The old guard changeth

 

While Albert Reynolds announced his arrival in Irish political life in 1977, it was in 1981 that the highly successful Longford businessman made his presence more prominent following the 1981 General Election.

The would-be Taoiseach had the financial clout to support his many compaigns and one of his first investments was to be the purchase of the Longford News newspaper.

And when outgoing Independent TD, Joe Sheridan withdrew from political life, Albert seized the opportunity to court supporters of the former TD.

The perfect opportunity to do just that came in June 1981 when the then Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, with Longford based photographer, Willie Farrell in tow, paid a visit to the town to lay the foundation stone for Mullingar’s new GPO.

A stop-off at the Greville Arms Hotel gave rise to an impromptu press conference but due to the short notice, there were very few FF supporters about.

However, as fate would have it one very important person was sitting at the bar, none other than Joe Sheridan. And when approached by a local journalist, Joe ‘the man you know’ had no difficulty leaving his lofty perch to join Albert in a photo shoot.

It was just perfect timing and made for a perfect front page picture in the following week’s Longford News. The smiles captured the moment, the old guard changeth and Albert later claimed that handshake cemented his political career.