Charlie (RTE1 Charlie Haughey Drama)

FloatingVoter

leck wrote: »

Thanks for that. Is the full interview available somewhere? What date in 1992 did the interview air?

I couldn't find the whole thing on YouTube. The show was called Nighthawks. That clip was from a best-of that aired in 2012.

mickdw

K-9 wrote: »

Last night was ok, expected better, it needs more Mara, Lawlor is stealing the show whenever he's in it.

Lawlor?
Didn't see him in it?

HeidiHeidi

mickdw wrote: »

Lawlor?
Didn't see him in it?

Tom Vaughan, not Liam!

hotmail.com

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Having affairs was never a crime and besides Terry Keane was exposing it weekly in her gossip column. The media proper should have been asking questions about the multi-millionaire lifestyle, the private island, the yacht, the helicopter. All on a PMs salary.
The tribunals don't start until the 1990s. Then every clown with a press badge is falling over themselves to expose Haughey. Ten years earlier they were nowhere to be found.

I personally don't care about the sex lives of politicians, but if they're saying one thing in public and doing another in private, they should be be exposed for it.

Radio5

Deleted User wrote: »

No question he'd stand up to them. Im no FF fan but Haughey had his strengths which Ill freely admit that i thoroughly admired. He was dodgy but he was also strong and stood by his certain beliefs.

Great beliefs they were indeed, like not paying tax on all the gifts he got and the off shore accounts.

FloatingVoter

hotmail.com wrote: »

I personally don't care about the sex lives of politicians, but if they're saying one thing in public and doing another in private, they should be be exposed for it.

I agree. But in the early and mid 80s the Irish public were still firmly under the thumb of the Catholic church. Going against them was political suicide.
Divorce won't come in until 1996. And Haughey only ever fought battles that a)he could win and b) had a financial incentive for him or his masters / cronies.
Hypocrisy was almost 100% universal in the Irish political classes of the 1980s.

Radio5

Radio5 wrote: »

Great beliefs they were indeed, like not paying tax on all the gifts he got and the off shore accounts.

Oh he was dodgy ill admit but at least he was tigerish. Look at the pathetic excuses we have today like Kenny and Gilroy for example. At least Haughey would try get us a better deal.

mickdw

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Tom Vaughan, not Liam!

Jesus, when I saw Lawlor - Tom Vaughan Lawlor didn't even enter my mind.

W1ll1s

Deleted User wrote: »

Oh he was dodgy ill admit but at least he was tigerish.

Second that.

grey_so_what

hotmail.com wrote: »

I personally don't care about the sex lives of politicians, but if they're saying one thing in public and doing another in private, they should be be exposed for it.

:D:D

How great thou art...........

Best laugh ever....:pac::pac::pac:

If there was a list let it begin now of people who had a sex life....

Hitchens

Charlie came to our town when he was Taoiseach to open something or other.

I had our first child with me, about 2 years of age.

The place was jammers with people waiting to see the great man, so I picked up my child and walked up along the street away from the crowds.

I had assumed that Charlie would arrive by car all the way to where the microphones were set up, but that I'd see him passing in the car.

But it was a lovely fine day and they had parked the vehicles someway up the street.

The next thing I saw was Charlie and a crowd of sycophants, hacks, councillors and a few Ministers come walking along, with him leading the way.

All you could hear was "Boss this and Taoiseach that" as they fluttered around him.

And there's me and my kid, the only ones standing on the kerb, and they don't even see us or glance in our direction.

But lo and behold, just as they are about level with us, Charlie looks across and gives us a nod, a smile and a friendly little regal wave, to which I respond in kind.

Well, it was as if someone had waved a magic wand because the mob with him immediately began waving and nodding and smiling at us as well.

They must have been thinking, "Geez, the Boss must know this fella, better stay onside here".

He really had them boys in the palm of his hand.........and me as well.

Pretzill

I'm really enjoying this - the dark humour and some excellent one liners last night. But the wigs are dreadful. It's painting Charlie in a better light than I was expecting but some real dodgy stuff going on around him.

With all the Love/Hate actors I'm sure the transistion from criminal to politician wasn't too far a leap!

grey_so_what

Hitchens wrote: »

Charlie came to our town when he was Taoiseach to open something or other.

I had our first child with me, about 2 years of age.

The place was jammers with people waiting to see the great man, so I picked up my child and walked up along the street away from the crowds.

