JFK 50 - The Homecoming - June 22nd

allthedoyles

TIME

EVENT

3.15 p.m. The Homecoming Parade begins its journey through the streets of New Ross
5.00 p.m. Homecoming Parade finishes on Quay


5.15 p.m. Guests of Honour arrive


5.40 p.m. Reception of An Taoiseach – Guard of Honour by Naval Service


6.00 p.m. The Ceremony of the Emigrant Flame commences with guests of honour An Taoiseach, Endy Kenny, T.D., Caroline Kennedy & Jean Kennedy Smith
6.05 p.m. Flame is taken from Naval Vessel LE Orla and brought to Kennedy Monument where it remains until final act of ceremony
6.15 p.m. Invited artists, performers, interviewees will take to the stage including, Anne Doyle, George Hook, Colm Toibin, Judy Collins, Michael Flatley, Michael Londra, Extreme Rhythm and New Ross and District Pipe Band.
7.30 p.m. The Torch is transferred along boardwalk to Emigrant Memorial. This transfer of the Flame will be performed by Special Olympic Athletes and other representatives of Community/Local Government. The Emigrant Flame will be lit by An Taoiseach, Caroline Kennedy and Jean Kennedy Smith.
7.40 p.m. Closing speeches by An Taoiseach and Caroline Kennedy and/or Jean Kennedy Smith
7.55 p.m. Close of Ceremony

Starting to enjoy the build-up to this major event

blackwave

Just past through the town recently and it looks so much better than it used the boardwalk and the lick of paint and have done wonders for the quay

allthedoyles

allthedoyles

20,000 people due Saturday 22nd June , but I can't find car parking arrangements anywhere.

allthedoyles

The eternal flame has been lit in Arlington USA and is on its way to New Ross

The background reminds me of the JFK Aboreteum

wolverette

There's a 48-page colour supplement in this week's Echo newspaper which includes interviews with local people, the Irish military, the American Peace Corps and people who worked with the Kennedys. It's going to be a big weekend

allthedoyles

The Emigrant Flame passes Poolbeg Lighthouse on board Le Orla , on its way to New Ross

allthedoyles

The scene is set

Conas

Are you able to get near the stage? Are alll those seats reserved?

MaxCharlie

will traffic be back to normal tomorrow I.e Sunday

allthedoyles

MaxCharlie wrote: »

will traffic be back to normal tomorrow I.e Sunday

Not just traffic .... New Ross is now back to normal .............the Festival is over . ( for now )

allthedoyles

Emigrant Flame

Busted Flat.

As a matter of interest, who's homecoming is it. I thought the guy was dead.

allthedoyles

The Eternal Flame is now burning on New Ross Quay

Busted Flat.

allthedoyles wrote: »

The Eternal Flame is now burning on New Ross Quay

Who pays for the gas.

allthedoyles

Busted Flat. wrote: »

As a matter of interest, who's homecoming is it. I thought the guy was dead.

35 relations of President John F. Kennedy arrived in Ireland to celebrate the 50th anniverary of JFK visit to Ireland in 1963 .

In the year of the Gathering , it was a first homecoming for many of the Kennedy clan , and they really enjoyed it .

somegirl2009

Hmmm.........Good question !

Busted Flat.

allthedoyles wrote: »

35 relations of President John F. Kennedy arrived in Ireland to celebrate the 50th anniverary of JFK visit to Ireland in 1963 .

In the year of the Gathering , it was a first homecoming for many of the Kennedy clan , and they really enjoyed it .

That should be the year of the grovelling. Bankrupt country gives expensive party to the well heeled. SNA's get the boot.

oldyouth

Celebrating an anniversary of a visit is a little lame. However, if it brought more money to the area than it cost, then fair play to the organisers

allthedoyles

oldyouth wrote: »

Celebrating an anniversary of a visit is a little lame. However, if it brought more money to the area than it cost, then fair play to the organisers

Was at the celebrations yedterday and didn't spend any money . Would think it unlikely that revenue would outdo expenditure in the short-term .

