State papers: Elephant gifted to Hillery created huge headache for diplomats

Presidents frequently receive gifts when they travel but not everything can fit in their luggage. Among some of the more unusual gifts given to president Patrick Hillery were a Tanzanian elephant called Mimi, and the services of a stallion.

Government files released by the National Archives show that Dr Hillery was presented with a live elephant by the president of Tanzania when he visited the country in 1979. However, the cost of shipping the animal gave diplomats a jumbo-sized headache.

A Tanzanian official wrote to the Irish Embassy in Dar es Salaam in September 1980, asking to be reimbursed for the air freight costs of shipping the elephant. The official noted that the Irish Government had undertaken to pay the charges.

“It is in accordance with this undertaking that the ministry has the honour to request the reimbursement of the sum of [Tanzanian shillings] Shs66,063 being the cost of transporting by air the live elephant referred to above.” The equivalent sum in Irish punts was £4,005 (€5,085).

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Elephants may have long memories but the memories of Irish officials on this issue were hazy, to say the least.

Claim

“I had forgotten about the elephant!” a Department of the Taoiseach official exclaimed in a handwritten note on a letter about the matter. The letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs said it could not verify the Tanzanians’ claim that the Irish government had agreed to pay the freight costs. “But in accordance with normal practice it would be assumed that the cost of transport on any gifts from the host to the guest country would be the responsibility of the guest.”

It said it did not have the funds to repay the Tanzanians for the costs of shipping the elephant to Ireland.

The matter rumbled on to November when a Department of Taoiseach official wrote that neither its office, nor the president’s office, had funds to pay the freight charges and said it was a matter for the Department of Foreign Affairs. It is not clear from the file how the matter was resolved, but Dublin Zoo historian Catherine De Courcy confirmed that Mimi the elephant arrived in Dublin in May 1980. She was aged three at the time. She was moved to Southampton Zoo in 1982. That zoo closed in 1985 and her whereabouts are now unknown.

Unusual gift

Another unusual offer of a gift came in March 1984 when Dr Hillery was contacted by the Robert Sangster Group with the offer of a free service for a particular mare in the State-owned Irish National Stud. However, it came with conditions. The progeny could only run in the president’s colours, and the owners would like to get credit for the gift. Sangster was a leading British racehorse owner and breeder who had hundreds of horses at stud and in training around the world at the peak of his success.

Dr Hillery was happy to accept the gift on a national basis, his secretary told the Department of the Taoiseach, noting it was worth about £12,500. The matter needed an urgent response as the mare in question was ready for a service and the department official gave the go-ahead for the unorthodox gift. (File: 2021/1/37)