Death of Haughey

Haughey's defenders will say that "he did the state some service".  His detractors will want to emphasise the taint of corruption and abuse of power associated with his governments.  There's truth in both propositions.  He was exceptionally talented and took some daring policy initiatives that had lasting benefits.  While he was an opportunistic adventurer and consummate populist he did not try to remake Irish democracy on personalistic lines in the way Berlusconi attempted in Italy.

Attitudes to Haughey are ultimately conditioned by what one thinks of Fianna Fáil.  Haughey gave a personal twist to what was already possible within the culture of Fianna Fáil.  The latter was, and still is, the dominant party in the system and it owes its dominance to the way it used a discursive strategy based on nationalism and populism to become a cross-class political alliance of urban and rural, centre and periphery.  It managed to appear to be part of the Establishment while remaining outside of it. 

Haughey himself embodied all these contradictions in extremis.  He was a sophisticated European statesman of considerable personal wealth and a devoted patron of the arts.  He was also a gutty populist and beloved of the north Dublin working class.  He could be extremely sentimental but also ruthless and unforgiving. 

Within the broad culture of Fianna Fáil, Haughey and his associated hedonism nevertheless represented a decisive break with the moral puritanism and personal rectitude of the deValera era.  The Lynch-Colley-O'Malley element, who regarded Haughey as a complete upstart, probably on snobbish class grounds, embodied the more "traditional" values of the party's founders.  Haughey, as befitting such a polarising personality, was largely responsible for the fractious and faction-ridden state of the party for over a generation, from the retirement of Lemass to the start of the leadership of the emollient Bertie Ahern.  Since 1994 the party has never been so much at peace with itself and it is perhaps from that date that the legacy and influence of Charles J. Haughey began to fade from the political culture. 

Comments

[Simon]

Attitudes to Haughey are ultimately conditioned by what one thinks of Fianna Fáil. I don't know about that I know some FF heads who can't stand the man.

Lynch-Colley-O'Malley element, who regarded Haughey as a complete upstart, probably on snobbish class grounds,
are you saying they were snobby on class or they didn't like him as he was snobby