Ahern leads tributes to Haughey

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today said it was fitting the country’s former leader Charles Haughey would be laid to rest on Bloomsday, the annual celebration of James Joyce.

As leaders in the Dáil paid tribute to the lifelong politician, Mr Ahern recalled the former Fianna Fáil leader’s many interests including the arts and horse racing but said his abiding passion was politics.

“This Friday, Bloomsday, he will be laid to rest. His affinity with the arts, his own extraordinary colourful life were every bit as interesting as Joyce’s fictional hero Leopold Bloom,” Mr Ahern said.

“Being buried on Bloomsday is a coincidence I believe that Charlie would have deeply enjoyed.”

Recalling Mr Haughey’s ability to get the job done, all leaders shared a consensus that the debate on his legacy should be left for another day.

Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice and president of the Progressive Democrats, described Mr Haughey as a navigator on the seas of controversy, exciting strong feelings and passions throughout his career.

But the minister said: “Today is not the time, nor the occasion, for dispassionate judgment, still less the moment for criticism or for discord. The Romans put it well – De mortuis nihil nisi bonum – which means: Speak only good of those who lie dead.

“There will be plenty of time hereafter for passionate and dispassionate assessment of the legacy of Charles Haughey.”

Mr Ahern said he was one of the most dynamic and talented government ministers ever to grace the Dáil.

“It would be a distortion of history to obscure the fact that Charles Haughey served with distinction in every ministerial position that he held, and his many imaginative initiatives are remembered,” Mr Ahern said.

“Many ministers, on leaving office, would be envious of the record of achievement that Charles Haughey attained.”

The Taoiseach said he was proud to have served with him and prouder still to have called him a friend.

Enda Kenny, Fine Gael leader, remembered Mr Haughey’s strong relationships with other European leaders and his strength in standing up to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

He said: “I remember quite vividly around the time of some intense Northern Ireland negotiations, someone commented on how in Mr Haughey’s presence, The Iron Lady herself, Mrs Thatcher, became ... ‘positively skittish’.

“Something that might have appealed to his pride, and indeed to his legendary, black sense of humour.”