Bertie Ahern is not the first Taoiseach to have allowed himself to be manipulated by marketing gurus, writes Wesley Boyd.
If Georgina had just been the daughter of plain B. Ahern, Esq., of Drumcondra, Dublin, it is doubtful if Hello! magazine would have paid such a high price for the exclusive photographic rights to the gig in the chateau, even though she was marrying a pop star.
A prime minister helps to sell the product. But what other prime minister would submit to allowing himself to be driven into a tent so as not to be seen by the people of a friendly, neighbouring country in order to bolster the sales of a magazine?
Last time round it was the multinational Gulf Oil which put up the cash and tried to run the show for its own benefit. Gulf Oil had established an oil storage terminal on Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay. The site was chosen because the deep waters of Bantry allowed the giant super-tankers to dock easily. Overtly to mark its association with Ireland, the company invited Mrs Máirín Lynch, wife of the Taoiseach, to launch the super-tanker Universe Ireland, in Yokohama, Japan in 1968. The invitation came from the late Mr Bill Finnegan, public relations officer in Ireland for Gulf Oil and formerly the successful organiser of the Kilkenny Beer Festival. Naturally the Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch, was invited along too.
This single event mysteriously started to blossom into a grand tour. The Taoiseach would take advantage of the journey to Yokohama, financed by Gulf Oil, to make official visits to five countries: Lebanon (then more or less at peace), India, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan. It was the year of the "Prague Spring" and the people of Czeckoslovakia were rejoicing in their restored freedoms under the democratisation programme of their new leader, Alexander Dubcek. In Northern Ireland there were rumblings of discontent but no signs of the Troubles yet to come. So, in the spirit of hope and peace and goodwill towards all, the Taoiseach and his party set out by air from Dublin.
Mr and Mrs Lynch were accompanied by a high official from the Department of External Affairs (and his wife) and Mr Finnegan (and his wife). Back in steerage there was the working press group. It consisted of the political correspondents of the Irish Independent, Irish Press and RTÉ, and myself as diplomatic correspondent of The Irish Times. We were all being paid for by our various organisations.
At the first stop, Beirut, the official party was joined by a handful of Gulf Oil executives from their Middle East bases. They went to all the functions given in the Taoiseach's honour by the Lebanese Government; we were excluded. We were allowed to go with Mr Lynch when he visited a refugee camp and to see the Roman ruins at Baalbek in the Beqa'a Valley where a picnic lunch of roast sparrows was served.
On to Bombay and the Middle East Gulf executives were replaced by other senior representatives working in India and around. At a reception given by the local administration, the senior Irish expatriate in the city, the late Leybourne Callaghan, a colourful old India "hand", explained the intricacies of the Gulf Oil operation. "These guys," he said, "would have to be here for years before getting invited to a reception like this. Now, by getting attached to the Taoiseach's official party they have the inside track to senior officials here. And when they get to New Delhi they will be able to meet senior Government people and even Ministers, people they wouldn't have a hope of meeting in the ordinary course of business."
In New Delhi the Gulf Oil executives were indeed at all the official functions. Some of them even got places at the top table at a dinner given by the Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, to welcome the Taoiseach. It was a similar story in Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan. Some Gulf Oil executives dropped off the tour at various stages and were replaced by others, mostly Americans. In Toyko protocol was more rigid. Only the offficial from External Affairs was allowed to accompany Mr Lynch to his audience with the Emperor.
At Yokohama Mrs Lynch graciously performed the launching ceremony of the Universe Ireland which was to ply between the Middle East and Bantry Bay. Then it was on to Hawaii for a few days' rest and recreation at Honolulu. After that Mr Lynch and his party were to fly on to the United States for a private visit to Gulf Oil establishments. We in the press party were bound for the States as well to cover the Democratic Party congress in Chicago: our office accountants had calculated that money could be saved by making full use of the return legs of our air tickets.
On August 20th, as the sun began to rise over the golden sands of Waikiki Beach, word came through that the Prague Spring had faded. Worried by the pace of reforms, the Soviet Union was sending its tanks across the Czech borders and, supported by thousands of troops from East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, was occupying the entire country. Leaders of the Free World were issuing condemnations of the Soviet action. We set out to get reaction from the Taoiseach at his hotel. He was still asleep. One of us rang his room number. It had been diverted to the room of Bill Finnegan of Gulf Oil. Mr Finnegan told us he had no intention of disturbing the Taoiseach; his official business was over and he was now the guest of Gulf Oil.
We persisted. He resisted. Because of the time difference between Honolulu and Dublin, minutes were critical to us if we were to meet the deadline for next day's papers. Mr Finnegan would not budge. Mr. Lynch was the guest of Gulf Oil and would be treated as such. The high official from External Affairs was contacted and was told that if the Taoiseach was not made available within five minutes we would advise our offices that Gulf Oil was preventing him making a statement on events in Czechoslovakia.
Mr Lynch appeared almost immediately in his pyjamas and, courteous as always, made a statement condemning the invasion.