Charles Haughey

Charles James Haughey (16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) 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 £9 million. 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.

Charles James Haughey was born on 16 September 1925 in Castlebar, County Mayo, to Johnnie Haughey (1897–1947) and Sarah McWilliams (1901–1989). 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.