Leader breaks political mould

WHEN Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia in 1989 people wondered aloud if he would wear a suit for the inauguration…

WHEN Vaclav Havel was elected president of Czechoslovakia in 1989 people wondered aloud if he would wear a suit for the inauguration. He had never been seen in a suit, and his informality, wit and iconoclasm seemed at odds with the formality of the office.

When he descended the steps of the Czech aircraft alone yesterday (his wife Olga died earlier this year) he still seemed slightly uncomfortable in a suit, and the feeling that his personality did not quite fit the mould of a professional politician persisted throughout the day.

He made this explicit in his speech accepting his honorary Doctorate in Law from Trinity College, when he spoke of the need for conscience and responsibility reaching toward "infinity and eternity, transcendental, the mystery of the world, the order of Being, or the Omniscient".

He found a reluctance to admit this among his European colleagues in public life, he said, "as if such thoughts were to them largely a matter of a private whim or personal hobby that does not belong on, the public scene of politics.

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Both the President, Mrs Robinson, and the Taoiseach referred to his inspiring role as an opponent of the former communist regime, and spoke positively about his country's application to join the EU, which will be discussed during the Irish presidency.

This question was clearly of great interest to President Havel and the Czech press corps. Less so, however, to the rest of the press corps, which was joined by sports journalists for the press briefing outside Government buildings.

Among intense competition from the Czechs, who wanted to ask a lot of questions about the EU, it was the representative of German television who got in the first question: what did President Havel think of the German soccer team?

Like an Irish politician in a similar situation, he said he was delighted the Czech team had got so far, and considered it a victory to get to the final. "It is great even if they do not win, though I would prefer if they did." And yes, he would be at the match in Wembley.

Then on to Trinity College for the honorary doctorate.

His speech evoked the common Celtic heritage of Ireland and the Czech lands, one which, he hoped, would bring a spiritual dimension to a unified Europe.

There was little need for the appeal from the Public Orator, Prof John Luce, for prolonged applause from the audience of academics, politicians and figures from the business world, NGOs and the public service.