I had assumed that Charlie would arrive by car all the way to where the microphones were set up, but that I'd see him passing in the car.

But it was a lovely fine day and they had parked the vehicles someway up the street.

The next thing I saw was Charlie and a crowd of sycophants, hacks, councillors and a few Ministers come walking along, with him leading the way.

All you could hear was "Boss this and Taoiseach that" as they fluttered around him.

And there's me and my kid, the only ones standing on the kerb, and they don't even see us or glance in our direction.

But lo and behold, just as they are about level with us, Charlie looks across and gives us a nod, a smile and a friendly little regal wave, to which I respond in kind.

Well, it was as if someone had waved a magic wand because the mob with him immediately began waving and nodding and smiling at us as well.

They must have been thinking, "Geez, the Boss must know this fella, better stay onside here".

He really had them boys in the palm of his hand.........and me as well.

I can see how that happened H....

Charlie had a magic I've never seen in Politicians before or since.

Very rare, I think it hasn't been seen since.

Sheep Lover

Who was the fella hiding in the jacks earwigging?

grey_so_what

Pretzill wrote: »

I'm really enjoying this - the dark humour and some excellent one liners last night. But the wigs are dreadful.!

What is with Ireland with the bad wigs??...

I spent this morning trying to talk to a man with a "sideways" wig.....jig.....

They haven't gone away you know........:eek:

fryup

hotmail.com wrote: »

Haughey and FF opposed the divorce referendum in the mid 80s while Haughey was involved in an extra marital affair. If the media knew about the affair, they should have exposed it.

didn't he oppose contraception legislation too ??

what a sickening hypocrite

amovingstatue

K-9 wrote: »

From what I'v read, yep.

As Minister for Justice he was entitled to extra security around his home, so he got a new wall built around his bungalow. It was about 3 feet tall, wouldn't have stopped the boy scouts attacking, never mind the IRA!

An absolute disgrace as a Minister for Justice but very entertaining!

From The Boss by Joyce/Murtagh p138

Doherty -- known to his friends as "the Doc" -- was extremely conscious of his public image and on occasions, his need to appear important affected his colleagues in government. To be assured of re-election in Roscommon, Doherty believed he had to maintain a high profile locally. His status as a minister ensured he got more coverage in the local newspaper than an ordinary TD and he was also in great demand to attend local party functions. But his running mate in the constituency, Terry Leyden, was a junior minister - a lower status but one which ensured that he too got better than average publicity and was also in demand. Both were entitled to state cars but Doherty was able to exercise a degree of control over the cars because they were operated from garda headquarters and he was justice minister. Doherty had the usual black Mercedes but he issued a directive that Leyden was never to be given a Mercedes. When Doherty drove through the constituency, he wanted everyone to be in no doubt about who was in town.
Leyden was allowed to have a Peugeot 604.

hotmail.com

fryup wrote: »

didn't he oppose contraception legislation too ??

what a sickening hypocrite

Yep, he was definitely a social conservative, while he was having a 27 year affair.

Similar goings among the clergy and is probably still going on.

emanresu esrever

Sheep Lover wrote: »

Who was the fella hiding in the jacks earwigging?

good question....... not sure anyone on this thread has asked this....... ; )

just kidding! Its just artistic licence I imagine. Its more a metaphor for the secrecy, the lapdogging, the power imbalance, the underhand dealings with party members, etc etc that existed during his reign.......... not that much has ever changed.

If something like this ever happened, it wouldn't of been Haughey nor Mara who would have revealed it. And extremely unlikely that the man literally "sh1tting himself" would expose it either.

fryup

ireland was awash with hypocrisy back in those days

banana republic

thank god for garret the good

JuRy40

I thought it was going to be a lot better. Quite disappointed.

LoganRice

really interesting series

RGDATA!

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Nighthawks was a classic of its time. It was shot in RTE but the drink was real and the guests were frequently locked. It helped that nobody running RTE seemed to be aware of its existence.

You're right about the normal Nighthawks set, but the Doherty interview was actually shot in a pub in Castlerea, Roscommon.
The significance of what Doherty says in that clip goes over Shay Healy's head on camera - he said Doherty actually had to nudge him after the interview: "You realise I said some things there for the first time.."

realdanbreen

Hitchens wrote: »

Charlie came to our town when he was Taoiseach to open something or other.

