THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607050155
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: DUBLIN, IRELAND LENGTH: 43 lines
The Irish, who have historically turned their backs to the surrounding sea, watching as the Vikings and other invaders created all the island's major ports, have been coming to Dublin Bay by the tens of thousands in recent days to see the largest warship ever to drop anchor in these waters.
The Norfolk-based aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy arrived here Tuesday on a good-will mission arranged by Jean Kennedy Smith, ambassador to Ireland, to mark American Independence Day.
The result so far, with the 29-year-old ship due to stay until Sunday, has been much good will, clear in the smiles and the wide eyes of children and parents. Visitors crowd the dock at the suburban ferry terminal of Dun Laoghaire, south of Dublin, where ferries take the lucky ones out into the bay where the ship is anchored. But there has also been an outbreak of what the Irish call the national trait of begrudgery.
Not everybody who wanted to board the ship has been allowed to do so. A lottery was used to distribute tickets for 10,000 people. But nearly 200,000 applied, leaving the losers in large majority. Scalpers were selling some of the supposedly free tickets for about $500, slightly more than the average weekly industrial wage. Dozens of people paid $20 for rides in a private helicopter that was not allowed much closer to the ship than the shoreline.
Then the weather intervened, winds whipping Dublin Bay into whitecaps that damaged the pontoon used for moving the visitors between ferries and the 23-story carrier, which is much taller than any building in the Irish capital.
That stopped the visits Wednesday and backed up the crowds, adding to the swarm of people who created traffic jams by driving their cars to coastal roads just for a look.
Instead of shipboard visits, the ticket holders were given ferry trips circling the ship. Some of them said later they had been disappointed. The Navy said Thursday that it hoped to resume the shipboard visits today.
The crew of about 5,200 were given liberty in Dublin during the first three days of the visit, without incident.
KEYWORDS: U.S.S. JOHN F. KENNEDY IRELAND by CNB