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The Lying Game

It may have been billed as the last stand of CHARLES J. HAUGHEY, but no-one told the man himself. Last week at Dublin Castle, having been hauled before the McCracken payments-to-politicians tribunal in an attempt to get him to finally explain his business relationship with Ben Dunne, the former Taoiseach indulged in a faintly pathetic display of obfuscating, wheedling and stalling. LIAM FAY was one of those looking on eagerly from the public gallery. This is his report.

Liam Fay, 15 Oct 1997

The only thing new is the history we don t know. Fortunately, our education has been greatly improved by the Ben Dunne Payments to Politicians Tribunal, at Dublin Castle. We now understand at least a little more about the makers, breakers, shakers, fakers and liberty-takers who run this nation.

Day 17 alone (Tuesday, July 15th) would qualify as a fully-fledged degree course in itself. This was a masterclass everyone wanted to attend. The eagerly-anticipated date when, in theory, the fabled Charles J. Haughey would finally come clean and reveal how his fingers had become so nimbly dextrous at pulling on the udders of some of the country s biggest cashcows.

A man who had stealthily cultivated a myth of wealth and splendour was about to stand exposed as a shameless pan-handler, incapable of putting caviar on the table without the kindness of philanthropic strangers. It was to be a defining moment in the annals of Irish politics, the holding of the alms trial.

Given such billing, it s hardly surprising that interest among the public in Haughey s testimony was intense, and somewhere between 500 and 700 civilians turned up to watch the show. They came for a variety of reasons; some to enjoy a hanging, others to provide moral support for their fallen hero, still others just to savour the sights, sounds and smells of a genuine media circus for free.

Queuing in the courtyard of Dublin Castle had begun at 2am, with the arrival of a man who described himself as a staunch Fianna Failer. By 7.20am, when Charlie himself was driven through the gates, thereby dodging the slugabed reporters and photographers who had yet to appear at the scene, the public contingent numbered a dozen or so. Within an hour, the figure had reached several hundred.

At 8.30, the staff opened the doors of the Castle buildings. The first 60 lucky campers were allowed into the King George Hall, the Tribunal chamber, where they were given ringside seats for the main event, alongside the massed ranks of respected journalists and Conor Cruise O Brien.



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