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Plans by senior officials to allow Nelson Mandela to address a joint session of the Dáil and Seanad during his visit to Ireland, four months after his release from prison in South Africa in 1990, were quashed by Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, they revealed. state documents.
Documents from the Department of the Taoiseach published under the 30-year rule show that the leader of the Fianna Fáil ordered that Mandela only address the Dáil as appearances before a combined session of both houses of the Oireachtas were limited to heads of state.
For the same reason, the Taoiseach dropped a proposal that Mandela place a wreath on Arbor Hill.
The documents show that Labor Party leader Dick Spring had urged the Taoiseach to allow Mandela to address both houses to make a clear statement on Ireland’s position on apartheid, while Foreign Minister Gerry Collins He had also stated that he would recommend that Mr. Mandela address a joint session of the Dáil and the Seanad.
Spring acknowledged that invitations to address both houses had been issued sparingly, but argued that an invitation in the Mandela case would receive unanimous support from the TDs and senators.
The archives of the National Archives show that Mr Haughey wrote to the ANC leader 11 days after his release from prison, after 27 years in February 1990, to invite him to Ireland and convey the ‘deep joy’ of the Irish people for your freedom.
Mr. Collins briefly met with Mr. Mandela in Zambia at the end of that month, at which point the former prisoner was observed to look “frail and very tired” as he spoke in a “very halting manner”.
It was also recorded that Mandela seemed genuinely moved by Collins’s gift of a reproduction of the Book of Kells.
During their brief discussion, Mandela warned against high expectations of his own role as a symbol of unity, stating that victory would not be achieved by overestimating a single personality.
Government documents show that Haughey’s adviser, Martin Mansergh, met with the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement to plan Mandela’s visit to Ireland in June 1990, during which he was granted the Freedom of the City of Dublin, awarded to him in 1988.
Mansergh noted that they had insisted that Mandela should travel to Ireland before his planned visit to Britain to meet Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Later that year, Mandela appealed directly to Mr. Haughey for the support of the Irish government to postpone an EU decision on lifting trade sanctions against the apartheid regime following political reform steps taken by the South African president, Klerk’s FW.
Thatcher had been pushing for sanctions to be lifted, especially in relation to direct investment in South Africa.
The vice president of the African National Congress urged the Taoiseach to postpone any decision on the issue until early 1991, as obstacles to negotiations between political parties in South Africa, including the release of all political prisoners and detention, had not been removed. of prisoners without trial.
Mandela said the sanctions allowed the international community to continue to put pressure on the De Klerk government to hasten the end of the apartheid system.
Mr Haughey replied that he had taken note of the ANC’s views and would “take them into account” at an upcoming meeting of EU heads of government in Rome.
The Department of Foreign Affairs recommended to the Taoiseach not to compromise in its response to Mr Mandela due to the uncertainty about what opinion EU leaders would take on the sanctions.
Records show that the government had a clear preference for simply issuing an additional statement of political support and encouragement, but feared Ireland would be left isolated on the issue.
The documents reveal that Irish officials felt they still lacked sufficient and clear evidence of progress towards a “profound and irreversible change” in South Africa to allow the lifting of sanctions imposed by the EU since 1985.
They stated that their position also complied with Mr. Mandela’s appeal to delay for a few months any decision on the possible lifting of sanctions, although they noted that “it was not a primary consideration for us.”
Ireland strongly opposed a loosening of restrictive measures but also had reservations about noting that it would lift sanctions when new developments occurred which it recognized as the likely outcome of the EU summit.
The government argued that the EU specifying the lifting of particular sanctions “would impose an unwanted restriction on future political action” and reduce the flexibility of the EU.
In the early 1990s, Mr. de Klerk wrote to Mr. Haughey to explain that he was concerned about the obstacles the ANC was putting in the way of further political reform, including its insistence on continuing its “so-called armed struggle.” .
Mr. de Klerk said that Mandela’s stance stands in stark contrast to his alleged commitment to a peaceful process.
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