February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Ireland’s state broadcaster, RTE, has just begun showing a new four-part documentary about the life of former taoiseach Charles J. Haughey. The opening episodes of the series, simply entitled ‘Haughey’ have received stellar viewing figures and have also reinvigorated debate about the man himself.
Haughey has always been loved and hated in roughly equal measure. His career encompassed more peaks and troughs then most politicians ever know. He was the leading light among the younger, vibrant Fianna Fail politicos of the 1960s, then spent years in the wilderness following the infamous 1970 Arms Trial.
He rose again to become Taoiseach, yet his time in power was marked by scandal. Most recently, of course, he was brought low by disclosures about his financial affairs.
It is unfortunate that assessments of Haughey almost always cleave to one extreme or the other. There are few people who seem willing to both give the former Taoiseach his due and acknowledge his failings.
The flaws were many, of course. Haughey could be vainglorious, pompous and avaricious. During his period in office, he exhibited something close to paranoia about the activities of his enemies, among whom he appeared to count most members of the media. This inclination reached its nadir with the bugging of journalists’ phones by the recently deceased former justice minister, Sean Doherty.
But, alongside all his faults, Haughey could often seem like the most visionary politician of his generation. The Irish boom of recent years had its genesis in policies that he put in place. Under his guidance, down-at-heel neighborhoods on both banks of Dublin’s Liffey were transformed – one is now home to the glittering International Financial Services Center, the other boasts the renowned Temple Bar district.
Many other Haughey schemes — most notably the provision of free travel for pensioners — showed the man’s characteristic mix of strategic acumen and progressive thinking.
Haughey’s faults should never be forgotten. But it would be a pleasant surprise if the current television serious led to a more balanced appreciation of the man as a whole.
His obvious flaws went hand-in-hand with prodigious gifts.