BRITISH VIEW:BRITISH OFFICIALS in Dublin kept a close eye on internal Fianna Fáil politics as rumours that Jack Lynch would stand down as leader increased from the autumn.
The fact that Charles Haughey was the obvious front runner to succeed him was greeted with some concern, particularly given his tendency to use “provocative phrases” on the North.
On November 22nd, British ambassador Robin Haydon had commented that Haughey appeared to be positioning himself for the leadership by making a “publicity-catching gestures”, such as the proposal of a free toothbrush for every Irish child.
“Incidentally,” the ambassador wrote, “it cannot be coincidence that more pictures of Haughey and his wife have appeared in the press in the months since the Hillery ‘scandal’ [when there were rumours about President Hillerys marriage] than all the rest of his public career put together”.
Initially, it was felt the FF hierarchy would opt against him because he would be vulnerable to the “Mr Clean” image of Garret FitzGerald, the leader of Fine Gael. His opponents hoped that memories of the arms scandal would lead the party to opt for the safer option of George Colley.
Haughey’s ability to cultivate the party grass roots was compared with Richard Nixon’s success with the Republicans in the US. After he defeated Colley by 44 votes to 38, it was observed that he was “a much more decisive man than Mr Lynch and has a very considerable reputation as a ‘can-do’ manager”.
The British embassy commented that Haughey’s victory had “caused a number of undesirable figures from his past to emerge from the woodwork” who now “think their time has come”.
On December 7th, the British ambassador hoped Haughey would “emulate Éamon de Valera who, when in government, took a very tough line on security while saying a lot of unpalatable things”.
However, “republican rhetoric has its own dangers and Northern Unionists and others will not take kindly to a more provocative emphasis on reunification”.
If “he continues in this vein”, the ambassador noted ominously, “we are in for a rough ride”.