Lets see over the next 50 years if it was worthwhile .:)

Leo Demidov

You couldn't spend money there yesterday, very little of the usual gourmet food stalls etc. Nothing to keep a young family entertained, parade was poxy, the whole event evolved around the "VIPs". Don't think it got nearly the crowd that was expected, the unfortunate clash with other festivals in the area probably didn't help in this regard. Only for the weather held, the place would have cleared straight after the parade.

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it on Sky News, ha.

WexfordWarrior

I'm sorry to say but this was a lame ass effort. I went there early expecting the traffic and crowds to be big. Car parks were still closed at 11.30 a.m. We drove into town without a problem and parked near to town without a problem, but not in an official jfk50 carpark.

There was a few tatty craft stalls, the pot belly pig stall from that guy who done masterchef was there. That was the only street food in place. There was no stalls for drinks.

Music was woeful all day.It was really morbid, downtempo rubbish and some of the worst cheap Irish trad stuff for those who didn't know any better.

I understand around the time of ceremony if the music changed and became more solemn but the "pre-party" music was simply desperate.

The atmosphere was ZERO! People looked glum and bemused as you passed them by and I even heard a few people talking as they passed by and they were saying how boring it was. God help anyone who paid and travelled from long distances or from abroad.

The café in the dunbrody centre closed at 1pm!!!!! Yes 13.00hrs!

We went to a local pub and some town clown started on some guy there.

Nobody was allowed sit on the "vip seats" even hours before the "vips" were near the place. I heard a steward telling a 90 year old woman she couldn't sit down because the seats were reserved for vip's. Then some creep announcing over the tannoy that everyone was to leave the vip seats! This was at around 1pm in the day...the vip's probably didnt arrive until 5.30. Bloody disgrace.

SKY News, RTE and TG4 were there with camera's and the amount of coverage this got nationwide on national radio, local radio, Newspapers etc should have been enough to spur the organisers to try do the job properly. If this wasn't enough inspiration for them the future looks bleak.

We finally had enough of trying to convince ourselves we were having a good time and left early. Came back to Wexford and the Atmosphere at the John Barry festival was 200 times better compared to jfk50 plus loads of food stalls and entertainment and a GREAT Atmosphere!!

The quayside in Ross is the only thing that benefited from this and the place got a clean up and maybe in the future will attract some visitors. The new boardwalk is nice and I must say the town did look lovely and clean and effort was put into the presentation of the place which is a bonus.

The festival was just a big letdown and really only something for kenny and co to hobnob at.

Busted Flat.

WexfordWarrior wrote: »

I'm sorry to say but this was a lame ass effort. I went there early expecting the traffic and crowds to be big. Car parks were still closed at 11.30 a.m. We drove into town without a problem and parked near to town without a problem, but not in an official jfk50 carpark.

There was a few tatty craft stalls, the pot belly pig stall from that guy who done masterchef was there. That was the only street food in place. There was no stalls for drinks.

Music was woeful all day.It was really morbid, downtempo rubbish and some of the worst cheap Irish trad stuff for those who didn't know any better.

I understand around the time of ceremony if the music changed and became more solemn but the "pre-party" music was simply desperate.

The atmosphere was ZERO! People looked glum and bemused as you passed them by and I even heard a few people talking as they passed by and they were saying how boring it was. God help anyone who paid and travelled from long distances or from abroad.

The café in the dunbrody centre closed at 1pm!!!!! Yes 13.00hrs!

We went to a local pub and some town clown started on some guy there.

Nobody was allowed sit on the "vip seats" even hours before the "vips" were near the place. I heard a steward telling a 90 year old woman she couldn't sit down because the seats were reserved for vip's. Then some creep announcing over the tannoy that everyone was to leave the vip seats! This was at around 1pm in the day...the vip's probably didnt arrive until 5.30. Bloody disgrace.

