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This Irishman was at Churchill's right hand during WW2... so why is he only being celebrated now?

An exhibition celebrating the life of Brendan Bracken is on show at Dublin’s Little Museum.

IMG_0244 Brendan Bracken TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee / Michael Sheils Mcnamee

“A SHOWMAN, CHARISMATIC, completely unreliable and untrustworthy”.

Sitting down with TheJournal.ie in the middle of the Little Museum’s new exhibition on Irish politician Brendan Bracken, former British minister Jonathan Aitken is reflecting – but not on the politician whose life is being celebrated on the walls.

Rather he is talking about a figure currently hitting headlines on both sides of the Irish sea.

He is, of course, referring to Boris Johnson.

“Boris has one or two things in common with Bracken in that he is a bit of a buccaneer,” Aitken says.

I think he would have buccaneered his way through the negotiations with Europe, rather than Theresa May who may be more cautious and careful.

So who was Brendan Bracken?

Born in Tipperary in 1901, the redhaired diplomat lived out a tumultuous youth and was sent to Australia as a teenager right around the time of the 1916 Rising.

Returning to the United Kingdom a few years later, he cut a course that would see him become one of Winston Churchill’s closest confidants, serve as an MP for more than 20 years and act as Minister of Information at the height of the Second World War from 1941 to 1945.

Oh – and he also founded the modern version of the Financial Times.

IMG_0253 The paper that Bracken founded marking his death on its front page in 1958 TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee / Michael Sheils Mcnamee

Also speaking to TheJournal.ie about his life is his nephew Brendan Bracken, named after his uncle.

While he may now have a big enough legacy to warrant a retrospective of his life’s work – it wasn’t always the case.

“When I was growing up in the 1950s, the early 60s in Ireland,” his nephew says, “It was interesting.

“Brendan Bracken was seen as above all as a man who lost his faith.

It was a very Catholic country here and I remember my mother talking about him, and that she prayed for Brendan.

Although born here, throughout his life Bracken kept his Irish identity at arms length, preferring to spend his time in the upper echelons of British society.

“In the 50s – it’s changed now thankfully – but he was sort of a non-figure in Ireland… he was seen as a turncoat, he was seen as a man who lost his faith, he wasn’t really mentioned very much,” his nephew says.

Brendan Bracken jr Brendan Bracken (nephew of Brendan Bracken TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils McNamee TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils McNamee / Michael Sheils McNamee

Jonathan Aitken, who is speaking this evening at the Little Museum about Bracken, has quite the CV himself.

Like Bracken, he was a Conservative MP for more than 20 years and served as part of John Major’s cabinet in the early 1990s.

Born in Dublin, Aitken’s baptism was attended by the then Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, an acquaintance of his grandfather Lord Rugby – the first British representative in Ireland after the formation of the State.

As a child, he spent three years on a ward in Cappagh Hospital after contracting TB – and to this day still works with the hospital. 

jonathan aitkin - 1 Jonathan Aitken at the exhibition TheJournal.ie / Jonathan Aitken TheJournal.ie / Jonathan Aitken / Jonathan Aitken

“I’ve been fascinated by Brendan Bracken for much of my life,” he says, explaining that he lived in Lord North Street in London in a house where Bracken once resided.

For Aitken, the importance of Bracken’s role in Churchill’s own legacy cannot be overstated.

“During the thirties, Bracken and Churchill became very close friends,” he explains.

It was a friendship between an older man, Churchill, and a much younger man, Bracken. He gave Churchill something that he badly needed, which was youthful conviction, and loyalty, and fun, and gaiety and brilliance of conversation.

“And that was very important, because Churchill in the thirties was about as down as any politician can be down.

“His reputation was on the floor, he didn’t seem to have any political future, he had very little money, and for that reason be pretty much became Bracken’s lodger in Lord North Street and stayed there for years.”

IMG_0251 An example of the style of propaganda Bracken would have overseen during his time as Minister for Information TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee / Michael Sheils Mcnamee

IMG_0250 Much of the propaganda would have promoted frugality TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee / Michael Sheils Mcnamee

Bracken’s politics were of a different age, but Aitken – a long-time campaigner for Britain to leave the EU – is willing to punt that he would have been in favour of last week’s Brexit vote.

“I’ve noticed after a few hours in Dublin that there seems to be a mood of rather anxious handwringing about the British decision to go,” he says.

Bracken would have had no truck with such attitudes. Why? Because he was adventurer, he was an entrepreneur – and he would have been full of the advantages.

And as far as Britain and Ireland’s relationship goes – Aitken doesn’t see any problems on the horizon.

“We’ve been getting along, up and down relationship… for quite a long time now. We’ve had free movement of people between our two countries. Even during the worst of the Troubles English people came and went. Irish people came and went.

I have no doubt that the British-Irish relationship won’t be damaged at all. It may even be enhanced and see us doing more business together.

IMG_0247 Bracken didn't have very high hopes for his legacy during his lifetime TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee TheJournal.ie / Michael Sheils Mcnamee / Michael Sheils Mcnamee

Interestingly, while it was the British government that Bracken’s loyalty was tied to – the way his nephew sees it, a simple twist of fate could have seen things transpiring very differently.

