Ireland’s P.M. seeks to deny I.R.A. connection

Press, 27 December 1979, Page 12

Ireland’s P.M. seeks to deny I.R.A. connection

By

SELWYN PARKER

in Dublin

When Ireland's new Prime Minister, Mr Charles Haughey, told journalists at his first press conference that he “condemns the I.R.A. and all they stand for,” there wa« a spontaneous burst of applause and cheering. And some surprise.

Since 1970 when he was charged, but later acquitted of illegally importing arms into Ireland at the height of the Northern Irish “troubles,” Charles Haughey has always been tagged an I.R.A. sympathiser. But virtually at one stroke he demolished much of the opposition to him in Ireland through his unequivocal references at the press conference to the need for peaceful reunification” with the North. “The peaceful reunification of the people of Ireland is my primary political priority,” he said. Describing himself as a man “tinged with green,” Mr Haughey is a member of a large family whose roots lie in the North. As he says, his “granny” lives there. So do no less than 52 first cousins. There is no mistaking the new Prime Minister’s determination to end the decadeOld litany of shootings, bombings and ambush. He is appalled at the damage to towns such as Derry where he holidayed as a youth (he often visits the North), and at the human suffering. Neither is there any doubt that Mr Haughey’s eventual aim is a 32-county Ireland (including Northern Ireland’s six counties). The big question is how rapidly he wants that aim achieved. It is known that he was impatient with what he considered the concessions of his predecessor, Mr Jack Lynch, to Mrs Thatcher’s hard line. (Mr Haughey points out that Mr Lynch, .who hails from Cork, understands the North less well than himself).

Public reaction in Dublin to Mr Haughey’s election (by 44 votes to the 38 of his only opposition, the Finance Minister (Mr George Colley) was at first almost univerally hostile. “I’m shocked,”

said the senior administrator of a third-level college. A student remarked: “They won’t like it much in .the North.”

Certainly, most Dubliners were disturbed that a politician once charged with conspiracy against the State could make such an astonishing comeback. At least one reason was Mr Haughey’s assiduous cultivation of key party support in the last two vears.

Although Health Minister in Mr Lynch’s Government, he still found time to win a big following among backbench M.P.s, especially those from the “backwoods” counties along the west coast. “No occasion was too small for him to attend,” said one supporter. His opponents express it differently. “He’d buy a drink for anybody who'd vote for him,” said one. Mr Haughey has diverse busi-

ness interests, and is said to have considerable private wealth.

In previous portfolios in successive Fianna Fail (Warriors of Destiny) governments, Haughey has won a reputation for capable administration and progressive policies. His posts have included agriculture, justice, finance and health. In the last he. is best-known for his determination to beat the smoking lobby and at one time threatened to force cigarette companies to write on packs “Smokers Die Younger.” In private life Mr Haughey. who is married to the daughter of a former Irish Prime Minister, has a reputation as a bon vivant who loves good food and wine. He owns racehorses and an island off the West Coast where he withdraws occasionally by helicopter for secluded holidays.