You think FF was a party at peace with itself before Haughey? Wrong

YOUNGER viewers will no doubt find the TV series on Charles J Haughey interesting, and it will evoke memories for older people who can still remember the events.

It is very good in many aspects, but it makes the mistake of stressing what was initially believed to the exclusion of what actually happened. Instead of clarifying some of the bigger issues in the light of what we now know, the series has reinforced misconceptions in the light of earlier distortions.

For instance, it has emphasised the delusion that Jack Lynch was elected as an interim Taoiseach. He was leader of Fianna Fáil for over 13 years, which is longer than any leader other than Eamon de Valera. From the outset Lynch stressed that he had no intention of being an interim leader. The programme repeated the old canard that Haughey pushed Lynch. It was George Colley and Martin O’Donoghue who prompted Jack to jump in the mistaken belief that Colley would succeed him.