SKY News, RTE and TG4 were there with camera's and the amount of coverage this got nationwide on national radio, local radio, Newspapers etc should have been enough to spur the organisers to try do the job properly. If this wasn't enough inspiration for them the future looks bleak.

We finally had enough of trying to convince ourselves we were having a good time and left early. Came back to Wexford and the Atmosphere at the John Barry festival was 200 times better compared to jfk50 plus loads of food stalls and entertainment and a GREAT Atmosphere!!

The quayside in Ross is the only thing that benefited from this and the place got a clean up and maybe in the future will attract some visitors. The new boardwalk is nice and I must say the town did look lovely and clean and effort was put into the presentation of the place which is a bonus.

The festival was just a big letdown and really only something for kenny and co to hobnob at.

Why am I not surprised at that, they couldn't organize a R..e in a brothel.

What is the guy doing to earn his €200,000 plus salary for the gathering or grovelling.

somegirl2009

Well first of all im going to say what a great day it was for the JFK 50th anniversary, i have never seen New Ross look so well and so much preparation went into the event from a lot of people in the town!!

As for all the negative comments people are posting here all i can say is TYPICAL.. no matter what went on people will give out no matter what! what the country needs is less of the negative people like you and more positive people who actually do things apart from give out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Busted Flat.

somegirl2009 wrote: »

Well first of all im going to say what a great day it was for the JFK 50th anniversary, i have never seen New Ross look so well and so much preparation went into the event from a lot of people in the town!!

As for all the negative comments people are posting here all i can say is TYPICAL.. no matter what went on people will give out no matter what! what the country needs is less of the negative people like you and more positive people who actually do things apart from give out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The VIP section was well looked after, you could understand having a great time there.

Leo Demidov

The majority of people I've spoken to felt it could have been done a hell of a lot better, there's only so much time you can spend looking at the town, a significant number of people went on the beer cause there was Divil else to do. All of the downtown car parks were closed and empty, they could have been put to some positive use.

I commend the work that was done but it really could have been alot better. The river could have been better utilised, there could have been a sporting event at the running track, some street entertainment etc. Also, just to reiterate, the parade was poxy.

oldyouth

somegirl2009 wrote: »

Well first of all im going to say what a great day it was for the JFK 50th anniversary, i have never seen New Ross look so well and so much preparation went into the event from a lot of people in the town!!

As for all the negative comments people are posting here all i can say is TYPICAL.. no matter what went on people will give out no matter what! what the country needs is less of the negative people like you and more positive people who actually do things apart from give out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wexford Warrior gave a lot of specific examples of where the event was poor. Apart from saying the town looked well (I'm sure it did) what other 'positive' examples can you offer? It has nothing to do with negativity if the actual result of hard effort is a damp squib.

Dilbert75

It seemed to me that the event was well organised, the town looked great, the voluntary groups in the town did their best to make it a great day, there was ample parking + park & ride, etc. I for one was delighted that it wasn't peppered with stalls selling cheap tat and the obligatory funfair - it wasn't intended to be that kind of occasion.

There was national and international media exposure and we're left with a quay front that could equal just about any small town in the country and out-do most. Aside from the weather, the only two uncontrollables were whether people turned up and, if they did, whether or not they made an effort to enjoy what was there. If people didn't make that effort, that was them not contributing to the occasion - nobody else.

TBH I very much doubt that the intended audience was from the immediate area around the town. The national and international publicity, which was universally positive as far as I could see, will hopefully reap rewards for many years to come. I was running along the quay this evening and there were queues of people waiting to get their photos taken with the emigrant flame and the JFK statue. Whether or not you agree with the continued interest in JFK, that's got to be a good thing for the area and I think kudos are deserved by those who worked towards it for all these years.

Leo Demidov

That's a good one, i didn't enjoy myself because i didn't try hard enough? I too am glad that we weren't over run with cheap tat and tented enclaves but please do explain how one was to put in the day with a young family?

