Haughey Dies

[Dodge]

Statement by the Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern, TD,
on the death of the former Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil,
Mr. Charles J. Haughey.

I have learned with great sadness of the death today of the former Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fail, Mr Charles Haughey. It is a very sad occasion, and marks the passing of an era.

On behalf of the Government and Fianna Fáil, I wish to convey our deepest sympathies to his wife Maureen, his daughter Eimear, and his sons, Conor, Ciaran and Sean, as well as his wider family.

Charles Haughey made a huge impact on Irish life over a thirty-five year political career spanning from the late 1950s. He served with distinction in every Ministerial position that he held, and his many imaginative initiatives are remembered. He brought in most of the free schemes for the elderly, as well as generous pension increases between 1980 and 1982.

During his last five years as Taoiseach he gave tremendous leadership to a
programme of national recovery involving the Social Partners. He
established a very fruitful relationship with the then President of the European commission, Mr Jacques Delors, and ran a very successful Irish Presidency of the European Union in 1990, immediately following the peaceful revolutions in Eastern and Central Europe. He also established some of the initial contacts that laid the foundations of the current peace process.

There are many other initiatives which he supported, for which he will be gratefully remembered; the Succession Act; the tax free status and pensions for artists; the promotion of a flourishing bloodstock industry; the network of regional airports; Temple Bar; the International Financial Services Centre; and the restoration of the Shannon-Erne Waterway; to name
but a few. He had an immense ability to get things done and he inspired
great loyalty amongst many of his followers both inside and outside Fianna Fáil.

In recent times, these achievements have become clouded by the revelations that are the subject of inquiry by the Moriarty Tribunal. History will have to weigh up both the credit and the debit side more dispassionately than may be possible today but, I have no doubt its ultimate judgement on Mr Haughey will be a positive one.

Over a long period now, Charles Haughey has faced one final battle, which he knew ultimately, he had to lose. He bore his illness with great dignity and fortitude, his fighting spirit evident to the end.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
----

[drinkfeckarse]

R.i.p.

[Dodge]

R.i.p.

I disagree

[dcfcsteve]

Haughey is up there with Dev in being a colossus of Irish politics. Probably the last that we'll see as well. Only a leader who plays a large role in something like reunification in the future would have the capacity to loom as large as those 2 on the Irish political landscape.

That said, Haughey was corrupt as feck and immortalised the old school Irish political tradition of patronage and 'who you know'. I don't think it's any huge coincidence that the birth of the Celtic Tiger and the Northern Irish peace process are 2 events that happened largely outside of his watch. His main legacy appears to have tribunals and been how well he lined his own pocket, rather than any fundamental large-scale improvement to Irish life. Ireeland prospered after Haughey. When you consider how long he was on the scene, that's quite damning.

[Saint Tom]

He got his due finally

[drinkfeckarse]

I disagree

To be honest Dodge, I have been away too long now to claim to know any real details of the affair so I reserve judgement. He surely deserves a little bit of respect though if only as an old man who has passed away??

[dahamsta]

While I'm dying to express similar sentiments, I won't make them and I won't accept them in this thread. I find myself incapable of leaving it to the lickspittles either though, so I'm locking it. I'll open it again next Monday.

adam

[dahamsta]

And we're back. Feel free to express your thoughts on the man, bearing in mind that the usual rules apply about abuse in public forums. I'll allow opinions on this occasion, but if anything is stated as fact, it needs to be backed up. If you step over the line you'll be banned from this forum, so you might want to review what you're saying before you hit the post button. As should /always/ be the case in here...

adam

[Ash]

Only heard about it now, I was out of the country for the past week.
Did he get a state funeral? If so, were there protests etc?

[Lionel Ritchie]

Only heard about it now, I was out of the country for the past week.
Did he get a state funeral? If so, were there protests etc?

The only detail I saw in relation to his funeral was that the turn out was a fraction of what was expected.

I didn't watch it, have read very little about it deliberately. Not sure why. I hated the man with a very real passion for what I believe are very good reasons but, unlike Ireland On Sunday, I've no appetite for putting the boot in while his old doll is still probably getting used to a quiet house.

[Terry]

Only heard about it now, I was out of the country for the past week.
Did he get a state funeral? If so, were there protests etc?

He got the state funeral alright, had up all the outlaw wanting to watch it and they must have gone through 3 or 4 boxes of tissues Personnally, I hate the man but wont say anything as I could go on forever!

