View from the Green Room: Sunny Bonny Charlie
Charley Haughey welcomes Jack Charlton home from Italia '90.
Full house at the Museum of Treasures and everyone can see from Dr Broderick’s smile that he’s enjoying his research on Charles J. Haughey. We’re in the second of a lecture round on Haughey and he’s at the height of his powers.
Charlie’s had a chequered career. A man who married into Fianna Fáil royalty with Seán Lemass’s daughter could only see an overall majority come election time as a victory. Sadly, Haughey’s five forays into election only yielded a minority government and a coalition.
Returning from a triumphant economic mission to Japan, he found only disarray and disillusionment. A private member’s bill on compensation for haemophiliac victims from contaminated blood transfusions would lead to defeat for his government of no majority and he decided to call a general election.
Why? Opportunism? An overall majority perhaps? Mmmm.
The economy was doing well, unemployment was beginning to fall, Fianna Fáil were riding high in the polls at 52% and some notable ministerial acolytes were gung-ho.
Sadly, the electorate didn’t see it that way. Savage health cuts, appalling TV performances by backbenchers… "hospital trolleys were really hospital beds on wheels” and an electorate, that didn’t either want an election or Haughey in power with an overall majority, put paid to Haughey’s ambition.
The Prince of Kinsealy was six seats short of an overall majority. Curiously… that just matched the PD’s seats. Haughey’s only road to survival would be with Dessie O’Malley’s Progressive Democrats.
Haughey and O’Malley loathed one another but formed a workable coalition that were of one mind on economic issues. Sadly, his ministers could never see the bigger picture. Albert Reynolds was hostile, Ray Burke was unpleasant and Pádraig Flynn was so obnoxious that he wouldn’t leave his Junior Minister Mary Harney use the front door of the department.
There was stability, however, and after the turmoil of the eighties, this was much prized.
Come 1990 and Charlie was cock-of-the-walk as Ireland assumed the presidency of the European Union. Charlie lauded it with the best and delighted in shared pictures of himself with the leaders of France, Spain and Britain.
The hated Berlin wall was knocked and a reunification of pre-war Germany was now on the cards. Charlie called a conference of European leaders to manage the new map of central Europe with a unified Germany at its centre and a diminished Russian empire at its borders. Chancellor Kohl described Charlie’s role as “significant”, while French President Mitterrand dined with Haughey on his private island, Inishvickillane. His reputation soared.
Alas for our hero, Ireland was not interested. Instead the country was consumed by the fortunes of Jackie’s army. Charlie flew to Rome to get in on the act and paraded himself on the pitch to the cheers of Jackie’s army.
Haughey’s popularity was Alpine high. What could possibly go wrong?
Find out next Wednesday at the Museum of Treasures at 1.15pm
