1984 Revisited: Ronald Reagan's visit to Tipp 'brought the might of America to Ballyporeen'
Ronald For Prepares In Co In Reagan's Tipperary 1984 June Visit Ballyporeen
The atmosphere for such a momentous occasion may have been strangely lacking, but President Reagan and his wife Nancy made an impressive couple as they emerged from Air Force One at precisely 8.20 last night.
The president belied his 73 years as he skipped down the landing steps, smartly dressed in a navy suit with white shirt and red tie. The first lady was at his side, elegant in a navy suit and white blouse, with a maroon tie, gold buttons and gold chain on her jacket pockets, and skirt.
That Ireland’s most important tourists in many years should arrive on the stroke of 8.20 was only in keeping with almost everything that happened at Shannon last night.
This is part of the Irish Examiner's 1984 series which is going online this week from Monday, January 1. The series is also published in the 'Irish Examiner' in print and ePaper from Tuesday.
Nothing was left to chance: the dignitaries, officials, stewards and 300-odd pressmen were all part of a carefully staged-managed operation that left absolutely nothing to chance.
There was none of the Ballyhoo that so many of us associate with the American people. Rather was it a dignified, if subdued, welcome for this great grandson of an Irish emigrant from Co Tipperary.
One veteran newsman, who had also been at Shannon 21 years previously for the arrival of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, told me: “There is no comparison between the two occasions. Kennedy was greeted by thousands of Irish men and women who were visibly delighted to see him. Kennedy came over the barricade and shook hands with the ordinary people and chatted with them.”
Last night, it was different. There were none of the ordinary people my friend referred to. Instead, the airport was taken over by security men, both Irish and American, who, to me at any rate, appeared to be seized by a paranoid fear that something, which we in this part of the country associate with the US itself, might occur here.
It was also terribly orchestrated, and I for one was disappointed, if not surprised, at the absence of a genuine public welcome and by the fact that the public viewing areas were almost completely deserted.
Protesters? Demonstrators? They might never have existed so far as the sheltered elite at Shannon were concerned. The men in the long raincoats complete with crew cuts, dark glasses and chewing gum, just like all those in the movies, had seen to that.
- First published in The Examiner on June 2, 1984
Ronald Reagan brought the might of America to Ballyporeen, bestowing a tourist industry on the South Tipperary village and achieving the massive publicity success which his advisers wanted for the coming presidential election.
The estimated 5,000 crowd which travelled in to see Mr Reagan was much smaller than expected. But this detracted nothing from the satisfaction gained by the president personally, the local community and the Irish and US organisers.
The anti-Reagan protests failed to make any serious impact in the centre of the village — the focus for the worldwide TV audience of 300 million. The protesters were kept at bay until after the president had left. Then they marched through the streets holding placards and shouting anti-nuclear slogans.
Mr Reagan was being airlifted to Dublin when the several hundred campaigners were eventually allowed into the village.
The president was protected during his two-hour visit by a combined 2,000-strong security force of gardaí, troops, surface-to-air missiles, air corps jets and helicopters, and crack US secret service agents.
But the relaxed and informal nature of the visit and carnival atmosphere allowed the president, for the first time during the tour, to get among the people without any trouble or risk to his person.
There were a number of minor incidents. A man was detained close to the presidential platform for having incorrect accreditation. He was released from Ballyporeen Garda Station after several hours of questioning. A bomb threat was phoned to the huge tented press centre, which catered for the 1,000 journalists on duty, but it was a hoax.
President Reagan, accompanied by his wife, Nancy, obviously enjoyed the “homecoming” festivities to celebrate the fact that his great grandfather was baptised in the local church 150 years ago.
“I can’t think of a place on this planet I would rather claim as my roots more than Ballyporeen,” he told the parishioners after being assured by Community Council chairman Martin Neville: “You are now one of our own.”
Within minutes of arriving at the local football field, the president went to the house of parish priest Fr John Murphy, where he viewed the baptismal register — the key to Ballyporeen’s Reagan trail. He later proudly carried it outside to show to the world media.
President and Mrs Reagan then joined 350 parishioners in a moving prayer service before proceeding towards the Ronald Reagan Lounge, named after him by proprietors John and Mary O’Farrell.
It had been anticipated the president might take more time than the schedule allowed for the 100-yard walk to the premises and this indeed proved the case. He shook hundreds of hands in what was the high point of his Irish tour.
- First published in The Examiner on June 3, 1984
"There is nothing Nancy and I would like to do more than visit your country,” the president replied. “When my schedule allows it, you can be sure that I will take you up on your kind invitation.”
The Haughey government collapsed before the end of the year following a series of “gubus”. FitzGerald was back in office by the time Reagan was ready to come to Ireland. In the wake of the successful visit to the US around St Patrick’s Day 1984, intense preparations were put in train for the Reagan visit to Ireland.
His family was traced back to Ballyporeen, a village of about 300 people in South Co Tipperary, near county boundaries with Cork, Limerick, and Waterford.
Michael Regan, the president’s great grandfather, was baptised in Ballyporeen in 1829 and lived there until he was about 20, when he moved to London before emigrating to the US in 1857.
As part of the welcoming arrangements, the Irish government organised the awarding of an honorary degree from the National University in Galway, and arrangements were made for the president to address a joint session of the Oireachtas, which was an honour only once previously accorded — to President John F Kennedy in 1963. These arrangements were met with intense opposition from some quarters.
A coalition of disparate dissidents came together to oppose the visit. They organised the Irish Campaign against Reagan’s Foreign Policy, which had the backing of 27 organisations, such as the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Irish Friends of Palestine, Irish Sovereignty Movement, Pax Christi, and the Union of Students in Ireland.
The umbrella organisation included sponsors like Dr Noel Brown, Senator Michael D Higgins, Tomás Mac Giolla, Catherine McGuinness, Brendan Ryan, Robert Ballagh, Sean MacBride, and Sr Stanislaus.
The protest campaign organised a National Petition Day for May 19, calling on everyone to sign a petition opposing Reagan’s foreign policy.
Members of the academic staff at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, passed a resolution disassociating themselves from the NUI’s decision to honour Reagan. Prominent politicians like Michael D Higgins, Brendan Ryan, Tony Gregory, and Proinsias de Rossa wrote a letter of protest to US media, including the and magazine.
Opponents accused his government of responsibility for death squads that had backed the murder of 40,000 people in four years.
Reagan did make some particularly helpful comments while in Ireland, and Irish authorities warmly welcomed his overall performance. American presidents normally avoided any mention of the partition, but Reagan referred to Northern Ireland on each day of his visit.
“We pray tolerance and reconciliation will one day unite Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland in a spirit of communion and community,” he declared in Shannon upon arrival.
The Report of the New Ireland Forum had recently been published, but it was being largely ignored internationally, so his references to it were deeply appreciated in Government circles.
Reagan went on to suggest Oscar Wilde’s comment on war was just as applicable to terrorism: “When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular”.
- First published Irish Examiner, December 2014