Assessing — and learning from — the legacy of Charles J Haughey

Charles J Haughey was born 90 years ago tomorrow. Biographer Ryle Dwyer examines his political legacy and the scandal that followed him

In the early 1980s, publishers Gill & Macmillan asked me to write a biography of Charles J Haughey, which they planned to publish on his likely return to power. The book,  Charlie, was duly published in 1987, just after he became taoiseach for a third time.

Although I began my research from a hostile perspective, I soon discovered that some of Mr Haughey’s most vocal critics had essentially engaged in much the same conduct that they so sanctimoniously denounced.