THE death has occurred of the former Taoiseach, Mr. Albert Reynolds. The first ever Taoiseach from the Longford/Westmeath constituency, Mr Reynolds passed away peacefully on Thursday last, 21 August after a long illness. He was aged 81 years.
Following days of tributes and fond remembrance of Mr Reynolds both as a Government Minister and ultimately Taoiseach, he was was laid to rest in Shanganagh Cemetery, Shankhill, County Dublin, on Monday afternoon, following Mass in the Sacred Heart Church, Donnybrook.
Several thousand people paid their respects to the late Mr. Reynolds, who lay in repose in the Oak Room of Dublin’s Mansion House, on Saturday. They also signed a Book of Condolence and similar books were signed at various other venues across Dublin and also in Mullingar and in Longford.
Mr. Reynolds is survived by his wife Kathleen, (née Coen, a native of County Sligo), and his children, Miriam, Philip, Emer, Leonie, Albert, Cathy and Andrea. Brother of the late Joe, he is also survived by his brother, Jim, sister, Teresa, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, his grandchildren, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives and many friends.
Mr. Reynolds, who had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for the past number of years, has been described as a man of “courage, bravery and commitment.” He led the Fianna Fáil party in two coalition governments but in total served as Taoiseach for just 1038 days, two days longer than Brian Cowen’s reign as Taoiseach.
Born Albert Martin Reynolds on 3 November 1932 in Rooskey, County Roscommon, his business acumen was displayed at a young age when he sold chocolate bars at a profit to pals at boarding school in Summerhill, County Sligo. He was soon making a profit for the college’s tuck shop.
“If I had two apples to eat, I always had the view I wouldn’t be greedy and devour the two. I would think the other person may like an apple. However, we human beings never appear to appreciate anything we get for nothing. So my thinking would be to offer the spare apple for sale. I would think there is a margin to be made here acceptable to everybody. I grew up in the Ireland when everybody learned to be self-sufficient. I would think about the spare apple and offer it for sale. There is a bit of profit to be made here. I would then be in a position to either save the bit of money I got for the apple or buy something I wanted,” Albert Reynolds once told Topic’s Margaret Grennan as he and the late Senator Seán Fallon, then Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, relaxed at a race meeting.
He was one of the only businesspeople to lead the country. From the showband scene to petfood, he had extensive experience cutting deals and getting the job done. His C&D petfood business (the C standing for cat, the D for dog) employed thousands of local people over the years and only this year opened a Mullingar head office adding 40 people to a worldwide workforce of many hundreds. He will always be remembered, however, as the man who brought peace to the island of Ireland.
PEACEMAKER
Over the years many people have taken credit for their role in bringing about peace, but it was Albert’s risk taking abilities, coupled with courage, that has taken us to where we are today.
Often sneered at by the Dublin 4 media as the ‘country and western’ former Taoiseach, Mr. Reynolds risked much to advance the peace process, using his affable personality and placid nature to hammer out a deal to advance Ireland on the road to peace.
The nation owes Albert a huge debt because of his sincere work in bringing the opposing sides together in the North and his famous quote: “Who is afraid of peace?”
It was almost ironic that Albert, who died shortly after 3a.m. on August at his Dublin home, passed away just days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the first IRA ceasefire, in which he played a major role in negotiating.
Albert, who was once nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, had a good working and personal relationship with then British Prime Minister, Sir John Major, and they started negotiations to end the war and bitterness. The Joint Downing Street Declaration was signed in London on December 15th, 1993, along with former SDLP Leader John Hume and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams. Albert had personally played a major role in persuading the IRA to call a ceasefire on 31 August, 1993.
BATTLE OF TANG
Albert’s 25 years in politics were not without controversies. He voted on the side of getting rid of Charlie Haughey in an attempted heave in 1991. Mr. Haughey, then Taoiseach, paid him back by sacking him from Government. Just 12 months later Charlie Haughey retired as Leader of Fianna Fáil and Albert succeeded him. He himself was ultimately brought down by the original X Case – where a 14-year-old girl was refused permission to travel abroad for an abortion – and mishandling of the Fr. Brendan Smyth extradition case.
