Everything was going well for taoiseach Charlie Haughey at the European Council summit in April 1990 until he encountered the venison pâté. And don’t even mention the trout sauce.
Ireland was hosting the meeting which brought dignitaries such as German chancellor Helmut Kohl, French president François Mitterrand and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to Dublin Castle.
Haughey expected the catering at the lunch and dinner to be on a par with the food he had enjoyed at similar summits around Europe. Unfortunately, he was underwhelmed, to say the least, according to State files just released by the National Archives.
“The Taoiseach confirmed that he was disappointed with the standard of the meals in both cases,” a Department of the Taoiseach memo noted.
“He described the venison pâté – served at the lunch – as a disaster. The sauce served with the trout at the dinner was also the subject of adverse comment. Overall there was nothing special about either meal. They were of good commercial standard – nothing more.”
To avoid more pâté-related disasters, Haughey suggested that Le Coq Hardi’s John Howard be engaged to cater for the heads of state dinner at the next summit in June. “John Howard of Le Coq Hardi should [also] be engaged to cater for the President’s lunch in the State Drawing Room however, subject only to satisfactory arrangements as regards kitchens, serving, etc,” the memo said.
The fashionable Le Coq Hardi on Pembroke Road was a favourite haunt of the then taoiseach and his coterie. The Moriarty tribunal heard that more than £15,000 from the leader’s allowance account had been spent at the restaurant in 1991.
A second memo providing feedback on the summit also singled out the mediocre quality of the dinner served to the heads of state. Government secretary Dermot Nally wrote: “The food at the HSG [heads of state and government] dinner was only of good pub grub standard. Could we do better by having Guilbaud or/and Le Coq Hardi people involved?”
Moving away from the menu, Nally also noted that Thatcher had been left hovering over Dublin “in the air for 40 minutes” before her aircraft was allowed to land. Her visit to Dublin also made her sweat, but it was nothing to do with the talks on European political unity. Nally observed that Thatcher and Kohl had commented on the “oppressive” heat in the building.
But despite the pedestrian pâté and terrible trout, the summit was deemed to be a great success, with The Irish Times reporting that seasoned EC watchers described it as one of the most good-humoured summits in a very long time. All aided, no doubt, by the 1978 Chateau Lynch Bages served at lunch.
