Consoling letters from a President following Navan bus crash
Remembering five schoolgirls on their 20th anniversary
'An Unexpected History of Ireland' is the subtitle on a fine publication by New Island Books, 'The Presidents' Letters', edited by journalist and broadcaster, Flor MacCarthy. It is described as a “treasure trove of letters to and from our nine presidents from 1938 to the present day”.
There are letters sent from palaces, parliaments, and prisons; from war zones, refugee camps and homeless shelters, MacCarthy writes in her introduction.
“Communications arrived at Áras an Uachtaráin from places as diverse as the headquarters of the United Nations in New York to the shadow of the Acroplis in Athens, sent by 'a humble well-wisher'.”
She said the list of letter-writers reads likes a who's who of the twentieth century and beyond, and includes John F Kennedy, Princess Grace of Monaco, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Indira Gandhi, Richard Nixon, Charles de Gaulle, Queen Elizabeth II, the Dalai Lama, Muammar Gaddafi, Louis le Brocquy and Seamus Heaney.
“But, of equal importance to me, are the letters sent by citizens of Ireland to their president, whether posted from West Cork or Western Australia,” MacCarthy continues. “It's clear that, right from the start, Irish people have turned to their president in times of celebration and of tragedy, to mark a big occasion, or ask a small favour.”
Presidents too have been there for the Irish people in times of tragedy, no more so than 20 years ago this week, when Navan and Meath, and the country, was plunged into mourning for five secondary school students who died when their school bus crashed on the Kentstown Road - Lisa Callan, Sinead Ledwidge, Aimee McCabe, Clare McCluskey, and Deirdre Scanlon. Five angels forever remembered.
Mary McAleese was President of Ireland in May 2005, and in the aftermath of the tragedy and funerals, visited the bereaved families at their homes. Both she and Mary Robinson made their own selection of letters to be published in MacCarthy's book, and she included her letter to Deirdre Scanlon's parents, Peter and Rose, with their permission.
“When I was president, I sent and received a lot of letters,” McAleese wrote about her selection. “The sending was often to congratulate on occasions of great joy, but it was just as often to commiserate in the face of awful tragedy.”
McAleese wrote to the Scanlons – and to the other families – to thank them for receiving her in a time of great trauma and tragedy, when they had much more on their minds than getting the house ready for a presidential visit.
“It was my privilege to meet you both, your daughter, Caitríona, and Deirdre's Granny when I visited your home yesterday,” she wrote on 31st May 2005, thanking them for their tea and scones. “You spoke so proudly about Deirdre's talents and how much joy she had brought to you both. I pray that you my draw comfort from your family and friends and your happy memories of Deirdre.”
Twenty years on, we all still echo those words of Mary McAleese to the families of Deirdre, Lisa, Sinead, Aimee, and Clare, and all who were affected by that dreadful event on 23rd May 2005.
MEATHMAN'S DIARY: John Donohoe, Meath Chronicle, Saturday 24th May 2025