Roberts Needs Irish Translation

By Sean O’Driscoll

Supreme Court nominee John Roberts was concerned that an Irish language letterhead sent by President Reagan to the Irish ambassador to the U.S. might show secret support for the IRA, newly released government documents have shown.

In one 1985 memo, Roberts was asked, as legal advisor to the White House, if President Reagan could send Irish Ambassador Tadhg O’Sullivan a letter, under the mock letterhead “An Teach Ban,” the Irish language translation of “the White House.”

Roberts recommended that the White House get the meaning of “An Teach Ban” verified.

“For all I know, it means ‘Free the IRA,’” he wrote, and said that the idea was “a little cute for my tastes, but I have no legal objections.”

Roberts was recently chosen by President Bush to be the next Supreme Court justice with the resignation of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Tens of thousands of pages of his legal advice to the U.S. government have been released by the Reagan Library and the National Archive ahead of his congressional confirmation hearing next month.

The memos reveal a conservative attorney who feared giving to many concessions to the civil rights movement and believed that prayer should be allowed in school.

Despite his lack of knowledge of the Irish language, he is strong ties to Ireland and owns a part share of a house in Knocklyon, Co. Limerick. His wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, has strong family ties to Ireland.

Roberts is currently preparing for what he expected to be a grueling confirmation hearing, with the 18 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee allowed an hour each to question him.