Charles Haughey
Charles James Haughey was an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach three times between 1979 and 1992, when he was leader of Fianna Fáil. Over a forty-year career, Haughey was the most complex and divisive figure in late 20th-century Ireland. After his retirement, the disclosure of millions of pounds in secret payments from businessmen damaged his reputation.
From a working-class Dublin family with roots in Ulster, Haughey entered politics in the 1950s. He was first appointed to the cabinet by his father-in-law, Seán Lemass. A dynamic and reforming figure, he was made Minister for Finance by Jack Lynch in 1966. During the Arms Crisis in 1970, he was sacked from the government when it emerged that he had purchased weapons for nationalist groups in Northern Ireland during the early months of The Troubles; he was acquitted of criminal charges. After a period on the backbenches, he returned to the cabinet in 1977 as Minister for Health and Social Welfare. Following Jack Lynch's retirement, Haughey was narrowly and unexpectedly elected leader of Fianna Fáil in 1979, defeating George Colley, a childhood friend.
Haughey's first term as Taoiseach, from 1979 to 1981, was dominated by economic turmoil and the IRA hunger strike. After losing the 1981 election to a coalition led by Garret FitzGerald, Fianna Fáil spent eight months in opposition before returning to power. Haughey's short-lived 1982 government was marked by scandals involving the phone tapping of journalists and the discovery of a wanted murderer at the home of his attorney general. In 1982 and 1983, Haughey's leadership was unsuccessfully challenged by opponents in his party three times.
In the mid-1980s, Haughey spent four years in opposition to FitzGerald; he campaigned against the Anglo-Irish Agreement and a group of his opponents in Fianna Fáil left to form the Progressive Democrats. He was re-elected Taoiseach in 1987. During his final years in office, his governments pursued aggressive deficit-cutting measures, regenerated parts of Dublin, and supported German reunification. He engaged in secret peace talks with the Provisional IRA. In 1989, he led Fianna Fáil into a coalition government for the first time in its history. By 1991, Haughey had again developed significant opposition in his party, including from former allies. Following a fourth unsuccessful effort to remove him as leader, he resigned in January 1992 over historic allegations of phone tapping and was succeeded by Albert Reynolds.
In 1997, the McCracken Tribunal unearthed evidence that Haughey had received payments from businessmen and used offshore accounts to evade tax. The Moriarty Tribunal subsequently found that he had misappropriated Fianna Fáil funds and estimated the scale of the payments he received at more than £9million. His legacy remains contentious; his 1960s reforms and economic achievements in the 1990s are set against authoritarian methods, bitter political divisions, and a lavish lifestyle funded by payments deemed by the tribunals to have been corrupt.
Early life and family
Charles James Haughey was born on 16 September 1925 in Castlebar, County Mayo, to Johnnie Haughey and Sarah McWilliams. He was the third of seven children. His parents were both Irish republicans and natives of Swatragh, County Londonderry. Johnnie Haughey had fought in Ulster during the Irish War of Independence and supported the pro-treaty side in the subsequent civil war; a portrait of Michael Collins hung in the family home during Charles's childhood.After marrying in 1922, Haughey's parents had moved to what would become the Irish Free State so Johnnie could enlist in the National Army. He was serving at Castlebar Military Barracks at the time of Charles's birth. Johnnie retired from the army in 1928 due to worsening health, having attained the rank of commandant. The family moved to Dunshaughlin, County Meath, where he attempted a career as a farmer. His health continued to decline, and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1933. The family then moved to Donnycarney, a working-class suburb on the northside of Dublin, where Sarah Haughey struggled to raise her children while supporting a husband who was now too infirm to work.
As a child, Charles Haughey was known by the Irish form of his name, Cathal. In 1938, he placed first out of five hundred pupils in the Dublin Corporation scholarship examination, allowing him to go to secondary school at St Joseph's in Fairview. At "Joey's" he befriended Harry Boland and George Colley, members of prominent Fianna Fáil families. Haughey joined the Local Defence Force on his sixteenth birthday and continued to be a reservist until his election to the Dáil. He was a Gaelic footballer for Parnells GAA and won a Dublin senior championship medal in 1945.
