Ed O’Loughlin
IT may be only 10 days since his painful divorce from Winnie, but President Mandela has already given plenty of indication that he intends to make up for lost time.
On Wednesday the Irish President’s state visit to South Africa was overshadowed in the popular press back home by news that Mandela, footloose and fancy-free, had playfully proposed to a member of the Irish press corps.
Waiting for Robinson’s arrival in Cape Town airport from Pretoria on Tuesday morning, Mandela gave a brief interview to members of the Irish media. As he was about to leave he spotted Nicola Byrne, a 28-year-old reporter from Dublin’s Sunday Tribune, and his face lit up.
“Come over here young lady,” he barked, reaching out to tenderly shake her hand.
“Are you marrried, by the way?”
“No I am not.”
“Ah, well you see, I …” he hesitated, smiling broadly, and the Irish journalists held their breath, waiting for a reference to the divorce that they weren’t even allowed to mention. He recollected himself, but went on: “Well if you propose to me I might accept.”
Byrne later admitted she had been quite overcome by Mandela’s suggestion. “I was very taken aback because it wasn’t what I expected in those surroundings. I just blushed and smiled at him, and he smiled at me.”
Words failed her, she admits. But all things being equal would she marry Nelson Mandela? “Yes.”
Visiting Robben Island with the Irish president the next day, Byrne was barraged with cellphone calls from Irish newspapers and radio. A photograph has been taken of her sitting on Mandela’s bed in his old cell, and one cannot rule out the possibility of a bidding war between Hello magazine and Paris Match.
This was, in fact, the second time Mandela has singled out Byrne for his attentions. At a breakfast hosted by the Foreign Correspondent’s Association in Johannesburg last year, Mandela walked over to her, seated thoughtfully in a corner, and engaged her in conversation, remarking that “you look like a philosopher”.
One can only speculate at the recent life experiences that might give Mandela a taste for the more cerebral lady. It is worth remarking, however, that Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie, has never looked at all like a philosopher.
Returning to this week, it soon became apparent that Irish ladies have a particular charm for the South African president.
Even the Irish head of state, the earnest Mary Robinson, was subjected to Mandela’s formidable charm. Showing her around Tuynhuys, he seemed to be flirting with the 52-year-old Irish president, teasing her about her well- known feminism.
At the state banquet that night, Mandela was also heard to address a few gallant remarks to Oda Baylor, Dutch-born wife of the first secretary at the Irish embassy. As one Irish observer noted, if the rand really is dependent on Mandela’s health, then it is time to start buying them again.