Secret of missing Reagan banner revealed

PADDY BROSNAN has been dying to tell us — and now that US President Ronald Reagan has passed away, his 20-year-old secret can be revealed.

The mystery surrounds how a huge banner welcoming Mr Reagan to Ballyporeen, 20 years ago, that disappeared one night.

Chip van owner Paddy, now 70, yesterday admitted climbing up poles in the Tipperary village, when the crowds had gone, and removing the banner as a souvenir.

He operated his chip van in Ballyporeen during Mr Reagan's historic, root-tracing visit.

Rolling out the banner for the first time since then, he said he was prepared to return it to the people of Ballyporeen for a "little donation" seeing that he had kept it in safe custody all those years.

"Someone said it would be a good idea to take down the banner, as it would be worth money in years to come, so seven to eight pints later, I went up the pole for it," said Paddy, from Ballybunion, Co Kerry.

"I was in Ballyporeen for about 10 or 12 days and I'd nothing very much to do after President Reagan had left. Then at about two o'clock, on a Sunday morning, when everything was quiet, myself and a young fella cut the banner down from the poles.

"There were hardly any gardaí around, except for a squad car that came around about every 20 minutes. I just watched for my chance to get the banner down," he said.

Paddy hurriedly folded the 62ft banner, which has both the American and Irish flags, and placed it in the fridge in his chip van for about 12 days.

"I then took it out and put it up in a loft with central heating. It's in perfect condition," he said. "I never told anyone about it and knew it would be no good telling about it until President Reagan had died."

Paddy declined to say how much he wanted for the banner. "I couldn't put a figure on it," he said.

"But, I've minded it well for 20 years and a small donation would be nice, especially for my 70th birthday on Friday."

Paddy has been back to Ballyporeen just once since then. "I went down there about a month ago. It's a very quiet place now compared to the way it was then," he said.