To say it wasn't marketed at particular groups is incorrect, they failed to deliver. End of. I would be the first to congratulate Michael Sheehan for all he has achieved but if an event that ultimately targets tourism can't entertain the citizens of the town for a few hours, how can you promote it as a tourist location.

somegirl2009

oldyouth wrote: »

Wexford Warrior gave a lot of specific examples of where the event was poor. Apart from saying the town looked well (I'm sure it did) what other 'positive' examples can you offer? It has nothing to do with negativity if the actual result of hard effort is a damp squib.

I don't feel the need to list specific examples on where the event was positive.

It is what it is.... everyone has different opinions.....so il just leave it at that--!

allthedoyles

Don't think it was ever meant to be a family day out - It was a sales promotion day for the town , and hopefully it worked .

It was media driven , and well done to all involved in this .

The large crowds were always going to be just onlookers , unless you were one of the lucky ones to have received that all important VIP pass .

allthedoyles

bmaxi

Looking at the coverage and bearing in mind that the (I presume) aim of this festival was to put New Ross in the public eye, both nationally and internationally, I'd have to say it failed dismally. I didn't see anything that would make me book my next holiday in the New Ross area or set up my home or business there. What I saw was Kenny and Kehoe telling the Kennedys what great guys they were and the Kennedys replying in kind, plus a few references to how they loved the place and how proud they were and the rest of the usual puke inducing stuff trotted out for the hoi polloi.
I have to admit that my opinions are slightly coloured by the fact that I've never been a fan of JFK, whose only significant contribution to history was, IMO, to get himself shot.
As is usual in event like thiss, the volunteers who give freely of their time and labour were largely ignored among the mutual self congratulation of the "VIPs".

oldyouth

bmaxi wrote: »

I've never been a fan of JFK, whose only significant contribution to history was, IMO, to get himself shot.

In fairness, as a keen adulterer, he let off a few shots of his own, most notably with Marilyn Monroe

Leo Demidov

allthedoyles wrote: »

Don't think it was ever meant to be a family day out - It was a sales promotion day for the town , and hopefully it worked .

It was media driven , and well done to all involved in this .

The large crowds were always going to be just onlookers , unless you were one of the lucky ones to have received that all important VIP pass .

If it was solely a media driven event, why was there so much local publicity, local press involvement including souvenier pullouts, A4 trifold flyers with pictures of smiling children holding baloons - was this all a ruse to get feet on the streets for hte cameras?

regarding the target blue rinse brigade, aside from the mediocre entertainment, what welfare facilities were in place for their specific requirements, a cream bun on the side of south street or a greasy burger eaten while standing in the middle of a dusty car park? Great way to entice people back to the town.

The ultimate long term success of the event can never be accurately measured as increased visitors may be purely due to the redevelopment of the quay front. Short term anectdotal evidence would suggest that alot of people went home unhappy with a protracted pile of drivel.

Squiggle

wexfjord wrote: »

That's a good one, i didn't enjoy myself because i didn't try hard enough? I too am glad that we weren't over run with cheap tat and tented enclaves but please do explain how one was to put in the day with a young family?

To say it wasn't marketed at particular groups is incorrect, they failed to deliver. End of. I would be the first to congratulate Michael Sheehan for all he has achieved but if an event that ultimately targets tourism can't entertain the citizens of the town for a few hours, how can you promote it as a tourist location.

Serioudly :eek: ? The Dundrody ship has been a resounding success tourist wise and the eternal flame will simply add to that. Many Americans regard the Kennedys as their Royal family and I think the ship, the flame, the revamped homestead and the JFK arboretum will draw tourists especially Americans. Saturday's events weren't that important for me, it's what happens from now on that matters. I drove along the quay several times yesterday and it was buzzing - the place looks lovely and it's great to see. Irish retail it's on it's knees and it's never been more important to attract tourists. Worldwide coverage on Sky news - not often you get that for the right reasons.

