DIFFICULTIES CONTACTING taoiseach Jack Lynch to tell him about the assassination of Lord Mountbatten are revealed in State papers for 1979.
It was almost nine hours before the Department of the Taoiseach succeeded in making contact with Lynch, who was on the 10th day of his summer holiday in Portugal, although the first call was not made for more than three hours after the explosion.
British diplomats complained bitterly in private about Lynch’s response to the killing, and also criticised the lack of security provided by the Garda for Lord Mountbatten.
In a telegram to foreign secretary Lord Carrington – released by the British National Archives at Kew, London – the British ambassador in Dublin, Robin Haydon, said there was a widespread belief the attack on Lord Mountbatten could have been prevented.
Haydon said he had been told by Lord Mountbatten’s daughter, Lady Pamela Hicks, that it was the first year when the boat did not have a police guard on it during the day.
“In the absence of an official report, it would be unwise to go into detail, but I must say I find it extraordinary that the boat was apparently not searched by the Garda before it sailed,” he said.
“It is even more extraordinary that, to my knowledge, no questions have been asked by the Irish media about the level and adequacy of Garda security for the Mountbatten family.”
Haydon also strongly criticised the “apathetic reaction” of taoiseach Jack Lynch, who refused to break off his holiday to Portugal to deal with the crisis.
“The Taoiseach’s explanation, that he kept in close touch with the situation and issued instructions from Portugal about what was to be done, did not carry conviction and showed remarkable insensitivity to the need for a political leader in a crisis not only to take action but to be seen to be taking it,” he said.
Haydon added that the embassy had received many letters of sympathy and condolence, not one of which “seeks to justify the crimes or to mitigate their horror”.
“In any other country, that last sentence would probably be unnecessary: here, it has to be said because the Irish have a remarkable capacity for blaming others, especially the British, for their own failings and inadequacies.”
Records of the event in newly released files show that the Garda Press Office notified the Government Information Service of the explosion and the death of Lord Mountbatten at 1.25pm, 95 minutes after it happened.
When repeated efforts to contact Mr Lynch by telephone proved unsuccessful, a telex message was sent to his hotel in Portugal at 5.45pm. The taoiseach replied to the telex at 8.20pm, 8½ hours after the Mountbatten attack.
This was the first Lynch had heard of the explosion at Mullaghmore and the subsequent IRA landmine attack that day at Warrenpoint, Co Down, in which 18 British soldiers were killed.
A note by an official in the Taoiseach’s department after being informed reads: “Above news rec’d by me on returning from lunch at 1345 hours. The Secretary, whom I rang at home, was in touch with the relevant authorities and asked me not to contact the T[aoiseach] yet.
At 1510 hrs the Secretary agreed I could place a call to the T. I did but was told at his hotel he was out for a walk and they didn’t know when he would be back. After making several calls through the afternoon I sent the telex above, asking the T to ring us about the matter.”
Tánaiste George Colley and minister of state at the department of foreign affairs, David Andrews, called to the British embassy that morning to sign a book of condolences.
Lynch however did not return to Ireland until three days later, bringing angry reaction from the British media. Lynch’s delay was also sharply criticised in an Irish Times editorial with the single word “Purpose” as its title: “He has let Ireland down. His government failed in not having him back earlier.” – (Additional reporting PA)