Dev got by on very little – so don’t lump him with the present gougers

FOLLOWING the publication of my book, Haughey’s Forty Years of Controversy, I was invited on the late Gerry Ryan’s radio programme. I assumed the interview would be for about 12 minutes. I had done a couple of other interviews with him previously about Éamon de Valera, but we were in separate studios for each of those and had never actually met before.

During the break before going on air, Ryan told me that growing up he had been friendly with Conor Haughey and had often been in the Haughey home at Kinsealy.

Ryan said Charlie Haughey was the first adult who ever asked him for his views on politics. As a result, he said, he had a soft spot for Haughey. All the questions he asked during the interview were about the positive aspects of Haughey’s career. During one of the station breaks after about half an hour, I remarked that I was not uncritical of Haughey.