Leo Demidov

Squiggle wrote: »

Serioudly :eek: ? The Dundrody ship has been a resounding success tourist wise and the eternal flame will simply add to that. Many Americans regard the Kennedys as their Royal family and I think the ship, the flame, the revamped homestead and the JFK arboretum will draw tourists especially Americans. Saturday's events weren't that important for me, it's what happens from now on that matters. I drove along the quay several times yesterday and it was buzzing - the place looks lovely and it's great to see. Irish retail it's on it's knees and it's never been more important to attract tourists. Worldwide coverage on Sky news - not often you get that for the right reasons.

You mistakenly seem to think that I have a problem with the Famine Ship, THe Flame, The Homestead and The Arboretum? Please tell me where you got this impression from. I am merely stasting the case that Saturdays event was not a success for those who made it their business to spend the day in town but were left bitterly dissapointed with what was on offer. I have no doubt that it looked well on Sky News, my issue is that it totally underdelivered for the people on the ground.

On another note, the unplanned street closures, disruption to electrical supply and cordoning off of wheelie bins in the weeks preceeding the event did little to benefit downtown business.

Busted Flat.

allthedoyles wrote: »

New Ross frying pan.

bmaxi

oldyouth wrote: »

In fairness, as a keen adulterer, he let off a few shots of his own, most notably with Marilyn Monroe

Yes, hardly an achievement though, who didn't, including his brother? The joke doing the rounds at the time was that the public urinal on O'Connell St. had had less experience of pricks than Marilyn.

Squiggle

wexfjord wrote: »

You mistakenly seem to think that I have a problem with the Famine Ship, THe Flame, The Homestead and The Arboretum? Please tell me where you got this impression from. I am merely stasting the case that Saturdays event was not a success for those who made it their business to spend the day in town but were left bitterly dissapointed with what was on offer. I have no doubt that it looked well on Sky News, my issue is that it totally underdelivered for the people on the ground.

You also stated :

but if an event that ultimately targets tourism can't entertain the citizens of the town for a few hours, how can you promote it as a tourist location.

I don't think the entertainment or lack of it on Saturday will have any bearing on tourists visiting New Ross to see the JFK related offerings. Time will tell but New Ross is more of an attraction with the flame than without imo and with American tourists spending an average of €1000 on a visit to Ireland we need every one of them we can get our hands on, and New Ross in particular does.

Leo Demidov

So the sole purpose of Saturday was to nab Americans? Why lure the simple Paddy into town if he wasn't wanted. If I'm to be an extra in a tv charade, i would like to be paid for my time.

You're quoting my posts without putting them in context or referring to them directly, perhaps i sound do the same, we could have great fun. In any event, we went to Wexford town yesterday and spent all our money on tat and candy floss. There were no barricades keeping me out of empty car parks, there was culture, entertainment, frivolous larking about. They delivered everything promised in their promotional material for the John Barry memorial and most importantly, they took my hard earned euro.

Leo Demidov

Btw, there were numerous tourists in the town all over the weekend, there was nothing for them to do! Again i would like to congratulate those involved for all that was done well, i just think they missed a couple of opportunities.

Judgement Day

I'm a big fan of JFK, even have a framed print of the great man on on the kitchen mantlepiece - "Ask Not" etc., - and that's one of the reasons that I stayed away from New Ross. If I want to see wasters like Paul Kehoe I only have to walk a few hundred yards from where I live to his office. The Dunbrody 'replica' famine ship doesn't float my boat - sorry - and is best viewed from a passing bus. Seen one replica, seen them all.

As for JFK being famous solely for his 'friendship' with Marilyn Monroe.....I would have thought his handling of the Cuban missile crisis would be more noteworthy. If some of his hardline military men had had their way I doubt any us would be here today.

eagerv

allthedoyles wrote: »

I went to have a look at the flame yesterday evening.

A few thoughts went through my simple mind!

What happens if someone, possibly a child, gets burnt? The surround has very large gaps. The flame is quite large and blows widely.

Will the flame blow out in a storm?

How much gas does it use? Is it shut down regularly for maintenance?

I thought the town looked really well. Well done all involved.

