citizens had a responsibility to learn about its policies and institutions, she added: "It is right that people should know what is happening in the European Union and that they should have easy access to information.
"Equally, it is essential that the citizens of the Union care about what is happening and make it their business to be as well informed as they can be, irrespective of what views they may have."
Earlier, during a press briefing at the Irish Embassy, Mrs McAleese said there would be a "right time" for Queen Elizabeth to visit Ireland "and I think that most of us will know intuitively when that right time arrives."
The President and Dr Martin McAleese also met the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, at Westminster Cathedral.
They also visited the Hammersmith and Fulham Irish Centre and met workers and users of the Irish Support and Advice Service, a drop-in and outreach welfare service for the Irish community.