Navan student and admirer of Jimmy Carter mourns former US President's passing
A young Navan man is among the many millions of people around the globe mourning the death of former US president, Jimmy Carter, writes Ann Casey.
Eanna Clynch has been a great admirer of the Nobel Peace Prize winning former president for several years and two years ago impressed the nation on Joe Duffy's Liveline with his extensive knowledge of the former president,
Mr Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday, aged 100. A State Funeral and National Day of Mourning will take place in the US on Thursday 9th January.
Eanna, a second year pupil of St Patrick's Classical School has a US flag at half mast on his desk in his room at home. He was such a fan of President Carter, that while on holiday in Disneyworld and Florida some years ago, he asked his dad to undertake a 12-hour round trip to visit Plains, Georgia, Carter’s hometown.
"President Carter was elected in 1976, and ran against Gerald Ford, who was president at the time. It was after the Nixon era where people were kind of left with no trust in their government, but then Jimmy Carter came along and Gerald Ford, who was Nixon's vice president, didn't win a second term. And Jimmy Carter was in and everybody seemed to have great confidence in him," Eanna told Joe Duffy at the time.
Eanna, a son of Martin and Wendy Clynch, said he went to President Carter's home place, saw his high school and the boyhood farm where his dad originally started his peanut farm.
"It was all very fascinating.”
Eanna, his parents and siblings, Emma and Eoin visited New York and Florida in September 2022 on holiday.
Eanna and Martin undertook the 12 hour round trip to Plains on their own.
He told Joe Duffy: "I remember we went to the tour guide for information. And there was this lovely old Southern lady there and she was telling us all about it. And something I found very fascinating was that everyone who seemed to live in Plains grew up with Jimmy Carter and they still meet Jimmy Carter to this day."
They visited the place from where Jimmy Carter ran his presidential campaign, which was originally the Plains train depot. Since Plains was a very small town and it had a majority of cars, he decided to take it over and run his presidential campaign there. Inside the building, there was loads of information on his presidential campaign.
Eanna has also read up on other American presidents and is definitely a Democrat fan.
Meanwhile President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to the late President Carter.
"President Carter will be remembered as a principled man who dedicated his life to seeking to advance the cause of peace across the world. His exceptional contribution was in his quest to understand the obstacles to peace.
"Almost uniquely as a former President, his greatest legacy will however perhaps be his distinguished record and commitment to human rights in the decades following his Presidency," President Higgins said.
“All of us Irish at home or abroad, will particularly recall President Carter’s significant initiative in 1977 in recognising the potential role of the United States in support for the efforts at achieving peace in Northern Ireland. I know from my conversations with President Carter, that this was an interest which he retained in the decades after he left office. Indeed, this was an emphasised theme he included during his visit to Áras an Uachtaráin in 1995 when he met President Mary Robinson.”