On completing secondary school in 1943, Haughey studied commerce at University College Dublin. He was a contemporary of his future political rival Garret FitzGerald, but they ran in different circles. On VE-Day in 1945, Haughey and other UCD students burnt the Union Flag outside Trinity College in response to perceived disrespect afforded the Irish tricolour, precipitating a small riot. Later in life, Haughey said it was an incident he had been "dining out on – suitably embellished, of course". At UCD, Haughey met Maureen Lemass, daughter of the Fianna Fáil minister Seán Lemass, and they began a romantic relationship. He graduated with first-class honours in 1946.
Haughey's political views were influenced by childhood summers spent in Northern Ireland, including sectarian riots in Maghera he had witnessed in 1935. He described himself as an "accidental" member of Fianna Fáil, motivated by his friendship with Boland and Colley and conversations with Seán Lemass. He joined in 1948, the year after his father's death, and it is likely Johnnie Haughey's disapproval prevented him from doing so earlier. Haughey's family connection to the pro-treaty side of the civil war aroused suspicion in the party; Kevin Boland, Harry's brother, once described him as "that bloody little Blueshirt".
Haughey was called to the bar in 1949, though he never practiced. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1950, and soon after set up an accountancy firm with Harry Boland. Boland's political connections and Haughey's business acumen made Haughey–Boland a success, and the firm won a number of government contracts. In 1951, Haughey married Maureen Lemass, and they moved to a middle-class home in the north Dublin suburb of Raheny. They had four children.
Early political career (1951–1979)
Haughey stood unsuccessfully as a Fianna Fáil candidate in Dublin North-East at the 1951 and 1954 general elections, alongside senior politicians Oscar Traynor and Harry Colley, father of George. He was co-opted to Dublin Corporation in 1953 but lost his seat at the subsequent election. Though he also lost the 1956 Dáil by-election in Dublin North-East triggered by the death of Alfie Byrne, it raised his profile and helped him win a seat at the general election the following year. His success resulted in the defeat of Harry Colley, who never stood for the Dáil again. The incident created friction between Haughey and George Colley.Shortly after his election to the Dáil, Haughey bought a large house with 45 acres of land at Grangemore in Raheny. Given Haughey–Boland's modest profits and a TD's salary of £1,500, it was unclear how he could afford it. Decades later, Patrick Gallagher said that his father, Matt Gallagher, a property developer, had tipped Haughey off that the land would increase in value due to rezoning, and secured a commitment from Haughey to sell the land to him in the future. The Gallagher Group's accounts were managed by Des Traynor, an apprentice accountant articled to Haughey at his firm, who had also become responsible for Haughey's financial affairs.
In 1959, Séan Lemass became Taoiseach, and seven months later, Haughey was offered his first government post, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Justice under his constituency colleague, Oscar Traynor. Lemass was reputed to have said to 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." Some interpreted the comment as a sign Lemass did not want to appoint Haughey, but it may have been made in jest, a reference to Haughey's reduction in future earnings from taking up politics full-time. Haughey left his accountancy firm after entering government. Traynor was in his seventies and suffering from hypertension, and Haughey came to outshine him at departmental level.
Haughey came to epitomise a new type of politician, the "men in the mohair suits", known for their smart clothes, swagger, and busy social lives. He regularly dined and drank with young colleagues like Donogh O'Malley and Brian Lenihan. In 1960, he bought his first racehorse. Like Lemass, Haughey was a moderniser within Fianna Fáil; he described himself as a progressive rather than a conservative. At the 1961 election, Oscar Traynor retired from politics, and Haughey had a safe seat in the north-eastern suburbs of Dublin for the rest of his career.