Charles Haughey

Charles James Haughey ( Irish: Cathal Ó Seamas hEochaidh, born September 16, 1925 in Castlebar, † 13 June, 2006 Kinsealy ) was an Irish politician for the Fianna Fáil party and was a three time Irish Prime Minister: 1979-1981, 1982 and of 1987 until 1992.

He was buried on 16 June 2006 at St Fintan 's Cemetery.

Early Youth

Charles Haughey was born in Castlebar ( County Mayo ) and comes from a family with a Republican background. His father was an officer in the IRA, but later began a career as an officer in the regular Irish Army. A serious illness of his father forced the resignation from the army, the family moved to Dublin. There Haughey studied and qualified as an accountant, later he began to study law and became a lawyer.

Political career

Charles Haughey was one of the politicians with the most pronounced survival instinct, but was also very controversial. Despite several setbacks him in 1957 for the first time succeeded in gaining in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish Parliament. There he represented the Fianna Fáil party to which he belonged until the end of his career. His first major task of the position as Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice, offered him in 1960, his political mentor Seán Lemass, who was also his father-in- time. Haughey had married in 1951 his daughter Maureen. The following year he was himself Minister of Justice and held this office with some success, where he delivered a wide range of law reforms will on the way. This balance he could in the next term, that of the Argarministers, not continued.

Weapons crisis

Haughey harbored early ambitions for the office of Prime Minister; he saw his chance, as Seán Lemass in 1966 resigned from the office of the Taoiseach. Instead, however, the party nominated Jack Lynch, Haughey had to settle bitter with the Office of Finance. There he proved efficiency in his administration, established by his professional background. However, his involvement in the arms crisis should cost him the office. As 1969/1970 blazed the troubles in Northern Ireland, Haughey and the Agriculture Minister Neil Blaney was accused of embezzling aid money for needy Catholics in Ulster and instead have led to the IRA. In May 1970 both ministers were dismissed. Haughey had his career not on, but spent the years up to 1977 in political exile in the province. Then he managed a remarkable comeback: Fianna Fáil returned after years of opposition back into the government. Haughey had meanwhile set up with pro- Republican rhetoric a strong following, Lynch was forced to reinstate him in the ministerial roster. In 1979, Lynch resigned from the office of prime minister, Haughey took his chance and could be the hard-fought election as successor to decide for themselves.

Change of power and political legacy

The 1980s were marked in Ireland by a deep economic crisis. The political skill allowed Haughey down since his time as head of government was not crowned with success: The public spending reached record highs, the taxes went up. 1982 won the opponents Fine Gael parliamentary elections. Haughey would later return to the Prime Minister office two more times, but the economic recovery was slow in coming. His years in office were marred by internal party disputes, allegations of accepting private donations and the acceptance of advantages. Revelations of extramarital affairs, did the rest to dismantle his reputation.

Hardly a personality splits opinion in Ireland as much as Charles Haughey. For his critics, he was responsible for that was undermined by allegations of corruption the reputation of Ireland's policy in general and the reputation of the Fianna Fáil in particular. For its proponents was "Charlie" a reformer and pioneer for the rise of Ireland to the Celtic Tiger. He died on 13 June 2006 at his home in Kinsealy ( County Dublin) from cancer.