Following revelations at the Moriarty Tribunal on 16 February 1999, in relation to Charles Haughey and his relationship with AIB, former Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald confirmed that AIB and Ansbacher wrote off debts of almost £ 200, 000 that he owed in 1993, when he was in financial difficulties because of the collapse of the aircraft leasing company, GPA, in which he was a shareholder.

Crucial to her appeal was the deep unpopularity of the then Taoiseach Charles Haughey and the rising popularity of the Labour Party leader Dick Spring.

Lenihan's role in the event in 1982, seemed to imply that he could be instructed by Haughey in his duties, and that in effect electing Lenihan was in effect empowering the controversial Haughey.

To this end a series of phone calls ( some published reports claim seven, others eight ) was made by senior opposition figures urging Hillery to refuse FitzGerald a dissolution, so allowing Haughey to form a government.

Though publicly Taoiseach Charles Haughey insisted that it was entirely a matter for Lenihan, his " friend of thirty years " and that he was putting no pressure on him, in reality he gave Lenihan a letter of resignation to sign.

Haughey angrily denied the charge, though Lenihan, in his subsequently published account of the affair, noted that Haughey had denied " insulting " the officer, whereas the allegation was that he had " threatened " him.

Haughey was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at St. Joseph's secondary school in Fairview, where one of his classmates was George Colley, subsequently his cabinet colleague and rival in Fianna Fáil.

It was at UCD that Haughey became increasingly interested in politics and was elected Auditor of the Commerce and Economics Society.

While living in Raheny, Haughey was first elected to the Dáil as a Fianna Fáil TD at the 1957 general election for the Dublin North – East constituency.

Haughey was re-elected in every election until 1992, he represented the Dublin North – East constituency from 1957 until 1973.

The constituency lines were redrawn under the Electoral ( Amendment ) Act 1974 in an attempt to secure re-election for the sitting Fine Gael-Labour Party government in the 1977 election and Haughey represented Dublin Artane in 1977, this constituency was abolished in 1981 and most of Haughey's electoral area was moved into the reformed Dublin North – Central constituency which he served from 1981 until his retirement in 1992.

Though as the junior to Oscar Traynor, Haughey was the de facto minister.

Haughey, who did not rely on rural voters, was under intense pressure from fearful members of his own party to negotiate a deal and de-escalate tension.

Aware that de Valera's age ( 84 ) and almost total blindness might compare unfavourably to O ' Higgins, whose campaigns drew comparisons with the equally youthful United States president of Irish descent, John F. Kennedy, Haughey launched what was seen as a political stroke.

Upon Lynch's election as Taoiseach, Haughey was appointed Minister for Finance by Lynch in a Cabinet reshuffle, which indicated that Haughey's withdrawal was a gain at the expense of Colley.

As Minister for Finance, Haughey on two occasions arranged foreign currency loans for the government which he then arranged to be left on deposit in foreign countries ( Germany and the United States ), in the local currency-instead of immediately changing the loans to the Irish currency and depositing in the Exchequer-these actions were unconstitutional, because it effectively meant that the Minister for Finance was making a currency speculation against his own currency.

When this was challenged by the Comptroller and Auditor General Eugene Francis Suttle, Haughey introduced a law to retrospectively legalise his actions.

Many believe that it was because of this support that Haughey was successful in becoming Taoiseach, albeit by a narrow margin of just six votes.

That same year Woods supported Colley in his leadership bid, but the other candidate, Charles Haughey, was successful.

However, Charles Haughey was narrowly successful and a new Secretary General of the party was appointed.

Haughey declared his candidature to succeed Lemass in the consequent leadership election.

The leadership contest that resulted was a two-horse race between Haughey and the Tánaiste, George Colley.

After the February 1982 election, when Haughey failed to win an overall majority again, questions were raised about his leadership.

Desmond O ' Malley emerged as the likely alternative candidate and was ready to challenge Haughey for the leadership.

The issue of his leadership cropped up again when in October the backbench TD, Charlie McCreevy, put down a motion of no-confidence in Haughey.

Haughey's leadership came under scrutiny for a third time when a report linked Haughey with the phone tapping of political journalists.

A series of resignations by chairmen of semi-state companies and an open declaration by the Minister for Finance, Albert Reynolds, that he had every intention of standing for the party leadership if Haughey retired.

Lynch, and another favourite of Lemass's, Patrick Hillery, ruled themselves out of the leadership election from the very beginning, however, other candidates such as Charles Haughey, George Colley and Neil Blaney threw their hats into the ring immediately.

His strong leadership skills and determination were clearly evident in 1970 when allegations ( later disproved in court, though questions since have emerged challenging that verdict in one case ), that the hardline republican Minister for Agriculture, Neil Blaney, and the Minister for Finance, Charles Haughey, were involved in an attempt to use £ 100, 000 in aid money to import arms for the Provisional IRA.

As well as this, a group of backbench TDs began to lobby other TDs in support of Charles Haughey, should a leadership election arise.

However, Haughey and his supporters had been preparing for months to take over the leadership and Lynch's resignation came as no surprise.

He became a member of the so-called " gang of five " with Jackie Fahey, Mark Killilea, Jnr, Tom McEllistrim and Seán Doherty which aligned itself to Charles Haughey and supported him in the subsequent leadership contest.

Reynolds ' affable personality helped him to coax a number of backbenchers into supporting Haughey, who went on to beat George Colley in the leadership struggle and become Taoiseach.

He supported George Colley for Taoiseach in the Fianna Fáil leadership contest of 1979, but after Colley's opponent Charles Haughey won out, Haughey still retained Burke in his government position.

Burke was subsequently a staunch and vocal defender of Haughey during a number of internal heaves against the latter's leadership of the party.

O ' Malley was a strong opponent of Haughey and was involved in a number of leadership heaves against Haughey, who was popular and controversial in equal measure.

A number of leadership heaves were initiated by the Gang of 22 throughout 1982 and 1983, however, Haughey faced down the challengers and isolated his opponents within the party.

In 1979, following Jack Lynch's resignation as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil, two candidates fought in the leadership election, George Colley and Charles Haughey.

This set off another leadership struggle, with O ' Malley, Gerry Collins, Michael O ' Kennedy, Brian Lenihan and John P. Wilson all showing an interest in replacing Haughey.

Haughey retained the leadership by 40 votes to 33.

Colley and Charles Haughey both stood as candidates in the subsequent leadership election.

It is said that Colley and his supporters encouraged Lynch to retire one month earlier than planned because he felt he had the support to win a leadership contest and that the quick decision would catch Charles Haughey and his supporters off guard.

Several unsuccessful leadership challenges took place in late 1982 and early 1983 with Colley now supporting Desmond O ' Malley and the Gang of 22 who opposed Haughey.