Locally, many remembered his battles in Westmeath. Elected to Longford County Council in 1974, he went for the Dáil in the 1977 General Election campaign, which witnessed the now famous Battle of Tang when supporters of Mary O’Rourke clashed with Reynolds supporters on “disputed territory”. Tang Church is located in Westmeath but the parish – or part of – it comes under County Longford.
Mary O’Rourke’s supporters arrived in a lorry claiming it. However, Albert’s cortege of supporters arrived on a bigger lorry claiming it as theirs. They were both elected, he a late entrant to politics aged 45 years. The pair never really saw eye to eye and when appointed leader of Fianna Fáil, then Minister O’Rourke was one of eight ministers sacked.
Reynolds was well-liked and fondly remembered in Westmeath this week. As a Government minister he never forgot the county and shared spoils equally to both counties of his home constituency. He was always active in bringing industry to the region and many remember him fondly for bringing telephones personally to their homes.
He served in Ministerial roles in Posts and Telegraphs, Transport, Industry and Energy, Industry and Commerce and finally Finance before succeeding Charlie Haughey as FF Party Leader in 1992. He served as Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994 and if he had stayed longer in office, the midlands would surely have benefited.
SHOWBUSINESS
Having left school to work with CIÉ, Albert and his brother Jim established the Cloudland Ballroom beside their home in Rooskey in 1957 and it was a success with punters and bands alike. Encouraged, Albert quit his job with CIÉ and the brothers expanded and additional ballrooms were opened, firstly the Roseland in Moate in 1959, followed by the Fairyland in Roscommon and the Lakeland (later the Horizon) in Mullingar. Famously, Albert said that he and his brother inspected the Horizon field by torchlight, agreeing to buy it the following morning with the diggers moving in after lunch the same day. Other ballrooms included Dreamland in Athy; Jetland in Limerick; Danceland, Portlaoise; Barrowland in New Ross; Rockland, Borris-in-Ossary; Borderland, Clones; Moyland in Ballina; Hitland, Newmarket; Wonderland, Cavan and the Showboat in Malahide.
Apart from the provision of opportunities for the bands, employment was also created for many local people across the towns where the ballrooms existed. The late Paddy Dolan was a synonymous figure at the Horizon and his late brother Joe played there many times.
Joe’s manager Seamus Casey recalled Albert as being a decent man to deal with. He was one of the first to treat bands with respect, buying them a drink after a show and making sure they got fed with a hot meal which was a nice touch as most ballroom owners only cared about the money at the door. Band managers could be guaranteed at least 40/50 gigs a year in Reynolds’ 14 ballrooms, with one per season booked in each. “The Reynolds had the power to make or break a band,” Seamus recalls.
For the first few years they were “workaholics” and later, Jim settled to being the main man dealing with the buildings and the booking, whilst Albert’s role was limited mainly to the financial side of things. They had ‘fixers’ for each ballroom and a policy of booking international acts like Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash, to play alsongside Irish acts. Albert had a huge regard for acts like Joe Dolan and Mr Casey says that despite the odd court case they were all good friends – all architects of a minor social revolution that changed the recreational patterns of rural Ireland forever.
When he exited the entertainment industry Albert went into the meat business. He first purchased a run-down bacon factory in Dublin’s Liberties area – the oldest such factory in Ireland. He made that outlet profitable within 12 months. Albert sold the business in the early seventies and returned temporarily into the entertainment industry before fish exporting tickled his fancy followed by ABC Finance, AR Trading and even a newspaper, the Longford News.
His next project was C&D Foods Ltd., a partnership with Mattie Lyons, a Longford businessman. They built a factory in Edgeworthstown which grew substantially. His son Philip has ran the business for many years growing it internationally as well as nationally.
