Sir, – The good working relationship between my father, Dr Garret FitzGerald, and US President Ronald Reagan is well documented, as is the president’s intervention with prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984 to get the Anglo-Irish talks back on track.
The fact that the FitzGeralds and the Reagans came from the same parish in South Tipperary has only been uncovered in recent years by local genealogists, Karol DeFalco and Ed O’Riordan. Therefore, this could not have been a factor in my father’s relationship with the president. I am sorry if my unscripted remarks at the recent Young Fine Gael Summer School were inadvertently misconstrued (Home News, July 30th) .
I know that my father would want to have it acknowledged that President Reagan’s engagement with Irish affairs was achieved through the efforts of Tip O’Neill and the then Irish ambassador to Washington, Sean Donlon. Furthermore, Tip O’Neill’s huge contribution to the matter came about in turn through his friendship with John Hume and another Irish diplomat, Michael Lillis. – Yours, etc,