Charles Haughey
Contents |
In office
10 March 1987 – 11 February 1992
Tánaiste Brian Lenihan
John Wilson
Preceded by Garret FitzGerald
Succeeded by Albert Reynolds
In office
9 March 1982 – 14 December 1982
Tánaiste Ray MacSharry
Preceded by Garret FitzGerald
Succeeded by Garret FitzGerald
In office
11 December 1979 – 30 June 1981
Tánaiste George Colley
Preceded by Jack Lynch
Succeeded by Garret FitzGerald
Born 16 September 1925(1925-09-16)
Castlebar, County Mayo
Died 13 June 2006 (aged 80)
Kinsealy, County Dublin
Political party Fianna Fáil
Spouse(s) Maureen Lemass
Children 4
Religion Roman Catholic
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Charles James "Charlie" Haughey (Irish: Cathal Séamas Ó hEochaidh; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office; from December 1979 to June 1981, March 1982 to December 1982 and March 1987 to February 1992. Haughey, one of the most controversial of Irish politicians in the 20th century, was the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil, from 1979 until 1992. He died of prostate cancer at the age of eighty.
Charles Haughey was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin North East in 1957, and was re-elected in each election until 1992. Haughey also served as Minister for Health and Social Welfare (1977–1979), Minister for Finance (1966–1970), Minister for Agriculture (1964–1966) and Minister for Justice (1961–1964). He also served as a Parliamentary Secretary during the early years of his parliamentary career. Haughey is credited by some economists as starting the positive transformation of the economy in the late 1980s. However, revelations about his personal finances and lifestyle destroyed his reputation after he retired from politics.
Early life
He was born in Castlebar, County Mayo in 1925, the third of seven children of John Haughey and Sarah McWilliams, both natives of Swatragh, County Londonderry, Catholic nationalists in what would become part of Northern Ireland. Haughey's father was in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence, then in the army of the Irish Free State. His father left the army in 1928 and the family moved to County Meath. His father developed multiple sclerosis and the family moved to Donnycarney, where Haughey spent his youth.
He was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at St. Joseph's secondary school in Fairview, where one of his classmates was George Colley, subsequently his cabinet colleague and rival in Fianna Fáil. In his youth, Haughey was an amateur sportsman, playing Gaelic football with the Parnell GAA Club in Donnycarney.
Haughey read Commerce at University College Dublin (UCD) where he took a First Class Honours degree in 1946. It was at UCD that Haughey became increasingly interested in politics and was elected Auditor of the Commerce and Economics Society. He also met there with one of his future political rivals, Garret FitzGerald.
He joined the Local Defence Force during The Emergency of 1939–1945 and considered a permanent career in the Army. He continued to serve with the Army Reserve through its transition to the F.C.Á. until entering the Dáil in 1957.
On VE-day Haughey and other UCD students burned the British Union Jack on College Green, outside Trinity College, Dublin, in response to a perceived disrespect afforded the Irish tricolour among the flags hung by the College in celebration of the Allied victory which ended World War II.
Haughey qualified as a Chartered Accountant and also attended King's Inns subsequently being called to the Irish Bar. Shortly afterwards he set up the accountancy firm of Haughey, Boland & Company with Harry Boland (son of Gerry Boland).
On 18 September 1951, he married Maureen Lemass, the daughter of the Fianna Fáil Minister and future Taoiseach, Seán Lemass, having been close to her since their days at UCD, where they first met. They had four children together – Eimear, Conor, Ciarán and Seán.
After selling his house in Raheny, in 1969 Haughey bought Abbeville, located at Kinsealy, north County Dublin, an historic house — once owned by Anglo-Irish politician John Beresford (d. 1805) for whom it had been extensively re-designed by the architect James Gandon in the late 18th century. Haughey purchased its existing estate of approximately 250 acres at the same time. It became the family home and he lived there for the rest of his life.
First forays into politics
He started his political career as a local councillor, first failing in a by-election to Dáil Éireann. Haughey's first attempt at election to the Dáil came in June 1951, when he unsuccessfully contested the general election.. While living in Raheny, Haughey was first elected to the Dáil as a Fianna Fáil TD at the 1957 general election for the Dublin North East constituency. It was his fourth attempt. Haughey obtained his first government position, that of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Justice, and his constituency colleague, Oscar Traynor, in 1960.
It is unclear whether the choice was made by Lemass directly as Taoiseach, or by the cabinet against his wishes. Lemass had advised Haughey;
As Taoiseach it is my duty to offer you the post of parliamentary secretary, and as your father-in-law I am advising you not to take it.
Haughey ignored Lemass's advice and accepted the offer. Though as the junior to Oscar Traynor, Haughey was the de facto minister. Haughey and Traynor clashed openly. Defenders of Mr Haughey portray the disagreement as being due to his ability and radical ideas, which were upsetting for the more conservative older minister.[citation needed] When Traynor retired in 1961, Haughey succeeded him as Minister for Justice.
Haughey came to epitomise the new style of politician — the "men in the mohair suits". He regularly socialised with other younger Cabinet colleagues such as Donogh O'Malley and Brian Lenihan.
