By David McCullagh and Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
It was one of the most iconic images of 1994, taoiseach Albert Reynolds and senior ministers left on the red carpet at Shannon Airport waiting in vain for Russian president Boris Yeltsin to emerge from his aeroplane.
Various excuses were offered for Yeltsin's no-show, he was "indisposed", he was resting after a tiring flight, his bodyguards were too frightened to wake him - but it was generally accepted that he was drunk.
The president had form in this regard. Just the previous month, he had been filmed tipsily "conducting" a band in Berlin, causing international hilarity, but also raising concerns about his fitness for office.
Minutes before his Aeroflot plane was due to land at Shannon, the Irish were told, without explanation, that its arrival would be delayed by an hour.
As the plane circled Shannon, head of protocol Liam Canniffe confided to the taoiseach his worry that Yeltsin "might be the worse for wear on arrival".
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Noel Fahy, assistant secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, took the one-hour delay as an indication that "President Yeltsin's indisposition was at one stage seen as curable", in other words, that he would sober up, "but that in the end it was decided not to take a risk of events such as took place in Berlin".
When the plane finally landed, Canniffe went on board to welcome Yeltsin.
However, as soon as he stepped inside, two men quickly closed the door into the passenger cabin so he couldn't see what was going on inside.
He was told the president would not be getting off, as he was resting.
Canniffe suggested that the taoiseach could come onto the plane to meet the president.
After some discussion, the Russians rejected this suggestion; nor would Mr Reynolds be allowed onto the plane even if he didn't meet Yeltsin.
Eventually, the taoiseach had a meeting in the terminal building with first deputy prime minister Oleg Soskovets.
An Irish diplomat later reported that when Yeltsin arrived back in Moscow, he was "loud and a little incoherent", and in a "somewhat excited mood", but that he was "quite sober".
The president claimed he had overslept at Shannon and "wanted to find out and punish whoever was responsible for not waking him".
Though no one believed the Russian excuses, Irish officials agreed to play along with them in the hope that they might benefit from Russian gratitude for their discretion.
Not only were the Russians grateful, they were also "exquisitely embarrassed" about the debacle.
Yeltsin wrote to Reynolds apologising for the "unfortunate mishap" which prevented their meeting in Shannon and inviting the taoiseach to visit him in Moscow instead.
Some years later, Yeltsin's daughter claimed that her father had suffered a heart attack on the plane, which was why he didn't disembark.
However, it seems difficult to believe that proper medical intervention wouldn't have been sought if this was true.
As in most such cases, the simplest explanation would appear to be the most likely.
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[Based on documents in 2024/52/572]
