He is gone

We'll never see his like again. A controversial statesman is gone. A man who tore the country in two. One half loved him ; The other loathed him. He embodied everything that is characteristically Irish – for good and for bad. Brilliant potential, not always delivered. Born of humble stock, he was an enigma. Even his place of birth is disputed. A Dub who came from the West.

A republican in the old style tradition, he saw himself as a monarch. Staunchly conservative yet strangely liberal. He established the status of Irish woman in our constitution. He stood up against our bully neighbour. His stance and stature so unmistakable. A man of the people, he was aloof and distant. His anger was legendary. He suffered for his support of the armed struggle. The most gifted and able of his party left him to set up a rival political force. He lived too long for history to judge him kindly.

And why should it, for he stole for us with impunity. He stole our trust and then he stole our money. He led his people to believe that he was working for the public good when all the while he was feathering his own nest. A man of culture, we peasants couldn’t expect to understand his class.

But that’s enough about de Valera, today our focus is on Charles J Haughey. I wonder how he compares.