Haughey `comfortable' after breaking thigh

The former Taoiseach, Mr Charles J. Haughey, was said to be "comfortable" in Dublin's Mater Private Hospital last night, after undergoing surgery on a broken thigh.

Mr Haughey suffered the injury when he fell from his horse on Portmarnock Strand yesterday morning. He was taken by ambulance to the Mater's accident and emergency department, and later transferred to the private hospital for surgery.

It is understood the operation involved inserting a pin to hold the bone in place. He is expected to be detained in hospital for some days.

A spokeswoman in Mr Haughey's Kinsealy home said the accident happened around 11 a.m. during his normal morning ride at Portmarnock. He had been accompanied as usual by his friend, Mr Standish Collen, who was able to give immediate assistance while they awaited an ambulance.

The spokeswoman said he was visited in hospital by several family members during the day and was in good spirits.

This is not the first time Mr Haughey has been hospitalised due to a fall from a horse. In April 1970, as Minister for Finance, he was unable to deliver the Budget because of a riding accident.

The incident coincided with the onset of the Arms Crisis and the then Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch, visited Mr Haughey in hospital to ask him about his alleged role in an attempt to import arms for the IRA.

His latest accident comes almost exactly a year after he was admitted to hospital for what his doctor said were "investigative" tests.

It is believed he underwent an angioplasty to clear a coronary artery blockage, which was causing him shortness of breath. The procedure was a success and there was no need for surgery.

While Taoiseach, he was hospitalised twice in 1988, first to undergo treatment for kidney stones and later for a respiratory infection which was causing him bronchial spasms.

In 1968, he was seriously injured in a car accident, which fractured most of his ribs and a kneecap. He also suffered an embolism.