State Papers: Scenes 'nothing short of farcical' during Gorbachev's visit to Ireland

The report said “a free-for-all ensued, with the world and his wife mobbing the president at the steps of the aircraft”, when then taoiseach Charles Haughey and his wife Maureen were supposed to be seeing Gorbachev and his wife Raisa off in a formal farewell at Shannon Airport.

It also criticised how there were too many “notables” and local officials crowding another scene, during a photocall in the airport’s duty-free shop.

The review of the high-profile visit by Gorbachev was carried out to identify shortcomings in arrangements for the president’s visit.

The review also intended to recommend solutions for future visits of political leaders.

The report said the public occasions of such visits were essentially “for the immediate principles and the media”.

“This is not just the view of the [department’s] press section and the media, but is the decision of the principles themselves,” it added.

The report said that this fact had important implications for the organisation and conduct of visits of political leaders.

It claimed the media “must have priority” in access to public occasions, after the main political figures or dignitaries.

“VIP and other interested groups must be viewed in this light,” the report stated.

It said such a point had already been made “forcibly” by the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, even before the Gorbachev visit.

It noted that the number of “others” who turned up at the Folk Park, at Bunratty, and Shannon Airport was in excess of what could be accommodated — which resulted in the media being blocked from doing their job.

“The situation in the Folk Park and at the foot of the steps on departure was nothing short of farcical,” the review concluded.

It continued: “The consequent poor media shots showed up the overall organisation in a bad light.”

The review recommended that access to public occasions during future visits would have to be “severely restricted”.

It also remarked that bodies such as Aer Rianta, Aer Lingus, and the Shannon Free Airport Development Company “must be made comply with these
restrictions”.

The report also said the security approach for accredited journalists needed to be improved considerably.

It said gardaí would have to accept that media representatives were “now a priority part of all public events”.

“The attitude that the press is the enemy or suspect (in spite of full screening beforehand) must go,” it added.

It noted that gardaí had made little attempt to stop “hangers-on” from accessing the foot of the flying Gorbachev home, which had severely obstructed working media.

“The result was that the melee was well and truly recorded, but the departure was not,” the report stated,
adding that the situation in Bunratty was even worse.

It stated that, in future, gardaí must accord full co-operation to media personnel once they were accredited and given security clearance.

It also recommended that gardaí should work directly with the department’s press section for such visits, with a senior officer being put in charge of co-ordinating all aspects of any trip.