There was an "atmosphere of fear" in Leinster House when Charles Haughey was taoiseach, former Fianna Fáil minister and Progressive Democrats founder, Des O'Malley, said yesterday.
Referring to the 1979 Fianna Fáil leadership contest which Mr Haughey won against George Colley by 44 votes to 38, succeeding Jack Lynch, Mr O'Malley said "people like Jack Lynch, George Colley and himself were naive in 1979".
"We didn't believe that Haughey was as strong as he was, nor did we believe that he was as vicious as he was, nor did we believe he would resort to some of the tactics that he did, such as promising things galore.
"I recall shortly after he ascended to the Office of the Taoiseach the office of Minister of State was doubled from 8 to 16 or 17. That was part of paying off debts and promises and of course there were promises of other kinds made as well," Mr O'Malley said.
"If we had known things were as they turned out to be we would perhaps have been a bit tougher in our approach.
"It is hard to explain to younger people now just what it was like. There was an atmosphere, a fear everywhere and particularly within the Fianna Fáil party. It was a perceptible atmosphere within Leinster House."
Speaking to Diarmuid Ferriter on the RTÉ Radio 1 What If programme, Mr O'Malley referred to the severe beating up of a Fianna Fáil deputy in the Dáil in 1982 after a leadership challenge against Mr Haughey failed.
The deputy (who we now know to be Jim Gibbons) was "beaten in the front hall of Leinster house by four people and kicked in the face and chest and knocked to the ground and beaten again after he was taken out to his car in the car park.
"Nothing ever happened as a result of that and this happened because he had voted for me in an election".
Asked if there might have not been a PD party if George Colley had won the leadership contest in 1979 instead of Mr Haughey, Mr O'Malley said "most unlikely".
But he said he didn't think Mr Colley would have lasted long as taoiseach and spoke of how Mr Haughey had actively worked against Jack Lynch and undermined him.
He said it is probably just as well he himself never became taoiseach in 1982 as he would not have lasted long either as "I would have been worked against actively".
"There were the new rules which came about after 1979. Loyalty to a party was secondary and all of a sudden a personality and the welfare of an individual were more important.
"We now know in hindsight too it wasn't just his [ Mr Haughey's] political welfare that was at stake but he had a very high living lifestyle that had to be supported. It is easier to do that as Taoiseach."
Mr O'Malley said the question of a new party didn't arise until 1984. "George Colley believed that the situation was redeemable and only in 1983/1984 did we realise it wasn't". Mr Colley died suddenly in 1984.
Mr O'Malley said Mr Colley's career was overshadowed by Mr Haughey. He said the difficulties between the two men went back to the 1960s when they were in the same constituency.