Haughey turned up at Baldoyle meeting

FORMER Taoiseach Charles J Haughey turned up at a meeting between developer John Byrne and senior officials of Dublin Co Council, the Mahon Planning Tribunal heard yesterday.

It happened in the early 1970s when Mr Haughey was in the political wilderness as a Fianna Fáil backbench TD, having been sacked from Taoiseach Jack Lynch’s Cabinet during the Arms Crisis in May 1970.

Retired Dublin chief engineer Kevin O’Donnell recalled how Mr Haughey showed up at his Parnell Square office with the engineers and architects involved in a proposal to develop 500 acres of land which included the former Baldoyle Racecourse in county Dublin.