London, Jumada II 11, 1435, Apr 11, 2014, SPA -- President Michael Higgins on Friday ended the first official visit by an Irish head of state to Britain, a trip he praised as having cemented a now "deep and enduring" friendship, dpa reported. The four-day sojourn came more than 90 years after Dublin effectively became independent from London and followed Queen Elizabeth II's ground-breaking first visit to Ireland in 2011. At a concert to celebrate Irish culture staged in central London's Royal Albert Hall on Thursday, Higgins said his visit had been "so positive, so uplifting and so hopeful." On Friday he visited Stratford-upon-Avon, the town where Britain's most famous playwright, William Shakespeare, was born, and later met members of Britain's Irish community in the city of Coventry. -- SPA 21:34 LOCAL TIME 18:34 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1219709