Bracken’s father, Joseph Bracken, had been a founder of the GAA, and was once arrested for membership of the IRB.

He died in 1904, too soon to pass his Republican beliefs onto his son.

“If his father had lived,” Brendan speculates, “he could have been out in 1916 in the GPO rather than ending up a Tory! It’s just a little twist of history. You don’t know.”

Another twist of fate is that now – in this centenary year – his memory is being examined once again, something Brendan reckons fits the overall picture of his uncle’s legacy.

It just shows you we’ve all grown up in Ireland. The Ireland I grew up in he was a turncoat and all the rest of it. Now he’s celebrated with this exhibition so as an Irishman who made a wonderful career outside the country.

Anyone interested in finding out can head along to the Little Museum tomorrow at 11.30am to hear Brendan Bracken explain a bit more about his uncle. More details can be found on their website. The exhibition will continue to run throughout the summer. 

Read: A Dublin museum has saved the belongings of one of Ireland’s best writers

Also: Famous Irish movie costumes saved from “dying in an attic” or being dumped

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44 Comments
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    Mute Rob LLoyd
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:45 PM

    With all the uncertainty and clarity about travel, its up to us as people to ensure we have all the relevant paperwork and documents BEFORE traveling, when this story broke last weekend, some people were already in Malta before the restrictions on free travel were lifted. Stay Safe Ireland ☀️

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    Mute VinnoH
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:19 PM

    @Rob LLoyd: Are you joking, a junior minister says it is safe to travel without a covid pass and they are stranded instead of on holiday!

    51
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    Mute HectorPickaxe
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:30 PM

    @VinnoH: The latest travel advice for most countries is readily available online. It is completely the responsibility of those travelling to check it. Ignorance or misinformation is not an excuse

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:42 PM

    @VinnoH: They could have looked it up on 3 seconds. I bet they researched where you could buy designer handbags.

    87
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    Mute The Divils Avocado
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:44 PM

    @Vonvonic: sounds like someone hasn’t been out of the country in a while….

    15
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    Mute Neil Neart
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:54 PM

    @VinnoH: trust a politician???? LOL.

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    Mute lelookcoco
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:02 PM

    @Neil Neart: Seriously people thought a hand written card was an acceptable official document. And my passport is written on papyrus with a quill…..

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:04 PM

    @The Divils Avocado: I’ve had the same handbag since my holy communion. Nothing at all wrong with it.

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    Mute Luan Willis
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:40 PM

    @The Divils Avocado: Who has been out of the country lately?

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    Mute Rob LLoyd
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 10:41 PM

    @VinnoH: ‘A Junior Minister Said’, after the last 16 months we have all had, with last minute changes, back tracking and U-turns, and leaky information from some ministers, I would take that advise with a pinch of salt, we need to take responsibility of our own actions, I have been bombarded with Emails from Aer Lingus since Christmas telling me to book and fly abroad, only I can’t, my decision is based on all the relevant information available.

    27
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    Mute John Hagin Meade
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    Jul 23rd 2021, 8:54 AM

    @Luan Willis: The last time I was out of the country was in 2008, for me that’s recent. In my lifetime (I’m 70) I have been out of the country about 6 times.

    2
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    Mute Linda Oreilly
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:50 PM

    Everyone knows that Malta is enforcing some of the strictest rules yet these people said ‘rules don;t apply to us’….hope they had to pay for their entire quarantine period.

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    Mute Eoin Jackson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:55 PM

    @Linda Oreilly: why would you hope they have to pay for their entire quarantine period? You sound incredibly bitter. One of our elected representatives tweeted before they traveled that if the DCC did not arrive by then the vaccine card filled out would have been accepted. Given this person’s position their advise was taken. They now have their DCC and will presumably be released for quarantine. Why do you want them to pay the full amount? As a punishment for traveling fully vaccinated id it? You sound like a lovely person…

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    Mute Bill Spill
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 6:17 PM

    @Eoin Jackson: I think you both sound lovely

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    Mute Eoin Jackson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 6:50 PM

    @Bill Spill: thanks Bill!

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    Mute Linda Oreilly
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:09 PM

    @Eoin Jackson: We have travelled to Malta lots of times and we always check out the restrictions from their gov. pages. We would never go by what an irish rep would tell us….always better to check the country you are travelling to….

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    Mute Victor Feldman
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:25 PM

    @Linda Oreilly: you really have to be naive to trust irish civil servant advice.. They said that they weren’t able to predict the enormous amount of calls on their coved cert line, that they are overwhelmed with!!
    Where I ask you, are their so called experts, with their university qualifications
    … What does this have to say about their levels of competence?

    26
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    Mute Eoin Jackson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:44 PM

    @Linda Oreilly: oh no Linda, I 100% agree with you on that front, absolutely spot on! They were foolish, i can certainly agree with that. But at the end of the day, they did not cause much harm only to their own time and pocket. Like id be annoyed if they had forged vaccine passes or something, absolutely! They travelled fully vaccinated without the required paperwork, they were put in MHQ until paperwork was sorted and I would imagine then released. A good lesson for them but I don’t understand the abuse they are getting. Or why they should pay for 2 weeks MHQ if they were only there 2-3 days. Charge them the 2-3 days worth. Like everyone is young at some point and i would like to consider myself still young, learning and going to make mistakes. I wouldn’t like to be vilified for it and I don’t really think these people should be either. Is basically my point.

