Tide turns as Charlie’s son gets call to arms

TIMES they are a-changing in the Haughey dynasty. First Abbeville went under the hammer and yesterday Charlie broke a 36-year tradition when his son Conor opened the Dingle regatta, in Co Kerry.

From the time he was a dashing young Cabinet minister to the wilderness years after the Arms Trial, to his three terms as Taoiseach, Charlie, 77, always fired the starting shot in Dingle.

It was known for weeks that The Boss was unlikely to make another appearance at the busy curragh races, but many still hoped he would show up.