History rewritten as to why Charles Haughey left office in 'Charlie'

RTÉ drama, Charlie, about the political career of Charles Haughey, has rewritten history with dramatic licence by showing the former taoiseach resigning not so much because of revelations over the phone-tapping scandal of a decade earlier but because of a threat that the full truth of his involvement in the 1970 arms crisis would be made public, suggests Caroline O'Doherty.

The final episode of the series which aired last night will add fuel to the debate as to why Haughey, who had survived repeated threats to his leadership, finally caved in over claims by his former justice minister Sean Doherty that Haughey had known he tapped journalists’ phones in 1982.

It is public record that Fianna Fáil’s hostile coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats, told Haughey they would pull the plug on the government if he did not step down following the revelations in early 1992.