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NOT QUITE A Nobel Peace Prize winner, but nominee Albert Reynolds is being remembered today for the significant role he played in bringing peace to the island of Ireland.
As leader of Fianna Fáil, he became Taoiseach for the first time in February 1992, a term he started with a declaration that his ultimate focus would be on the Northern Ireland Peace Process.
His determination surprised many commentators at the time because he had rarely spoken – nevermind so passionately – about the Troubles as a minister.
However, his efforts are being lauded today, the credit given to him for the progress which led to the momentous 1994 IRA ceasefire.
Although he did not remark on the Northern Ireland situation during his early career in Cabinet, it was events surrounding the issue that enticed him into politics at the late age of 44.
Born on 3 November 1932 in Roosky, county Roscommon, Reynolds was educated in Summerhill College in Sligo. During the 1950s, he began work with CIE but the glamour and glitz of the showband era soon called and he started to procure dance halls in his local area.
The dance hall was a popular place in the 1960s and Reynolds managed to secure a nice living, investing some of the money earned into other ventures such as a cinema, local newspapers, a pet food company, a bacon factory, a hire purchase firm and a fish-exporting operation.
In 1970, the Arms Crisis kicked off and Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney were removed from office for the alleged import of arms to Northern Ireland for use by the IRA. Both were found not guilty of the charges in court. It is said that Reynolds’ decision to enter politics was solidified during this period.
He was first elected to the Dáil for the Longford/Westmeath constituency in 1977 – a late bloomer at 44 years of age. Between 1979 and 1981, he held the positions of Minister for Posts and Telegraphs and Minister for Transport. During that time, Fianna Fáil said he “revolutionised the telecommunications system”, making it “one of the best in Europe”.
His Cabinet career was varied and in 1982, he became the Minister for Industry and Energy, focusing his energy on the National Grid and the Cork-Dublin gas pipeline.
Another change in 1987 saw him switch to Commerce and then Finance. He reduced personal tax rates for the first time in 20 years and lured 200 businesses to the Financial Services Centre.
Described today as a man who was good at making deals, Reynolds negotiated with the Progressive Democrats following the 1989 election, securing the “temporary little arrangement” of a coalition government.
This turbulent period in Irish politics saw Reynolds take a leadership challenge against Charles Haughey, a move that resulted in his expulsion from Cabinet.
However, the gamble eventually paid off when Charlie retired in early 1992. Reynolds succeeded him, beating out competition from Mary O’Rourke and Michael Woods in the party’s leadership campaign.
But the new Taoiseach’s strained relationship with the PDs’ leader Dessie O’Malley would see the coalition government flounder nine months later over the Beef Tribunal.
The inquiry into the beef processing industry revealed deep conflict between Reynolds and O’Malley who, during evidence to the tribunal, was openly critical of Reynolds’ time as industry and commerce minister and the operation of the export credit scheme.
In his evidence, Reynolds’ reference to O’Malley’s contribution as “dishonest” would collapse the government and an election was called.
It was a risk, but Fianna Fáil would eventually return to power with Labour. Risk-taking was a characteristic of the man as a politician as his former press officer Seán Duignan attests to when discussing billion-pound negotiations with the EU.
Albert is a born gambler – at the track, in business and politics… When the chips are finally down, and there’s nothing more that can be done, he just stands back and watches – fascinated, fatalistic, almost stoic.
But, eventually, it was that that risk-taking that meant he is one of the country’s shortest serving leaders. Before we get to the downfall though, there were his remarkable achievements in the North.
‘Who is afraid of peace?’
On 15 December 1993, the Downing Street Declaration was signed by John Major and Reynolds. The agreement outlined that the constitutional future of Northern Ireland could only be decided by self-determination and that both governments would not encourage any particular outcome. It was the precursor to the Good Friday Agreement.
It wasn’t long before he was shaking hands with Gerry Adams on the steps of government buildings, a massively unprecedented move at the time but his approach – bullish at the time – was one that was maintained by all governments who came after him.
The question that underlined all of his decisions during that time was: “Who is afraid of peace?”
And what had previously seemed impossible came into fruition months later, with an IRA ceasefire announced on 31 August 1994.
His late entry into politics could also have been a factor in the growth of his reputation as a risk-taker.