They erected large screens outside the church for the thousands they were expecting but only a couple of hundred showed up. DELIGHTED. Its amazing how he still has some people brainwashed. Some people on RTE news were thanking him for all the hard work and that only for him the "celtic tiger" would have never happened and we would be still living the lives we endured during the 1980's

[Speranza]

I have been disgusted by the debate regarding Haughey. The majority of people I have spoken to about him have said he was grand because he was a nationalist. I have never seen inteligent people be so short-sighted, he was a crook and that cannot be forgotten because of nationalist sentiment.

[NeilMcD]

I thik the turnout or lack of it tells the story, If had of died in 1989 there would have been thousands but now people know that he was a crook. I agree the Ireland on Sunday stuff was below the belt in my view.

[Roverstillidie]

intersting that the FF rewriting of history is going down like a ton of bricks with the real world.

[Seagull]

To quote the Irish Times:

'And what values are there to admire in a man who took money from a liver transplant charity fund he set up to help save the life of the late Brian Lenihan, his best political friend?'

[Ringo]

you'll note how his son Brian is so angry with him , that he took part in the funeral. Brian Lenihan senior got his transplant & all his expenses were paid for, after Haughey got people to donate money. While money did go into one of Haugheys bank accounts, there is not the same level of investigation to find out where Lenehans bills were paid from. One would presume the donated money had to go into a bank account. (I’ll make the father Ted joke, about the money resting in his account, before anyone else does.). Everyone needs a bogeyman & the “hatred” for Haughey expressed here by some is over the top considering some of the crimes committed by Burke, Lowery, Dunlop, Flynn etc. To this day tax avoidance (Hands up all who are not guilty to some extent, particularly in the 80’s) is his only crime. After 20 years & numerous searches, journalists have not come up with one favour that can be proved.
Foot.ie is allowing a balanced debate, not an emotional one. In my opinion the debate about his before his burial was unnecessary. I also felt RTE focused too much on the crying grandchildren, after all none I don’t think any of them were born while he was in power & simply were burying there grandfather.

[Macy]

It was the environment that Haughey fostered that made the likes of Burke, Lawlor etc think they could get away with it.

Whilst we're on his conviction, for tax evasion (not avoidance) from when he was telling the country to tighten it's belts whilst he was shutting hospital beds (that have still not re-opened), lets not forget Harney getting her old colleague off the hook of corruption charges.

It's heartening that the public turnout was so poor, showing this country hasn't descended as far as I thought. I really believed there was an attitude of "sure, why wouldn't he" when it came to his bungs from businessmen - with people thinking of a million in today's terms, not in late 80's terms and the state the country was in.

[Raheny Red]

Anyone in Donneycarne area over the weekend? The place was like Fort Knocks with Gardai all over the place, from Fairview right up to the Artane round about. Nice fancy plants and flowers lining the route. More money wasted from the tax payer.

I was talking to the Grandmother earlier and her long term friend passed away the other day. Now this woman has lived in Donneycarney all her life, went to Mass in the very same church everyday where Haughey was. The funeral was arranged for the same day as CHJ and low and behold it's changed just for this man. This is absolutley terrible considering what she has done for her local community over several decades. She was also be laid to rest in the same graveyard as CHJ and to add insult to her family they were told by the funeral directors that they are only allowed one hour to bury their loved. What a fucl<ing disgrace!!!

[Ringo]

Whilst we're on his conviction, for tax evasion (not avoidance)

What conviction

[Lionel Ritchie]

Anyone in Donneycarne area over the weekend? The place was like Fort Knocks with Gardai all over the place, from Fairview right up to the Artane round about. Nice fancy plants and flowers lining the route. More money wasted from the tax payer.

I was talking to the Grandmother earlier and her long term friend passed away the other day. Now this woman has lived in Donneycarney all her life, went to Mass in the very same church everyday where Haughey was. The funeral was arranged for the same day as CHJ and low and behold it's changed just for this man. This is absolutley terrible considering what she has done for her local community over several decades. She was also be laid to rest in the same graveyard as CHJ and to add insult to her family they were told by the funeral directors that they are only allowed one hour to bury their loved. What a fucl<ing disgrace!!!

This makes me want to rip someones head off and sh1t down their neck. it really does. An absolutely disgraceful way to treat people. A pox on all responsible for it.