Little boy pictured at Newcastle West St Patrick’s Day parade in 1977 is identified

A LITTLE boy innocently gazing at the St Patrick’s Day parade in Newcastle West 35 years ago in a picture rediscovered by the Limerick Leader has been identified, thanks to some eagle-eyed relatives, an innocuous text message and the power of Twitter.

Joe Haslam, the son of late Limerick county manager Dick Haslam, was just five-years-old when a Limerick Leader photographer captured him up on stage alongside politicians and dignitaries at the parade in 1977.

The picture was published as part of a collection of photographs from that day in last week’s Leader and Joe, who is now 40 and lives in Madrid, got wind of it after receiving a picture of the page in a text from a relative in Broadford.

He saw the caption, which asked about the identity of the little boy with his hands in his pockets, and subsequently contacted the Limerick Leader via our Twitter account.

He said that the picture brought back warm memories of his father, who passed away on Easter Sunday.

“I have a four-year-old daughter, and she wants to go everywhere with me, no matter what I’m doing. I think I was probably the same with Dad,” he said. “My mother probably said ‘take him out of the house or he’ll drive us mad’. Newcastle West were always keen to have their own parade and not just go into Limerick, and they’d all make sure to go out and support that.”

Joe is now an associate professor of economics at the IE Business school in Madrid, and regularly features on RTE radio and television as a commentator on Spanish economic issues.

He has lived in Spain for eight years and has two daughters Julia, 4, and Claudia, 2, with his wife Laura.

He said that the picture of him with his father in 1977 has since gone up on his Facebook page and is being shared by family members across the world, including his sisters May and Anne, who live in New York and London respectively.

The timing of the picture, less than a month since his father’s death, has made it particularly poignant for his family. “We’re all connected around the world. I’ve put the picture up on Facebook, and it’s being passed around. In these moments, family becomes a big thing. People get back in touch, when they maybe wouldn’t have had a reason to for a year before.”

Dick Haslam served as county manager in Limerick between 1970 and 1988. In the photo from the 1977 Newcastle West parade, he is pictured standing to his son’s left in a line up of dignitaries that includes Supt Barney Timlin of Newcastle West Garda Station; Senator Willie O’Brien of Fine Gael; Paddy Sheehy; Cllr Tom Cregan, father of former Fianna Fail TD John Cregan; and Senator Pat Ryan of Murroe, the then-Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council.

Also pictured are Denis Jones, Fine Gael TD from Askeaton; former Fianna Fail TD for Limerick West Gerard Collins, who would later that year be appointed Minister for Justice; Fianna Fail TD Michael J Noonan, Canon Domhnaill O’Briain and Donal Murphy, who was MC at the parade.