Haughey, Dunne and the Revenue: how Moriarty got it so badly wrong

IN THE concluding paragraph of my book, Haughey’s 40 Years of Controversy, I wrote that in the end he “probably destroyed his political legacy. It was a great pity because he was unquestionably a very talented politician”.

Taking the totality of the report of the Moriarty Tribunal this week, there is no longer any “probably” about it — Haughey did destroy his political legacy. He was a serial perjurer, having perjured himself during the Arms Trial and in obstructing both the McCracken and Moriarty tribunals. He ritualistically evaded taxes and shamelessly stole money while enforcing a savage regime of cuts that hurt the poorest segments of society.

He was an amoral individual who repeatedly bucked the system and got away with it — in this life at any rate. He can now justly be described as the greatest Irish bucker of all time.