The American embassy in Dublin compiled secret reports on dozens of prominent figures in Irish politics, business and diplomacy. Among those profiled were former president Mary Robinson, former taoiseach John Bruton, Conor Cruise O'Brien, Desmond O'Malley, Garret FitzGerald, Sir Anthony O'Reilly and rising stars in all the main political parties.
The reports were sent to Washington as part of the Potential Leader Biographic Reporting Programme, which focused until the late 1960s on Third World countries.
"When this programme was initiated, heavy emphasis was placed on its implementation in the new and emerging nations of Africa and Asian and in Latin America. However, its applicability to more stable and politically developed nations in Europe and elsewhere was also amply demonstrated in the first cycle," the State Department wrote to the embassy in Dublin in 1969.
Apart from basic biographical data, the reports included details of "personal appearance, habits, mannerisms, interests and hobbies, attitudes and views regarding significant issues".
A 1973 report on former minister and tánaiste Michael O'Leary identifies a "personality" which has puzzled those who know him well. "He has often been erratic, with visible ups and downs. When he visited the US on a leader grant in 1970, he proved extremely difficult to programme, sometimes showing up late, or never, for scheduled appointments. Part of the problem may have been that he dislikes programmes of any kind, preferring flexibility and informality," it says.
The reports were classified as secret - as were all communications relating to them - and the embassy avoided making subjects aware they were being profiled.
When Washington asked for a report on Raphael Siev, a mid-level civil servant, the ambassador cabled back that no biographical data was available without approaching Siev directly. "Irish have highly developed sense of privacy, however, and Siev might be puzzled by a request unless we can tell him that bio data is needed for some specific, non-controversial reason - such as international conference. If dept [ department] has such a reason, we would be glad to make request," he wrote.
However, there is no evidence of covert intelligence-gathering in the reports, and the CIA appears to have had no presence in Dublin in the early 1970s. In September 1972, the political officer at the Dublin embassy wrote to CIA headquarters to report that "we are now regularly getting your output on Ireland". The officer offered to provide any information the CIA might find useful, "because I'm always eager for an excuse to do more reporting".
In January 1974, when the Russians were preparing to open an embassy in Dublin, news came from Washington that one George Holmes was planning to visit and that "his agency has the intention of asking to open a station in Dublin, regardless of what the Russians do".
The embassy expected Holmes to be accompanied by Cord Meyer, CIA station chief in London at the time. In a letter to the State Department, the embassy complains that Holmes "has developed a somewhat proprietary attitude" towards Col Pearce Quinlan, who "is the primary point of contact for George and his colleagues during their infrequent visits to Dublin".