Charlie

Charlie Haughey died yesterday.

For those that did not know him or indeed of his reputation, I am sure it is of no consequence but to a “paddy’ like me raised in a Fíanna Fáil household, this is a sad moment.

Forget the (recent) Charlie of ill repute, the scandals, the jobbery, the backhanders….all alleged but as yet largely unproven. Whether the man did have a knack for graft, I do not know but what I do know is this….take a drive through modern day Ireland and you’ll see his legacy all round. The Ireland that exists today is largely directly thanks to his initiatives whether his detractors like it or not but as he was wont to quote the eternal ephitet from Brendan Behan, “F*ck the Begrudgers!”.

He dragged us kicking & screaming from an economic backwater on the fringes socially, politically & economically of Europe into the economic powerhouse that Ireland is today. Boasting reportedly, the highest standard of living in the Western World. Fair play to him, if he liked the finer things in life – CEO’s of small companies earn more!

As I type this, I am listening to Dermot Morgan’s (rip) impersonation of Charlie as he recounts his “pedigree” to “Mara” his hapless aide (P.J. Mara), brilliant stuff!

I don’t live there now but whether that is a good thing or not, I do not know….as my friends who reside therein advise that a lot of values disappeared accordingly despite the economic perks….but then again they are a bunch of whinging bastards! - I am sure they would want to go back to the days of “Section 31”, mass emigration, crap TV, crap schools, crap everything while the mullahs of the Catholic Church were hitting anything decent, ideas, people, movements - with a crozier!

There is a lot of anecdotes in my family about C.J., all good as indeed we were “Haugheyites”. Charlie had a way of cutting through the crap, of getting to the point, of getting business done – he was a master of “realpolitik”. Charlie was one of us, a lad from humble beginnings who rose through the ranks, married the boss’ daughter – the boss being the prime Minister, Sean Lemass.

A personal anecdote is this;
I always remember my father pointing out when on our way to Dublin (I must have been five or so), "there's the bridge where Charlie nearly died". Charlie was involved in a bad auto accident, a few miles north of the North Wexford town of Gorey in 1969. It was a stone wall where the old Dublin Road took a left turn over a railway bridge, Charlie's mercedes slamming right through it and leaving him in a coma for a couple of weeks. For years after until the N-25 made that left hand turn redundant, I had a dread approaching that bridge and always said a quiet prayer that we'd pass safely - amazing the stuff one remembers as one writes!

Another family anecdote concerns my mother’s bridesmaid, Rose.
If I recall correctly, Charlie was the Health Minister at the time – Rose’s mother was sadly, dying of cancer in a venerable Dublin Hospital. The Chief Surgeon decided that her case was hopeless and sent her home to die, no hospice care, no medication, nothing. For people of moderate means this was not unknown at the time in Ireland.

As you can imagine, this was a horrible situation for her and her family. Rose in her desperation contacted Charlie and explained the situation. He drove over with his police driver to her mother’s house, took charge of the situation and brought the poor woman back to the Hospital. When confronted by the surgeon, Charlie “advised” him that there better be a bed for this person or the surgeon would be typing up his resume “toute suite!”. Needless to say, the hospital had plenty of space for Rose’s mother and was treated afterwards with dignity till she passed away. Stories like this are legion from people all over the country.

Reading the BBC’s page on comments about him, to get the DUP, the OUP & Sinn Féin to agree on something (him) must be a first. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5075096.stm!

Charlie, thanks for the memories – God bless!