Leo Demidov

Agreed, the town did look very well.

bmaxi

Judgement Day wrote: »

As for JFK being famous solely for his 'friendship' with Marilyn Monroe.....I would have thought his handling of the Cuban missile crisis would be more noteworthy. If some of his hardline military men had had their way I doubt any us would be here today.

The U.S. were out thought, outmanoeuvred and ultimately outsmarted during the Cuban crisis, they went from a situation of making threats and demands on the USSR to one of quid pro quo and this from a position of overwhelming military power which the USSR could not have overcome. Kruschev bluffed and Kennedy blinked, hardly a glorious moment in U.S. history and all from a crisis of the Kennedy administration's own making.

Busted Flat.

bmaxi wrote: »

The U.S. were out thought, outmanoeuvred and ultimately outsmarted during the Cuban crisis, they went from a situation of making threats and demands on the USSR to one of quid pro quo and this from a position of overwhelming military power which the USSR could not have overcome. Kruschev bluffed and Kennedy blinked, hardly a glorious moment in U.S. history and all from a crisis of the Kennedy administration's own making.

In a film about the Mafia, the head honcho said to one of his sidekicks, who had an affair which was causing him some trouble,"A man is born with two heads one big and one small, you let the big one do the thinking" That is the problem all the Kennedy's had, they all done their thinking through their small head.

Conas

For all the praise there was for JFK on Saturday, no one will ever touch on his assassination. It's to be expected, because most people are afraid to.The people of New Ross and the Kennedy family. I'll praise JFK and his brother Robert Kennedy for being two of the bravest people ever in American politics, who were willing to take on the real evil in America that still exists today; The Federal Reserve, The Military Industrial Complex, and the CIA.

There's no doubt in my mind that JFK and his brother were murdered as part of a conspiracy. Powerful people wanted the Vietnam war to happen, and JFK wasn't going to give it to them. He had plans to withdraw 1000 advisors by the end of 63, followed by a full withdrawal by 1965. That's reason one for having him killed.

On June the 4th, a few weeks before his Irish trip, Kennedy issued Executive order 11110. Executive Order 11110 was signed with the authority to basically strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the United States Federal Government at interest. With the stroke of a pen, President Kennedy declared that the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank would soon be out of business. JFK was a big fan of Abraham Lincoln, and I'm sure he knew well what Lincoln tried to do to pay for the Civil War. He too stood up to the bankers who were demanding high interest rates. President Lincoln needed money to finance the Civil War, and the international bankers offered him loans at 24-36% interest. Lincoln balked at their demands because he didn't want to plunge the nation into such a huge debt. Lincoln approached Congress about passing a law to authorize the printing of U.S. Treasury Notes. Lincoln said "We gave the people of this Republic the greatest blessing they ever had - their own paper money to pay their debts..." Lincoln printed over 400 million "Greenbacks" (debt and interest-free) and paid the soldiers, U.S. government employees, and bought war supplies. The international bankers didn't like it and wanted Lincoln to borrow the money from them, so that the American people would owe tremendous interest on the loan. Lincoln's solution made this seem ridiculous. Shortly after Lincoln's death, the government revoked the Greenback law which ended Lincoln's debt-free, interest-free money. A new national banking act was enacted and all currency became interest-bearing, debt instruments, again.

Kennedy and Lincoln stood up to the bankers, and paid for it with their lives.

Then there was the famous Bay Of Pigs disaster in the first few days of JFK's presidency, in which JFK had felt the CIA had lied to him. After it, he fired 3 top officials in the CIA, and threatened to splinter it into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the wind. Then after his assassination Lyndon B Johnson hired a man he had fired from the CIA, Allen Dulles, to be on the botched Warren Commission. Suprise, Suprise.

I hope after 50 years we might finally get the truth. The CIA were involved in the assassination, and they still laugh about it to this day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpRiQleaBkQ

bmaxi

Wow! A conspiracy theory on the Kennedy assassination, now there's a novelty

allthedoyles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy4h01FDF8o