Lives and times of champagne Charlie

IF you look back over the careers of most Taoisigh, one detail that always appears in their CVs is that they had been previously Minister for Finance.

With his acceptance of the European Commissioner job, McCreevy has effectively brought an end to his 27-year career in domestic politics and any ambition he had of becoming FF leader.

Unlike previous incumbents McCreevy never gave the impression that he aspired to loftier peaks than the finance brief. “I will let the record speak for itself,” said McCreevy on Tuesday night. For this politician who carried his self-assurance blithely, it was a heavy hint that his tenure as the second longest serving Finance Minister will be remembered by posterity.