Haughey irked by leaks to journalists

LEAKS to journalists irked Taoiseach Charles Haughey but his officials warned him there was little if anything that could be done about them.

The Taoiseach was annoyed about two stories in particular: A proposed reshuffle of ambassadors and a confidential study on the tourism industry that concluded too much public money was being spent promoting Ireland abroad.

A report compiled by HJ Dowd, an official in the Department of the Taoiseach in July 1980, noted: “The Taoiseach is gravely concerned at leaks to the news media of confidential information.”