Recalling a conversation with Reynolds, Duignan recounts:
Early on, he told me: ‘The main thing to remember about being in this job is that you’re here to make decisions, and that involves taking risks… You cannot get all the decisions right, but you’ll have no hope at all if you try to play it safe, and duck taking them… You’ve got to be prepared to take the responsibility and also, if you get it wrong, to take the consequences’. I was soon to learn that Albert Reynolds consistently played for high stakes, was prepared to back his hunch to the limit, and preferred to bet on the nose, rather than each way.
But, ultimately, he was a self-titled deal-maker.
I’m a dealer. Not a wheeler-dealer or a double-dealer – just a dealer. That’s what I do, hard straight dealing. And that’s what I think I can pull off on the North, something they’ll all accept as an even deal.
The Northern Ireland Peace Process was certainly high stakes, and his confidence was backed by commitment and the building of trusting relationships. He forged a close working relationship with Major, despite him being a “reluctant partner”.
“..In many respects he had to be dragged kicking and screaming and it was to Albert Reynolds’ eternal credit that he won him over,” Fergus Finlay, former advisor Dick Spring, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today.
He was the most dogged, most persistent, most straightforward and most single-minded person I’ve ever met in terms of the pursuit of an objective.
That sentiment echoes what Mary Holland wrote in the Irish Times in the wake of the IRA and other paramilitary ceasefires 20 years ago:
It has been precisely the skills of a huckster, well, successful entrepreneur – his readiness to take a risk, cut corners, drive a hard deal and, crucially, to back an instinctive hunch with the necessary action – which not only wrested the much longer for ‘complete cessation’ of violence from the IRA, but has since provided, almost single-handed, the momentum to keep the peace process on course.
Looking back over the past 25 years, it is impossible to imagine any other Taoiseach capable of pulling off this outrageous coup de théatre.
‘Longford Slasher’
But it wasn’t just the bloodshed of the conflict that caused political problems for Reynolds. He also had a number of other controversies to deal with, all while working with a party in which there were a number of strong members he had alienated at the start of his term in office.
He had earned the titled of the ‘Longford Slasher’ because of his tactic of getting rid of eight Cabinet ministers and nine Ministers of State in the biggest reshuffle in Irish history.
“I could have done with a revolving door in this office to deal with all these guys,” he said at the time.
But those men and women – of whom Mary O’Rourke was one – stayed around and became friendly enemies. Some became friends with Bertie Ahern – who had ironically been the only Haughey loyalist that Reynolds retained – the consequences of which would be seen before long.
Ahern needed him to take a misstep though before cashing in on those new-found friendships. And like many who have come after him, the X Case was an immediate headache for Reynolds as he took on the top job.
Despite losing the referendum on whether to roll back on the Supreme Court judgement to allow an abortion if there was a risk of suicide, the government coalition, although damaged, stayed together.
A central figure in that controversy, Attorney General Harry Whelehan, would remain a thorn in their side. He had been re-appointed to the position by Reynolds in 1992 but Tánaiste Dick Spring stayed quiet on the issues he had with it.
But when he was then proposed for the vacant High Court president role, Spring had a decision on his hands.
At this point, Whelehan had been accused of mishandling an attempt to extradite Brendan Smyth, one of the most notorious child abusers in the country, to Northern Ireland where he faced charges. It is also alleged that he was not fully supportive of prosecuting him in Ireland because of the implications for the Catholic Church.
An exposé by Channel 4 was embarrassing for the country and there was disquiet about the government’s support of Whelehan.
Reynolds admitted in the Dáil that he should not have proposed Whelehan for the position but, at that stage, it was too late and Spring took his Labour party out of government.
In November 1994, on resigning as Taoiseach, Reynolds discussed his own approach to his short time leading the country:
There is only one message I want to get across: that I am what I am, and I don’t pretend to be something that I am not. Yes, we all have human failings, but… that’s me, that’s what I have been, that’s what I always will be. Above all, throughout my life in politics and in business, I have been delighted to be a risk taker… because I believe, if you were not a risk taker, you will achieve nothing… the easiest way of life is not to be a risk taker… I am quite happy that, having taken the risks, the successes have far outweighed the failures.
His last words as Taoiseach not only reflected the words of his unscripted resignation but they also highlight how his legacy is remembered today – what he succeeded at was big, monumental and life-changing but there were also elements of his leadership that let him down.
