Envoy warned Thatcher of Haughey’s ‘ruthless ambition’

BRITAIN’S ambassador to Dublin warned that former Taoiseach Charles Haughey was a man of “calculating and ruthless ambition,” declassified files reveal.

A candid diplomatic despatch for 10 Downing Street ahead of Mr Haughey’s first face-to-face meeting with Margaret Thatcher in May 1980 described the Taoiseach as having a “taste for the good things in life” but few real friends.

Britain’s then ambassador to Ireland, Robin Haydon, painted a picture of a former heavy drinker who had become a “puritan” in recent years and all but given up alcohol and tobacco.

He wrote: “His predominant characteristic seems to be a calculating and ruthless ambition: there is no secret that the office of Taoiseach has been the over-riding objective of his life.

“He seems to have few real friends but appears to surround himself with a close-knit and faithful coterie of associates, whom he dominates by force of character.”

In a reference to Mr Haughey’s lavish lifestyle and fishy finances, Mr Haydon said Mr Haughey’s fortune came partly from speculating on property while he was finance minister.

The ambassador said the Taoiseach collected pictures and antique furniture, owned racehorses and enjoyed riding with hounds, had a “showplace” house and was “immaculately turned out”.

He concluded: “To sum up, I think he is a tough, clever, wily man, no friend of ours, but not, perhaps, actively hostile. He is conscious of his shady past (and present!).”

The meeting between Ms Thatcher and Mr Haughey in London on May 21, 1980, was considered a big success on both sides, documents released by the National Archives show.

The British prime minister rang him the next day to thank him for the “beautiful” teapot he gave her as a gift.

When asked about the concerns of Northern Protestants, Mr Haughey said he was “not a deeply religious man and did not mind if someone wanted to worship Ali Baba and the Seven (sic) Thieves”.