Haughey's Millions

by Colm Keena

Through all the ups and downs of Haughey's amazing career, the financial background was always a mess. Less than a fortnight after becoming Taoiseach, the property developer Patrick Gallagher agreed to a 300,000 pound deal to help settle Haughey's debts. While he was Taoiseach, the money rolled in. Colm Keena tells the whole tangled story from beginning to end. It is a story that almost defies belief. In 1979, when Charlie Haughey was voted leader of Fianna Fail and Taoiseach, he gave a press conference. At it, he was asked where his money came from. He said the question presumed he was rich, which mightn't be the case: ask my bank manager, he replied. We now know that it was a better joke than it seemed. At the time, he was in debt to AIB to the tune of 1.143 million pounds. Haughey dominated Irish political life from the sixties to the nineties. He had always lived beyond his visible means. From 1969 on, he lived like a prince in Kinsealy, at times on nothing more than a backbench TD's salary. Colm Keena traces the origins of Haughey's lifestyle back to the 1950s and to his early life as a partner in Haughey Boland & Co. He follows his early involvement with Des Traynor and his d

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2001

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The numbers involved in this are staggering. Just to read about the greed alone was mind blowing. A good few of the characters mentioned are still in Irish public life today too which is mad.