François Mitterrand's 1988 visits to Ireland

After the French President's recent Irish visit, I thought it would be interesting to look at previous visits. François Mitterrand (1916-1996) was the first French head of state to visit to Ireland. On 21 February 1984, Mitterrand met Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (1926-2011) at Dublin Castle. At the two hour meeting, they discussed EEC (EU) plans on farm policy, milk production and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Mitterrand returned on 3 December 1984 for a European Council meeting and spent two days in the country with other European leaders. Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) visited in June 1969, but was not head of state at the time having resigned weeks previously when he lost a referendum on regionalism and senate reform. Read about de Gaulle's 1969 visit here.

STATE VISIT - FEBRUARY 1988

François Mitterrand at Monasterboice, County Louth (1988). Image source.

François Mitterrand made two trips in 1988 - a state visit with all the usual ceremony that that implies in February and a more informal personal visit in August. On both occasions, Taoiseach, Charles Haughey (1925-2006), invited Mitterrand to visit his personal home - Abbeville in north County Dublin and his island retreat of Inishvickillane off the coast of County Kerry. Haughey felt an affinity with his Gallic counterpart and wanted to bask in his glory as leader on the world stage and patron of the arts. Mitterrand he launched a series of large-scale cultural projects, 'Grand Projets', when he took office in 1981. These include the glass pyramid at the Musée du Louvre, the Opéra at the Place de la Bastille and the Institut du Monde Arabe. Haughey also saw himself as a patron of the arts. He introduced the artists' exemption scheme and championed the refurbishment of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. He also chaired the National Gallery Foundation from its inception in 1995.

The state visit began on 25 February 1988 and included an address to a joint sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas in the Dáil chamber, a wreath laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square. The state dinner offered in his honour at Royal Hospital Kilmainham cost £15,809. The wines on offer included a number from the so-called 'Wine Geese' - Château de Tracy, Château Kirwan and Château Leoville-Barton. These were Irish exiles who got involved in the wine business in France in the 17th century.

François Mitterrand at Newgrange, County Meath (1988). Image source.

Visits to archaeological sites also formed part of the itinerary. The Neolithic site at Newgrange in County Meath, the Round Tower and High Cross at Monasterboice in County Louth and the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary all received a presidential visit. View video clips of the state visit on RTE Archives including his address in the Dáil, visit to a Yoplait yogurt factory in Inch, County Wexford and arrival at the state dinner with Haughey and President Patrick Hillery. 

"I have looked forward to this visit with great interest", Mitterrand said when he met Haughey and the Tánaiste Brian Lenihan at Government Buildings, where they discussed trade, tourism and EEC membership. "I would certainly not like to have finished my term of office with visiting Ireland officially", he said. At this stage, Mitterrand was nearing the end of his seven year term of office. Read more about Mitterrand's discussions with Charles Haughey and Tánaiste Brian Lenihan at Government Buildings, which centered on trade, tourism and EEC membership and what they ate and drank at the state dinner here and here.

Menu from state dinner (1988). Image source.

ADDRESS TO JOINT SITTING OF THE HOUSES OF THE OIREACHTAS

Before Mitterrand could address a joint sitting of the houses of the Oireachtas, a motion to convene the gathering had to be put to the Seanad and Dáil. Many senators spoke in favour of the motion, with some highlighting Mitterrand's socialist credentials. One senator said that he was "a man of some culture, a man of some compassion, a man of considerable intelligence and a man who has a capacity to think in global terms about the problems of the world". 

"France is no more perfect than any other country" - an Irish Senator (1988).

Some Senators compared Mitterrand's visit with a previous state visit by another head of state, who they were not too fond of. Senator John A. Murphy welcomed the motion but said that "France is no more perfect than any other country" and that "in terms of its attitude to nuclear power and the use thereof its policies are far from being enlightened". See the full Seanad debate on the Oireachtas website.  

In the Dáil debate on the motion, Haughey spoke of the historic ties between the two countries. The Workers' Party leader, Tomás Mac Giolla, said that he welcomed "the President of the great French republic, with which we have had such long historic connections". However, Mac Giolla said that "we may have some reservations in regard to their foreign policy, particularly in the area of nuclear testing". See the full Dáil debate here. 

In his speech to the deputies and senators, Mitterrand spoke about the solidarity and faithfulness of the Franco-Irish relationship and noted that the two nations had never met each other in armed conflict on the field of battle! Mitterrand's address (en français) to the joint sitting can be read here

François Mitterrand being interviewed by an Irish journalist in Groult's house in Kerry (1988). Image source.

PERSONAL VISIT AUGUST 1988

Mitterrand's second visit in August 1988 was more of a low key affair. He stayed with his friend, the French writer and journalist, Benoîte Groult, in her holiday home in Bunavalla in Derrynane Bay in rural County Kerry. Groult had been coming to Kerry since 1977. 

Groult's husband, Paul Guimard, had worked for Mitterrand in the Élysée during the early years of Mitterrand's first term. When he arrived in Ireland in August 1988, Mitterrand had just been through a tough presidential contest with Jacques Chirac and had been re-elected for another seven year term as President of France. He told Groult that this was his first holiday since Christmas 1987. Mitterrand did not spend a long time in the house, but Groult recorded in her diary (later published as Journal d'Irlande), that one evening, Mitterrand took a copy of Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto off the shelf and read aloud from the book to his host. 

Mitterrand was invited to Haughey's island of Inishvickillane off the coast of Co. Kerry. The photograph below shows the two men surrounded by some of Haughey's family. Groult and her husband, Paul Guimard, are also in the photo.

Photograph of Charles Haughey and François Mitterrand, August 1988. Image source.

For more about Mitterrand and Ireland, there's a great piece here on the RTÉ Brainstorm website by Dr Dónal Hassett of University College Cork (UCC). It looks at the case of three Irish republicans, known as the 'Irlandais de Vincennes', who were wrongfully arrested in Paris in 1982.