Mr Haughey was enjoying St Patrick's weekend to the full only hours before the fight to save his life got under way at Beaumont Hospital, a close friend said yesterday.
Mr Des Peelo, a fellow accountant, had visited Mr Haughey and his family at Kinsealy on Sunday. He found the former Taoiseach as mentally sharp as ever. "We discussed many things, some of them very private, some of them very funny. Charlie is a man of particularly strong intelligence and he loves reading books." They had discussed a number of books that he'd read recently, such as The Tyranny of Numbers and The Restless Sea - "and books that you wouldn't expect, like A Goose from Toulouse, which is about French culinary achievements". Mr Haughey read "very widely under very many headings" and was "very retentive and understanding about the world". "Charlie enjoyed life," said Mr Peelo, interviewed by RTE lunchtime radio. "Obviously it hasn't been easy for him or his family but he's very determined. I just hope he comes out of this and goes back to normal, if that is at all possible."
He thought people in time would "come to realise" what Charlie Haughey had done for this State. "I think the respect for him will grow again and I think many people will realise the achievements he made. He never boasted about it of course; he didn't adopt that approach. But I think he was saddened as to how things turned out." Nonetheless, he had always handled himself with dignity and good humour, Mr Peelo said. Mr Haughey had never complained about going to the Moriarty tribunal or about his illness, prostate cancer. "He knew what the situation was. The reports were there and they were made public."
Asked what it was like to be identified as a close friend of Mr Haughey, Mr Peelo said: "I'm proud to be a close friend to Charles Haughey." It was an unwavering friendship, he said. "The definition of a friend to me is someone who knows your flaws and is still your friend. I know Charlie's flaws and I believe he knows mine."