“It’s amazing. You cross the big hurdles, and when you get to the small ones, you get tripped.”
Albert Reynolds is survived by his wife Kathleen Reynolds, their two sons, five daughters and grandchildren.
Quotes taken from One Spin on the Merry-Go-Round by Seán Duignan; Reporting with Christine Bohan
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The man is gone now and should be remembered for what he achieved. He did play a very important part in Bringing about Peace in Northern Ireland.
Let’s not forget the bad he did either.
And lets not forget how the legal gang of untouchables brought his government down
I totally agree let’s not forget the bad he done either. Helping his nephew John Reynolds of the pod. Hide the taxes from revenue. But I guess we won’t hear any of this.
Albert made mistakes in life, certainly the passports for cash debacle should not have happened.
His main legacy will be really the peace process where he did much of the lifting to savage opposition from sections of the media, Fine Gael and esp John Bruton.
He could have gone along with their pressure but at great political risk he didn’t and as John Bruton described it ” the fuc8ing peace process” was born. Suck it up John.
John Bruton very nearly ruined the foundation work Reynolds had put in place.. suck it up is right aul Blueshirt Bruton prefered to be supping with the head of the Parachute Regiment and lauding the virtuous Unionists then sticking up for his own people.
Let’s not sugarcoat Reynolds. He was the right man for the right time in regards to Northern Ireland. But he was atrocious to Ireland for the rest.
• Don’t forget it was Reynolds and FF involvement in the messy extradition of the pedophile Brendan Smith to Northern Ireland that caused the govt of the day to fall. It was Reynolds cabinet and appointees that tried to hide the matter of Brendan Smith from view. They weren’t prepared to see a trial through in Ireland or anywhere else.
• Reynolds had abused his political power as Taoiseach by soliciting a donation from developer Owen O’Callaghan in exchange for government support in his proposed national stadium at Neilstown in Dublin.
• And of course, the cash for passports scandal where Khalid bin Mahfouz got 11 passports for his family. Sheikh Mahfouz was subsequently indicted by a grand jury in New York in relation to defrauding investors of the failed banking giant BCCI.
• The scandal over credits for beef exports
• He was heavily criticised at the time for the ‘jobs for the boys’ cronyism (which lead to some of the controversies).
And this is only what will fit in the limited text box of the Journal comments. We wouldn’t be saying what a great man Enda Kenny is or Bertie Ahern, so why let someone who did the exact same ‘screw Ireland’ approach off the hook simply because time has passed on a little.
“Albert made mistakes in life, certainly the passports for cash debacle should not have happened.”
“A mistake”? Typical Fianna Failer, he should have been booted out of office and charged.
Guys, you’re forgetting about the unscheduled detour to the Bahamas to drop off the suitcase of $1,000,000 FF fundraiser cash. FF eventually received just $70,000 of the $1,000,000.
All allegedly, of course.
Reynolds was as bad as Bertie.
How in the name of god did Bruton ever become leader !
Seanie
Integrity and honesty are shortcomings that make your contributions to these pages cheap and tawdry. You make it sound as if John Bruton detested the Peace Process and wished to have nothing to do with it but the descriptor you quote was said to a reporter who was given access to a private interview with him after giving a personal undertaking that the subject of the meeting was something else. The deceitful reporter only wished to discuss the subject that Bruton had spent a full day dealing with and his outburst was an expression of frustration.
On the subject of your hero we also seem to be revising history. Reynolds as Minister for Agriculture gave his old friend Larry Goodman over eighty percent of the available export credit insurance guarantees at the expense of all other exporters and the monies were lost in Sadams Iraq.
In other areas there were mysterious fires in Dancehall and Nightclubs owned by Mr Reynolds and on one occasion on the floor of Dail Eireann he denied he knew anything about a million pound investment in his Meat business in exchange for Irish passports!
In terms of character references it is never a question of balancing the positive contributions with anything else but more a matter of refusing to accept the dishonesty and immorality.
Perhaps that is the failing if Fianna Fail Seanie!
@The Throwaway
At the time of the Brendan Smyth case, Pat Rabbitte accused Cardinal Cahal Daly of writing a letter to the Office of the Attorney General (AG) on behalf of Smyth. That letter was never written.