By day he impressed the Dáil. By night he basked in the admiration of a fashionable audience in the Russell Hotel. There, or in Dublin's more expensive restaurants, the company included artists, musicians and entertainers, professionals, builders and business people. His companions, Lenihan and O'Malley, took mischievous delight in entertaining the Russell with tales of the Old Guard. O'Malley in turn entertained the company in Limerick's Brazen Head or Cruise's Hotel with accounts of the crowd in the Russell. On the wings of such tales Haughey's reputation spread.
Haughey in his post as Minister for Justice, initiated an extensive scale of legislative reforms. He introduced new legislation including the Succession Act, which protected the inheritance rights of wives and children, and the Extradition Act. Haughey also introduced the Special Military Courts which helped to defeat the Irish Republican Army's Border Campaign. Haughey was considered a reforming Minister for Justice. In 1962 Lemass appointed Haughey as Minister for Agriculture. Criticism from the National Farmers Association (NFA) of the appointment of a non-rural person to head Irish agriculture was voiced, and led to increased antagonism from farmers towards the government. Haughey became embroiled in a series of controversies with the NFA (National Farmers Association) and another organisation, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA). 27 ICSMA picketers outside Leinster House (the parliament building) were arrested on the 27 April 1966 under the Offences Against the State Act, an Act usually reserved for use against terrorists. 78 were arrested the following day, and 80 a day later, as the dispute escalated. This was an excessive step against farmers who were protesting on issues affecting their economic livelihood. The general public was supportive of the farmers, who were not in a position to hold a strike to air their grievances, and who were clearly only posing a problem to the minister, rather than the state. The farmers for their part, now started a national solidarity campaign, where even farmers who supported Fianna Fáil, turned stubbornly against the government. Haughey, who did not rely on rural voters, was under intense pressure from fearful members of his own party to negotiate a deal and de-escalate tension. Eventually Haughey backed down from the confrontation, for electoral reasons connected to the imminent presidential election.[citation needed] It was Haughey's first alienation of a significant voting block, and probably damaged him electorally in later years as many farmers remembered the events, known in folk memory as the 'Farmers Strike'.
1966 presidential campaign
Haughey played a controversial role in the 1966 Irish presidential election. He had been appointed the Fianna Fáil campaign manager, to run President de Valera's re-election campaign. His interventions proved highly controversial. Fine Gael chose a young Teachta Dála and barrister, Tom O'Higgins (nephew of Kevin O'Higgins) to run against de Valera. Aware that de Valera's age (84) and almost total blindness might compare unfavourably to O'Higgins, whose campaigns drew comparisons with the equally youthful late United States president of Irish descent, John F. Kennedy, Haughey launched what was seen as a political stroke. He insisted that it was beneath the presidency to actively campaign, meaning that de Valera would have a low profile. Therefore in the interests of fairness the media was recommended to also give O'Higgins a low profile, ignoring his speeches and publicity campaign. However the print media, both nationally and locally ignored Haughey's suggestion. But the state-run Telifís Éireann, facing criticism from Lemass' government for being too radical in other areas, agreed and largely ignored the O'Higgins campaign.
In reality de Valera got a high media profile from a different source, the Fiftieth Anniversary commemoration of the Easter Rising, of which he was the most senior survivor. While O'Higgins's campaign was ignored by RTÉ, de Valera appeared in RTÉ coverage of the Rising events regularly. To add further to de Valera's campaign, Haughey as Agriculture Minister arranged[citation needed] for milk price increases to be given to farmers on the eve of polling, as a way of reducing farmer disquiet, when the farmers had effectively become an opposition movement to the government.
These tactics should have ensured an easy de Valera victory. Instead O'Higgins came to within less than one percent of winning the vote. The President was re-elected by a narrow margin of ten thousand votes out of a total of nearly one million. De Valera personally developed a highly negative view of Haughey,[citation needed] whom he came to distrust. In 1970 de Valera told Desmond O'Malley (now a rival of Haughey) that Haughey would "destroy" Fianna Fáil.[citation needed] De Valera's minister for Foreign Affairs and lifelong political confidant Frank Aiken also dismissed Haughey's political motives as being entirely selfish, and being motivated to hold power for its own sake and not duty.
In 1966 the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass retired. Haughey declared his candidature to succeed Lemass in the consequent leadership election. George Colley and Neil Blaney did likewise. With three strong candidates with strong and divisive views on the future of the party, the party elders sought to find a compromise candidate. Lemass himself, encouraged his Minister for Finance, Jack Lynch, to contest the party leadership. Lemass also encouraged Colley, Haughey and Blaney to withdraw in favour of Lynch, realising that they would not win the contest. However, Colley refused the Taoiseach's request and insisted on remaining in the race, but he was defeated by Lynch. Upon Lynch's election as Taoiseach, Haughey was appointed Minister for Finance by Lynch in a Cabinet reshuffle, which indicated that Haughey's withdrawal was a gain at the expense of Colley. Again Haughey showed a brilliant and radical streak. The inexpensive and socially inclusive initiatives caught the public imagination including popular decisions to introduce free travel on public transport for pensioners, subsidise electricity for pensioners, the granting of special tax concessions for the disabled and tax exemptions for artists. This increased Haughey's populist appeal, and his support from certain elements in the media and artistic community.
Arms Crisis
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