The country might be talking about it but there was very muted mention around Leinster House this week of the Charlie Haughey/Terry Keane affair. The news was no surprise to any member but the deference was mostly out of regard for their colleague Sean Haughey, a highly respected, hard-working and friendly deputy. Members were embarrassed for him and avoided the subject.
Government deputies were quick to point out that the revelations had no political implications, were all in the past and were not new. Even any bombshell yet to come from Terry, or the Kevin O'Connor book Sweetie, belonged, they insisted, to another age. An FF deputy canvassing for the locals in Dublin this week said that in 500 houses it was only mentioned once, and that in a jokey way. A rural FG deputy said it came up on a couple of occasions and while Haughey was condemned "it still didn't mean they were going to vote for me".