Northern Ireland, in October 1925. Recent history Following the decision to abolish Northern Ireland's devolved system of government and institute direct rule from London in March 1972, all Northern Irish governmental posts, including that of Governor and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, were abolished. Those two posts were in effect combined to create the office of Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. As the then Queen's representative, the Secretary of State moved into Hillsborough Castle at that time. Hillsborough Castle continued to be used for important meetings and conferences: it was the location of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement on 15 November 1985, and Mo Mowlam broke new ground when she opened the extensive grounds of the castle to the public in April 1999. Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh stayed in Hillsborough Castle during their visit to Northern Ireland as part of the Golden Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom in 2002 and the President of the United States, George W. Bush, visited the castle in 2003. The house was also used in January 2010 for talks between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen and representatives of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin on the crisis over Northern Irish policing which threatened to derail power-sharing and to collapse the Northern Ireland Executive. Then, in April 2014, the then Prince of Wales held an investiture at Hillsborough Castle, the first one to be held in Northern Ireland since the venue became a royal palace. On 13 September 2022, King Charles III visited the castle with the Queen Consort and responded to an official message of condolence from the Northern Ireland government. Notes See also Northern Ireland Office Stormont House Castles in Northern Ireland References Bibliography Cornforth, John, 'Hillsborough Castle, County Down'. Country Life (28 July and 4 August 1994) 'Hillsborough Castle, Co Down: Built for peace with a timely restoration', Country Life, 20 October 2019 Murdoch, Tessa (ed.) (2022). Great Irish Households: Inventories from the Long Eighteenth Century. Cambridge: John Adamson, inventory of 1746, pp. 123–8; inventory of 1777, pp. 137–45 External links Historic Royal Palaces – Hillsborough Castle Hillsborough Castle – Northern Ireland Office website Houses completed in the 18th century Historic Royal Palaces Castles in County Down Buildings and structures in Lisburn Buildings and structures in County Down Official residences in the United Kingdom Buildings of the Government of the United