Sir, – Stephen Collins’s article about the presentation of a shamrock bowl to the US president, reminds me of how the shamrock bowl tradition on St Patrick’s Day came about (Home News, March 11th).
Mrs Dorothy Tubridy, who was marketing and promotions manager with Waterford Glass (as it was known then), is a good friend of the Kennedy family. When John F Kennedy won the presidential election in 1960, Mrs Tubridy arranged for the Irish symbol of the shamrock to be presented to the president in a Waterford Glass bowl on St Patrick’s Day 1961.
Some time later, when President Éamon de Valera met President John F Kennedy, he presented him with a specially commissioned Waterford Glass bowl engraved with the Kennedy coat of arms. Mrs Tubridy insisted that the Waterford Glass bowl remain on President Kennedy’s desk throughout his term of office.
The time-honoured gesture of the presentation of the shamrock-filled Waterford Crystal bowl continues to this day and it is particularly relevant in the context of the 100th anniversary of President Kennedy’s birth. – Yours, etc,
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PAUL ALLEN,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Frank Bouchier-Hayes (March 14th) suggests that President Trump be presented with a golden bowl of shamrock – made in Mexico of course! – Yours, etc,
AJ ROUS,
Killiney, Co Dublin.
Sir, – I would like to second the excellent suggestion by Frank Bouchier-Hayes (March 14th) that an Taoiseach present President Trump with a golden bowl of shamrock. Not alone would it be an indication of the esteem in which he is held, but it is also his favoured colour of elevator, hair and shower. – Yours, etc,
MIKEY DEASY,
Cork.
Sir, – When the Taoiseach presents the bowl of shamrock to the president of the United States it would be a nice gesture if the president snipped a few inches off his tie and presented it to the Taoiseach to symbolise the long standing ties between the two nations. – Yours, etc,
RONNIE PERSSE,
Dublin 3.
A chara,– Perhaps over a large bowl of washed shamrock, Taoiseach Enda Kenny might introduce President Trump to another great Irish quote, this time from George Bernard Shaw: “Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve”.
Unfortunately “no better” appears to have no limits. What did we do to deserve this? – Is mise,
DERMOT O’ROURKE,
Lucan, Co Dublin.