The former Taoiseach, Mr Charles J. Haughey, will not officiate at this year's Dingle Regatta in late August, organisers have confirmed.
It will be the first time in 37 years that Mr Haughey will not have started the Co Kerry regatta and presented the winning prizes.
He has, however, written a letter which he wants read out on the day and has also told close friends in Kerry that he may turn up on the day, but only as a visitor.
Mr Eddy Hutchinson, who is chairman of the Dingle Regatta committee, said that Mr Haughey had telephoned him personally last week and had also written to him.
He was sorry not to be able to officiate this year, he told Mr Hutchinson, but hoped to perform next year.
There was no mention of any illness, he said, and no specific reason given. Apart from any ill health, age might be a factor, he said.
"He's not getting younger," Mr Hutchinson, who has known Mr Haughey well for many years, said.
Mr Haughey's son, Conor, was now being asked to officiate on Sunday, August 24th, and it was expected that he would do so.
Mr Hutchinson said a great deal was owed to the former Taoiseach. He had been a great friend to Dingle and to Kerry, and it was important to continue the links with the Haughey family.
He was part of the regatta every year for almost four decades, pulling ashore in the early morning on his yacht from his nearby island, Inishvickillane, one of the outer Blaskets, to do the starting honours.
Mr Conor Haughey had himself rowed in naomhogs, the traditional boat of the area used in the regatta in the 1970s and 1980s, and had an understanding of the regatta.
However, Mr Haughey's close friend from Dingle, Mr Tom Fitzgerald, who retired last year as a Fianna Fáil senator because of ill health, said Mr Haughey was not well.
The decision not to officiate this year was a difficult one and was taken on the grounds of ill health.
"He told me two weeks ago he was worried about the regatta this year, and it will be one of the hardest decisions to make [not to officiate].
"Healthwise, he's not well right now. But he also said 'Don't count me out for next year'," Mr Fitzgerald, who visits the former Taoiseach regularly in Kinsealy, said.
The crowds of well-wishers who regularly mob Mr Haughey on the pier in Dingle may have been a factor this year.
About two years ago the starting point for the regatta changed to the pier. Until then it had been launched from a boat by Mr Haughey.
But it would be wrong to rule him out of visiting the regatta or of recovering enough to open it next year, Mr Fitzgerald said.