Vol. 350 No. 2
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government have issued an invitation to the President of the United States to visit this country; if the invitation has been accepted; if so, when the visit will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
18.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will consider requesting President Reagan to include a visit to Ulster as part of his itinerary during his forthcoming visit particularly in view of the fact that the other three provinces are proposed to be included.
I propose taking Questions No. 17 and 18 together. In March 1983 the Taoiseach invited the President of the United Stated to visit Ireland. Earlier this year President Reagan indicated his acceptance of the invitation and will visit Ireland from 1 to 4 June of this year.
The programme for the President's visit to Ireland has been worked out by the American and Irish sides with some detail still to be decided on. Given the requirements of the President's schedule, the time available will be quite short and will not give the opportunity for him to see as many parts of the country as he and we might wish. The itinerary as arranged will include Shannon, Galway, Ballyporeen and Dublin.
This question was put down when the proposed visit was pure speculation. In view of the fact that the invitation has now been accepted and that the visit is widely interpreted both here and in the United States as part of the President's election campaign, should the visit be at least postponed until after the election in the US? In view of the fact that there is widespread opposition to the visit in Ireland from political and nonpolitical, lay and religious based organisations, does the Minister consider, in view of American foreign policy, that the visit should be reconsidered?
A question Deputy, please.
I do not think the President's visit should be cancelled and I do not accept as necessarily true the reasons given for the acceptance of the invitation as set out by Deputy De Rossa. Neither do I accept that there is widespread opposition to the visit. There is some concern on the part of groups about certain policies being pursued by the American administration. I do not think anybody suggests that when somebody is invited here and the invitation is accepted, he should not be treated with courtesy and respect befitting the head of a major power in the world and a friend of Ireland.
I did not imply in my question that any visitor should be treated with disrespect or discourtesy.
A question Deputy, please.
I am asking the Minister, in view of the fact that the invitation still stands, when the President comes will he be making a public request to the President to change his policies in relation to Central America and the siting of Cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe?
That seems to be a separate question.
I agree, and I do not think it should be addressed to me.
Did the Minister consider requesting the President to include a visit to Ulster in his itinerary?
Many people wanted the President to visit many parts of Ireland. We asked him would he consider visiting the part of Donegal which I think the Deputy has in mind. Unfortunately, it was not possible for him to include everything in his programme. I was particularly interested in having him visit two parts of the country which I am interested in but unfortunately they were not included either. One was the Limerick-Cork match on the Sunday but I am afraid he will not be able to go to that.
The Limerick-Cork match.
Unfortunately the only province which President Reagan is not visiting is the most important of the four, Ulster. Why has he not been requested to visit Ulster? If the Minister and the Government exerted enough pressure on him he probably would visit Ulster, now that the report of the Forum has been made available.
It is not our function to exert pressure on President Reagan. We drew to the attention of the White House a number of areas which we would like him to visit. The final decision on where he went was a matter for himself.
Did the Minister and the Government request President Reagan to visit any part of Ulster?
Yes, we did.
Which part?
Donegal, as I said.
Discrimination, but I am not complaining.
I share the Minister's understanding of the situation that the Irish people will give a warm welcome to President Reagan.
A question Deputy, please.
They will give a warm welcome to the President of the United States as is right and proper. In view of the warmth of the welcome which I have no doubt the Irish people will give to the head of this friendly nation, could we ask the White House to extend the visit even for another day or two so that the Irish people can really show the warmth of their welcome, despite the sort of protests which have been generated and the disgraceful posters which have been put up organised by parties not too far from where I am standing at the moment?
The visit has been extended. Originally it was to last from the Saturday to the Monday. It has been extended and is now from the Friday to the Monday. The President is going on to Europe immediately and then to London, so it would not be possible to extend on that side of the visit.
If the Minister is communicating with the major powers around the world about the siting of missiles, he might also contact Moscow about SAM missiles in Europe and about Afghanistan as well.
I will bear the Deputy's point in mind.
In view of the fact that the arrangements are still tentative, would the Minister consider sending another invitation to President Reagan to visit Ulster?
The details are still not finalised, but the locations which he is visiting are finalised.
Not an inch.
We will have to move on to the next question.
We could always drop Galway.
Would the Minister care to give detailed information regarding the arrangements being made for the visit of the President to this House?
That matter is being discussed by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
