'You cross the big hurdles only to trip over small ones'

TAOISEACH RESIGNATIONS:Bertie Ahern is not the first taoiseach to leave office earlier than he might have wished, as can be seen from the circumstances of his predecessors' exits

ALBERT REYNOLDS

"It's amazing," said Albert Reynolds, before leaving the Dáil chamber for the last time as taoiseach in November 1994. "You cross the big hurdles and when you get to the small ones, you get tripped."

The hurdle in this case was the controversy surrounding the appointment of former attorney general Harry Whelehan as president of the High Court and the way in which the latter dealt with the extradition of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

Labour, Fianna Fáil's coalition partner, had deep misgivings over the appointment. When Reynolds forced the issue at a cabinet meeting, Labour withdrew in protest. Immediately, the clock started ticking for the collapse of the government. Whelehan went to Áras an Úachtaráin to be officially appointed. The breakdown in trust between the coalition partners deepened further after it emerged that Reynolds had not promptly passed on a key piece of information about Whelehan's handling of the Smyth case to Labour leader Dick Spring.

Reynolds resigned shortly afterwards, making his announcement in the middle of a no-confidence motion tabled by Fine Gael. "I'm straight up. I tell it as it is," he said. "That's me."

CHARLES HAUGHEY

The first Fianna Fáil leader forced to form a coalition government and lose a presidential election began to face significant rumblings of discontent on his back benches in 1991.

Controversy began to surface concerning favouritism shown by Mr Haughey towards the Goodman International beef company. The question of alleged defrauding of the EU, as well as the granting of high-risk export credit insurance to the company, led to the establishment of the beef tribunal.

That summer Fianna Fáil lost control of 13 councils in the local government elections. The following months saw the eruption of controversies over irregular business transactions in Irish Sugar and, later, the Telecom Éireann site in Ballsbridge.

The phrase "golden circle" was used to describe the belief that a small elite had access to inside information which was making them very rich.

The first move against Mr Haughey came that September when four TDs issued a statement critical of him. Two months later Albert Reynolds led a failed attempt to oust him. The situation was finally forced in January 1992 by Haughey's old ally, Seán Doherty, who called a press conference to say Haughey had known in 1982 that journalists' phones were being tapped.

Haughey denied it, but his leadership was over. The PDs made it clear they would bring down the government unless he went. Within a few days he was quoting Shakespeare, saying: "I have done the State some service; they know't. No more of that."

JACK LYNCH

His decision in 1975 to allow Haughey back on to the party's frontbench contributed to his downfall four years later when he resigned as taoiseach.

Despite leading Fianna Fáil to a record 21-seat majority in the 1977 general election, pressure began to mount on his leadership less than two years later. Síle de Valera effectively questioned Lynch's republican credentials in a speech in Fermoy, Co Cork, amid speculation about the extent of cross-Border security co-operation agreed between the Irish and British governments.

Shortly afterwards, Fianna Fáil lost two byelections in his stronghold of Cork city.

Under pressure from Haughey supporters, Lynch, then 62, resigned as taoiseach on December 5th, 1979.

He quit in the hope that George Colley could defeat Haughey. Two days later, however, Haughey was elected as leader.

The divisions in Fianna Fáil which Lynch's election as leader in 1966 had dissipated had quickly re-emerged in the wake of his resignation.