    33
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    Mute Alan McArdle
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:40 PM

    @Victor Feldman: nothing. It says more about the fools ringing the number that shouldn’t be. They are the ones clogging the system.

    20
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    Mute Alan McArdle
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:41 PM

    @Victor Feldman: nothing. It says more about the eejits ringing the number that shouldn’t be. They are the ones clogging the system.

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    Mute Michael Burke
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:22 PM

    @Bill Spill: ah Bill, that’s lovely. A really lovely thing to say.

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    Mute This time its personable!
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:27 PM

    The Maltese One! I hope they’re not ‘Cross’!

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    Mute Paul Mcnevin
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 3:34 PM

    @This time its personable!: If they are they can have a few Malt-easers.

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    Mute Tessa Madden
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:28 PM

    @Paul Mcnevin: hehehehe

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    Mute Angelika Passet
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 4:00 PM

    If you travel to Hungary without the digital cert.

    All those entering Hungary (unless transiting) must agree to enter mandatory, legally enforceable 10-day quarantine. If the person has no place of residency in Hungary, they must enter a government designated place of quarantine.

    The quarantined individual may request from the authorities’ permission to have two PCR tests conducted within 5 days of arrival, which must be taken 48 hours apart. If the two PCR tests are negative, the authorities can exempt the individual from their quarantine obligation. The cost of the PCR tests must be met by the individual.

    54
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    Mute Contrary Mary
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:55 PM

    So nice to hear our government has their priorities straight. Ffs. Couldn’t get my nephew into a school for 2.5 years, but at least the ignorami helped some fools who travelled knowing those cards would not be accepted or didn’t bother to check.

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    Mute Anthony Clark
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 3:21 PM

    @Contrary Mary: Country is run by the whims of the media – whoevers story is more click bait worthy- gets into the headlines and gets their issues sorted pronto.

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    Mute Andrew English
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 4:41 PM

    @Contrary Mary: they were told by the minister their card would be accepted. Get your facts right.

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    Mute Contrary Mary
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 5:50 PM

    @Andrew English: Why would a minister HERE be the foo l you believed? Do you go to a minister HERE to get a visa to the US? No. You check through your destination’s government.

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    Mute Gerard
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:40 PM

    While Malta may be the outlier if it truly is the only part of the EU not accepting vaccination cards, refusing anything but the DCC still seems entirely reasonable.

    That was the whole point of it: so there was one standardised format everyone could recognise that was difficult to forge.

    41
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    Mute Simon Fitzpatrick
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:47 PM

    Well … I spoke to the “help” line last week after a 30 minute hold only to be promised a cert by Monday by post – my wife’s cert came but not mine.

    Called Tuesday and was on hold for 5hr30 min before being cut off bang on 6:30pm when the call centre closed

    Called Wednesday and waited 4hr30 before speaking to a man who promised my cert “this evening or tomorrow” via email – but nothing so far

    Took an antigen test today as a back up in case the French border guards question to validity of the HSE bit of card with handwriting.

    Travelling tomorrow … any little faith in the HSE or anything they do now completely vanished … unfortunately

    27
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    Mute kevin mc cormack
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 7:55 PM

    Good for them, hopefully they can now enjoy their holidays

    16
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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:32 PM

    That is a disgrace

    25
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    Mute D. Memery
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 2:43 PM

    @Joe Johnson: why, they flew over knowing their documentation wasn’t acceptable to the Maltese authorities?

    299
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    Mute Sal Paradise
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:57 PM

    @D. Memery: It’s the journal. You have to be outraged. It’s a disgrace….grrrr….

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:08 PM

    @Joe Johnson: no its not

    8
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    Mute VinnoH
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 8:11 PM

    I arrived in Athens today, no request for vaccine cert, no request for a person locator form (PLF) and yet barely allowed on the aerlingus flight because we had trouble producing our PLF. This is a virus you cannot control a virus, end this ridiculous carry on. By the way I do not appreciate the journals editorial control of commentary.

    17
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    Mute Hugh Mc Donnell
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:14 PM

    I’m still confused as to what they want, is a digital cert different than the paper cert that was emailed to me during the week even though they contain the same information. Can I go online and download it

    6
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    Mute Colm OS
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 9:26 PM

    @Hugh Mc Donnell: no its the same thing, you can make it digital by scanning it into the covid tracker app.
    The qr code on the paper cert contains basic information about you and your vaccine status which when scanned, allows the authority to confirm everything is legit by cross checking the name on the cert with your passport. The mirror has done a good explainer with step by step instructions https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/how-your-digital-covid-cert-24558938?utm_source=sharebar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sharebar

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    Mute Appaddy
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    Jul 22nd 2021, 11:51 PM

    Could we call them the Malteezers?

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