By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — The revelation that former Taoiseach Charles Haughey has had a mistress for the last 27 years adds a new sexual element to the series of scandals that have dogged his controversial career.
The disclosure of his relationship with Terry Keane is expected to lead to a new reassessment of his social policies and his portrayal of himself as an upholder of "traditional values."
Hypocrisy may be added to his faults when his role as a family man with a clandestine mistress is judged against his speeches and policy in shaping social change.
Historians will be reexamining his record as minister for health in the contraception debates of the 1970s and his contraceptive "Irish solution to an Irish problem" legislation.
They will also be reexamining Fianna Fail’s decision under Haughey’s leadership to oppose a minor liberalization of the family planning laws in 1985 in the hope of seeing a repetition of the revolt that had defeated the coalition on the wording of the Pro-Life amendment.
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This stance was one of the factors that led to the split with Desmond O’Malley and the founding of the Progressive Democrats.
Fianna Fail under Haughey also adopted a neutral stance on divorce in the 1986 referendum debate. It resulted in many conservative backbenchers campaigning against its introduction and the referendum vote was 63.5 percent to 36.5 percent against divorce. Divorce was finally introduced after a 1995 referendum.
Keane’s kiss ‘n tell disclosures are a shock to many who stood by Haughey despite his disgrace resulting from recent revelations about his venality and tax evasion. It has also led to huge sympathy for his wife and family.
The degree to which Haughey, 73, was a "kept man" as a result of payments during his career has already tarnished the record of his imaginative and beneficial policies during his three periods as Taoiseach.
He is facing a possible jail sentence for trying to conceal cash gifts he received from former department store boss Ben Dunne. A variety of probes into his behavior and wealth are certain to dog his remaining years.