FF keeps mum in case of another Haughey `outing'

Bertie Ahern made an extraordinary statement to the Fianna Fail parliamentary party last Wednesday. In a reference to the Haughey years, he said members of the cabinet at that time might have felt "forced" to do certain things.

The Taoiseach didn't explain what sort of "certain things" he had in mind. In the context of his efforts to reassure TDs and senators that the Coalition Government was not going to fall because of past wrong-doings, however, people worried that the infringements might not be minor.

The oblique reference left TDs puzzled. They didn't know whether the brow-beaten ministers referred to by Mr Ahern were still serving in government or had gone elsewhere. They wondered how their behaviour squared with "collective cabinet responsibility". It was most unsatisfactory. But, given the nature of these meetings, backbenchers thought it better not to ask.

Even as the Taoiseach spoke, the Moriarty tribunal was hearing details of the bizarre banking arrangements of Mr Haughey with Allied Irish Banks in the 1970s and of the rescue operation which saw him transfer his favours to Guinness & Mahon and the Ansbacher offshore accounts shortly after becoming taoiseach in 1979.

Over at the Flood tribunal, they were still digging into the murky affairs of Ray Burke. And they were beginning to explore other planning matters in the context of the alleged £50,000 paid by Tom Gilmartin to Padraig Flynn in 1989.

The events under investigation spanned the Haughey years, from when control of Fianna Fail was wrested from Jack Lynch and his chosen successor, the late George Colley, in 1979, to when the Kinsealy Houdini fell victim to the ambitions of former lieutenants Albert Reynolds and Padraig Flynn - with a bit of a push from Sean Doherty - in 1992.

If information is power, then speculation is the software of politics. And, as Fianna Fail members filed out of the party rooms at Leinster House last Wednesday, they wondered who of Mr Haughey's former ministers was in danger of being "outed" and whether there might be a sudden vacancy at the Cabinet table.

There is only a handful of the old guard left. And not all of them are in Cabinet, although they still carry weight in Government and within Fianna Fail.

The Taoiseach himself is the most obvious and prominent politician to have served faithfully in the Haughey years. He was twice made Minister for Labour, having earlier served as party whip.

But Michael Woods, currently Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, got in on the ground floor. As government whip under Jack Lynch, he was made minister for social welfare when Mr Haughey became leader in 1979. And he retained that portfolio right through the "heaves" against Mr Haughey that shook Fianna Fail in the 1980s.

Mary O'Rourke, deputy leader of Fianna Fail and Minister for Public Enterprise, served twice as minister for education, in 1985 and again in 1987. In the latter period, from 1987 to 1989, she was embroiled in controversy over the purchase of Carysford lands by the State.

Seamus Brennan, currently Minister of State and Government whip, opposed Mr Haughey in the early years. But he was promoted to cabinet and given the tourism and transport portfolio in 1989.

Thirteen years as leader of Fianna Fail and about eight of those spent, intermittently, in government provided a complicated legacy. For the first years, from 1979 to 1981, Mr Haughey was not master of his own house. Of the entire Fianna Fail cabinet, he had only secured the support of the late Brian Lenihan. His backers came from the flood of young and ambitious rural TDs who had made up Fianna Fail's overall majority in 1977. The old party "establishment" was defeated. But the vote was close enough for Mr Colley to demand - and secure - a veto over certain appointments.

The loss of the general election in 1981 threw the party into disarray. But when the Fine Gael/ Labour Party government fell over the 1982 budget, opportunity beckoned. Failure to win a Dail majority generated an immediate challenge to his leadership from Des O'Malley, with the support of Mr Colley, Martin O'Donoghue and Seamus Brennan. The failed coup left Mr Haughey considerably strengthened.

Ray MacSharry was made tanaiste and minister for finance; Albert Reynolds, minister for industry and commerce; Sean Doherty, minister for justice; Padraig Flynn, minister for the Gaeltacht, and Brendan Daly, minister for fisheries and forestry. There were other Haughey stalwarts: Brian Lenihan, minister for agriculture; Ray Burke, minister for the environment; Gene Fitzgerald, minister for labour; John Wilson, minister for posts and telegraphs; Michael Woods, minister for social welfare, and the late Paddy Power, minister for defence. Disgruntled dissidents, Des O'Malley, Martin O'Donoghue and Gerry Collins, made up the numbers.

Internal party strife and public controversies about phone tapping and other unsavoury matters swirled around the government. Sean Doherty was in the eye of the storm. And Martin O'Donoghue was said to have attempted to subvert Ray MacSharry's loyalty.

It was nearly five years before Fianna Fail returned to government. During that period Des O'Malley, Mary Harney, Bobby Molloy and others left to form the Progressive Democrats. The crunch had come when Mr O'Malley was expelled for "conduct unbecoming" a member of Fianna Fail.

The minority Fianna Fail government of 1987 introduced new blood. But the hardcore of his henchmen remained. Mr Ahern was given a cabinet position for the first time. Mary O'Rourke was promoted and given charge of education, while Mr Flynn moved to environment. Ray Burke was given charge of public broadcasting, along with energy and communications, while Mr Reynolds remained at industry and commerce. Top job, as minister for finance, was retained by Ray MacSharry.

New faces at the cabinet table were John Wilson, in tourism and transport; Michael J. Noonan in defence and Rory O'Hanlon in health. A political comeback was made by Michael O'Kennedy in agriculture, while Mr Lenihan, Mr Collins, Mr Daly and Dr Woods held on to their old positions.

Mr Haughey's last government was formed in 1989 with the participation of the PDs. In forming that government, he alienated both Mr Reynolds and Mr Flynn. But the cracks became yawning chasms as the PDs demanded high standards - and retribution on offenders in government.

Before Mr Haughey was catapulted from office in February 1992 - on the back of Sean Doherty's insistence that he had known and approved of the tapping of journalists' telephones back in 1982 - Mr MacSharry had departed for Brussels and a successful term as EU Commissioner. And the number of cabinet members currently active or connected with politics had thinned out.

Mr Flynn still controlled environment. In a strange move, Mr Burke was allowed to bring the communications/broadcasting port folio with him when he was promoted to justice. Mr Reynolds moved up to fill Mr MacSharry's role in finance. Mr Brennan was brought in to deal with tourism and transport. Mr Collins was given foreign affairs and Mr Ahern, Mrs O'Rourke and Dr Woods remained where they were. It was the last promotional hurrah of the Haughey years.