I had our first child with me, about 2 years of age.

The place was jammers with people waiting to see the great man, so I picked up my child and walked up along the street away from the crowds.

I had assumed that Charlie would arrive by car all the way to where the microphones were set up, but that I'd see him passing in the car.

But it was a lovely fine day and they had parked the vehicles someway up the street.

The next thing I saw was Charlie and a crowd of sycophants, hacks, councillors and a few Ministers come walking along, with him leading the way.

All you could hear was "Boss this and Taoiseach that" as they fluttered around him.

And there's me and my kid, the only ones standing on the kerb, and they don't even see us or glance in our direction.

But lo and behold, just as they are about level with us, Charlie looks across and gives us a nod, a smile and a friendly little regal wave, to which I respond in kind.

Well, it was as if someone had waved a magic wand because the mob with him immediately began waving and nodding and smiling at us as well.

They must have been thinking, "Geez, the Boss must know this fella, better stay onside here".

He really had them boys in the palm of his hand.........and me as well.

Ah Shucks,thats so sweet!,if only it were true.

realdanbreen

fryup wrote: »

ireland was awash with hypocrisy back in those days

banana republic

thank god for garret the good

Thnk God that the country has improved so much and is no longer awash with hypocrisy!

realdanbreen

K-9 wrote: »

I think you need to take a look at the tax rates that PAYE workers paid in the mid 80's and maybe revise that statement about the PD's!

And really, what did Haughey actually do for the working classes?

I clearly remember Mary Harney being asked on local radio why the PD's weren't canvassing in Moyross and she said 'it would not be an area where we are targeting our manifesto'. Also have you ever looked at the profile of the PD top dogs? You won't find too many man in the street types there apart from a few councillors and TD's that were poached off other parties.

jezzer

Riskymove wrote: »

She was a "socialite" and wrote a gossip column, the kind of thing that you still find in papers

She married Ronan Keane who later became a judge, but in her columns she was quite open about a relationship with a person she called "Sweetie".

Apparently dogs in the street knew all about it

They separated in the 1990s




absolutely

thats just mental, she wrote about having an affair??? wtf??? i would pity maureen haughey having to live with that, did haughey actually live at home or was that all just for show? its ironic in a way but he was no better than nidge from love hate? really, there is little difference in the characters, scum

Riskymove

jezzer wrote: »

thats just mental, she wrote about having an affair??? wtf??? i would pity maureen haughey having to live with that, did haughey actually live at home or was that all just for show?

tbh while CJH may have been the most high profile I doubt he was the only one having a mistress. Yes he lived in his grand estate with the family.

But you are right, the brazenness of both he and Keane is unreal and how his wife put up with it I don't know...but she did. And I doubt she was the only wife who did that either.

Don't forget about Ronan Keane and his kids either! Although he did eventually separate from terry.

jezzer

K-9 wrote: »

From what I'v read, yep.

As Minister for Justice he was entitled to extra security around his home, so he got a new wall built around his bungalow. It was about 3 feet tall, wouldn't have stopped the boy scouts attacking, never mind the IRA!

An absolute disgrace as a Minister for Justice but very entertaining!

i'm sure the gombeenism is played up a little by the characters but they seemed to have been real parish pump political opportunists, a far cry in many ways from where we are today, but the man on the street is no better off

its funny, i watched the guarantee last week, it obviously showed our government from the so called noughties, and even now, we are absolutely no better off than we were in the 80's, you could argue that it all stemmed from the haughey era and we never fully recovered from then, afterwards in came albert, another chancer then the worst of the lot, bertie then cowan...fianna fail were always at the centre of it all, i suppose the real problems stem from lynches time when he gave away everything for free...

even with all the political corruption and the pr*cks in the banks, we are jus too small and peripheral of a country to ever be a sustainable perfectly working country....we will always have emigration, job losses hardship misery and misfortune, its ingrained into our psyche, after hundreds of year with nothing, every time we get something we cant handle it and f*ck it away.... in about another ten years from now there will be another bubble and more houses will be built for all the young people who need them....too many will be built and it will slow down again and people will emigrate again and so on and so on....

it was interesting looking at haughey then at the guarantee..both governments, 30 years apart but the exact same....

jezzer

Snickers Man wrote: »

Hear bloody hear!!

Mr Boyd Barrett seems to have taken his place these days...