Albert Reynolds’ role in the peace process an invaluable legacy

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of Albert Reynolds becoming taoiseach, Ryle Dwyer examines a volatile career which saw him scupper coalitions but help build peace.

‘WE COULD have lived in easier times,” Máire Geoghegan Quinn told the Fianna Fáil ard fheis in 1991. “We could all pick moments we wouldn’t want to live through again. But, I can say with absolute certainty to all of you, and for all of you, there will never be a time like it again. Never such excitement, never such achievement, never such heartache, never such happiness as the time they will talk of as the Haughey era.”

The Haughey era came to an end with the election of Albert Reynolds as taoiseach on February 11, 1992. If the people of Fianna Fáil thought they had come to the end of their political rollercoaster ride, they were in for a surprise, because there were even more ups and downs on the way.