The glowing emotional tributes to Charles Haughey, probable crook and liar are rolling around the place. Luckily some places are standing up to be counted, like for example the Daily Telegraph of all places. It starts:

Charles Haughey, the former Taoiseach of the Irish Republic who died yesterday aged 80, was touched by, but survived, a series of scandals of almost Florentine dimensions; they included telephone-tapping of his political opponents, alleged complicity in IRA gun-running, and the discovery of a fugitive murderer at the home of his Attorney General.

Then, after he had retired from politics, it was revealed that his regal lifestyle had been funded by a secret multi-million-pound offshore slush fund.

Haughey operated the politics of cronyism in an atmosphere of corruption and bullying; yet his acceptance of enormous bribes was never investigated by the tax authorities, since he was as much feared by the civil service as by his political enemies.

Also, Twenty Major slams him here, and gets some stick in the comments in the process. What do I think? I think as a nation we are expert at turning a blind eye to the failings of those amongst us in some sort of historically beaten into us ‘ah sure he’s one of us’ mentality.

Roy Keane, hero or thug?
Charles Haughey, grand statesmen or criminal?

A huge proportion seem dangerously blinded by the lights.