JFK visit: Files show Garda told to spruce up for occasion

Gardaí were instructed to get a haircut, wear their best uniform, look "first-class" and monitor suspicious Russian journalists during the visit of President John F Kennedy to Ireland in 1963 according to files which have come to light.

The documents, seen by The Irish Times, include a memo issued by Garda Headquarters to rural divisions cancelling leave "to all ranks", requesting that "turn-out (uniforms, haircuts, etc) is first-class" and calling on members of the force to display "efficiency, smartness and courtesy".

Gardaí­ were told: “best serge uniform will be worn at all times during the president’s visit” and those unlucky enough not to have received the “current issue of uniform” would be “detailed for duty at places away from the Presidential Route”. The memo further advised that “during inclement weather, black waterproof coats will be worn”.

A memo from the Garda Síochána 'Crime Section' warned members about Russian correspondents who had arrived in Ireland a week before JFK and whose "movements and associates" should be "discreetly watched".

Russian reporters

The authorities feared the reporters might have sinister motives and would be “anxious to obtain material which would show the visit of President Kennedy in an unfavourable light”. The ‘Cold War’ between the US and the

Soviet Union

was then at its height.

The reporters were named – and their passport numbers printed in the memo – as “Evan Stenin representing Tass” (the USSR’s News Agency) and “Guenrikh Trofinenko, representing Radio Moscow” (the Soviet Union’s equivalent of the BBC World Service).

Gardaí­ assigned to duty “at centres to be visited by the President” were, accordingly, ordered to ensure that “playcards [sic], slogans, or other offensive matter, if any, be removed”.

Tea and sandwiches

The documents also shed light on the logistical preparations made to draft gardaí­ from throughout the midlands to

Wexford

for JFK’s visit to the town. Each garda was issued with tickets for “two Buffet type meals consisting of Tea, Sandwiches and Confectionery” in the Parish Hall and offered access to “facilities . . . to enable members who have travelled long distances to wash and shave”. However, the Department of Justice’s budget was not limitless and gardaí­ were advised that “each member must provide his own towel and toilet requisits [sic]”.

The documents were, apparently, “found on a dump”, and have been consigned to an auction of historical memorabilia in Dublin next month at Whyte’s auctioneers.

Stuart Purcell, who has catalogued the auction, said the previously unpublished files “demonstrated the Lemass government’s determination that the visit be successful and not marred by anti-US demonstrations”.

JFK’s four-day visit to Ireland – the first by an American president – took place between June 26th and 29th, 1963. The batch of documents is expected to sell for up to € 700 in the auction on May 9th.