This article is from page 10 of the 2007-04-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
FORMER Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who died yesterday (Mon- day) at the age of 76, visited Clare last year. He spent his time shark fishing off the west coast and had hoped to return again in the future.
The skipper who took care of Mr
Yeltsin during his trip to Clare last August has expressed sadness at the loss of a “great man”.
Ennisman Willie O’Callaghan said, “I was saddened to hear of Mr Yeltsin’s death. I met him for the first time in Liscannor last August and he left a major mark on me and the area. He was such a big man and a gentle
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“It was an honour to be asked and trusted to take care of Mr Yeltsin for the day. It 1s something I will never forget. We had hoped the he would return again someday, I am sure he wanted to. I know he thoroughly en- joyed his time in Clare and Liscan- nor. He was definitely a very happy
man during his time here.”
Mr O’Callaghan, who runs Lis- cannor-based O’Callaghan Angling Cruises, had the task of organising a day of fishing for Mr Yeltsin. He had to be sure that the visit remained se- cret. Security personnel checked the skipper’s 42ft angler cruiser, True Bitedeie
‘Tam sure they checked my creden- tials first to make sure we were up to the job. They were onto us to tell us what they needed for the trip and everything was in place when they arrived,” he said.
During his visit, Mr Yeltsin trav- elled to the Cliffs of Moher and en- joyed a day’s shark fishing off the Clare coast, breaking for lunch on Inis Oir, the smallest of the Aran Is- lands.
Mr Yeltsin’s previous visit to Clare in 1994 was far more memorable. He made international headlines after he left Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, two ministers, a guard of honour and an army band standing on the tarmac at Shannon Airport. Yeltsin had agreed to make a stopover at Shannon on his way back to Moscow from the Unit- ed States but, as it turned out, it was more like a sleepover.
Mr Yeltsin returned to Shannon Airport last August for the first time since that diplomatic gaffe over 12 years ago. The former President was whisked off amid tight security to the five-star Dromoland Castle where he stayed for three nights.