Ultimately, Haughey got tangled in his own web of deceit

THE most important piece of new information to come out of the RTÉ series on Haughey was the disclosure by former Deputy Commissioner Joe Ainsworth, head of the security division of the Garda Síochána, that Taoiseach Charles J Haughey summoned him to a meeting in the spring of 1982.

"He told me quite clearly that he was worried about leaks appearing in the paper," Ainsworth explained. "He asked me could I do anything about it to find out what was going on."

Shortly afterwards Justice Minister Seán Doherty asked Ainsworth if any journalists were ever tapped before. "Yes, there were," Ainsworth replied. Vincent Browne and Tim Pat Coogan had been tapped.