The reason for the delay in the extradition is that Eoghan Fitzsimons, who had succeeded Whelehan as AG, had to consider a point with regard to lapse of time because some of Smyth’s crimes took place decades previously. Fitzsimons thought that the Duggan case was a precedent. However, it wasn’t a precedent because Anthony Duggan, who was never a cleric, sexually abused a child at some time between June 1988 and January 1989, which meant that lapse of time was irrelevant to the Duggan case and thus that the Duggan case was irrelevant to the Smyth case.
What led to the resignation of Matt Russell, a senior civil servant at the Office of the AG, was his failure to respond to two letters written by a solicitor on behalf of the victims of Brendan Smyth. The letters were received in November 1994 and January 1995. On the face of it they were ridiculous. They demanded compensation for the victims because of the suffering caused by the original extradition delay. In the light of the reigning hysteria Matt Russell should have taken them more seriously but he favoured the logical approach.
Furthermore, Reynolds sought the donation from O’Callaghan for his party’s benefit, not his own. Therefore, what Reynolds did not illegal, although it was inappropriate.
Reynolds, unlike Haughey, was not an adulterer and did not wear Charvet shirts.
I always had admiration for Albert. He always seemed to come across as on of the genuine guys. He had no other motives just doing what a politician should do. Serve the people not himself. R.i.p.
You seriously need to look at the findings of the tribunals. The credits for beef scandal, the ‘bury your head’ approach taken to move the pedophile Brendan smith out of view. The money he took for planning decisions.
But yes, he was a politician of the people.
Awwww Throwaway you can’t say that, you’re spoiling the Albert Reynolds lovefest. Then you force people to take off their blinkers and deal in realities. You big ruiner.
He did the state some service.
So did Charles J Haughey, what’s your point?
Another thieve who stole millions off of us gets a state funeral! Not to mention the Harry Whelehan and Larry Goodman cover ups amongst others
You love people in foreign lands but not your own…. If you don’t realise the work that Reynolds put in to bring peace to Ireland – i hope the people of Gaza have a similar mould of politician to help them… rather than empty rhetoric like you espouse.
Peace?? You are obviously a moron who believes all you read in the Independent and on RTE! Go into the 6 counties and ask people about peace or anybody that has a differing political opinion than the 26 county puppet state
@Justice for Gaza
You’re a moron.
Justice you must not remember the troubles if you make such comparisons.
“justice for Gaza” such a title..
..I can imagine you strongly contemplated, “justice for Republicans” too..
That’s the thing “justice” we can and do go up north, holidays,weekends, gigs shipping etc. it didn’t happen when I was growing up.
It was called a ‘peace process’ not a “let’s get everybody to like each other process”.
The shooting and bombings have stopped and the soldiers are off the streets!
You looking for some kind of justice for Palestine? I can tell you if either Palestine or Israel had a leader like Albert they’ll be far better off than they are now.
He done many things but to belittle what has been achieved in the north shows you know very little.
Poor Bertie Ahearn must be crying into his pint listening to the tributes to Mr. Reynolds and his part in brining about the Peace Process in Northern Ireland. The list of contenders seems endless.
In fairness Albert Reynolds brought our telecommunications from the 19th into the 20th Century.
All the rest of what I’m hearing today is just Fianna Fáil revisionism.
RIP Albert, a pity my abiding memory is where he used the RTE cameras to intimidate the people of the country to vote in one one their beloved EU referendum, the Maastricht one if memory serves, as for the bring peace to the North, we have a queue.
Brian Cowen this morning said that Albert Reynolds plucked him for the back benches and said “I hope I live to see you become Taoiseach” Reynolds should be recognized for the part he played in the peace process but to listen to some of the commentators here, you would think he did it single handed.
also didn’t know he was a dealer
I always remember Alberts comment to getting heckled by Nora Owen “Well, thats wimmin for ya.” Classic. My father often used it to annoy my mother.
RIP Albert. He was alright.
He was not alright.
He was every bit as bad as Bertie.
I think when one comes to remember the Late Albert Reynolds they will think of his great achievements. He worked tirelessly to achieve peace in Northern Ireland for the shot time he was there as Taoiseach.Like him or Loath him. He did what he thought was best for all concerned.There are many tributes being paid today which describe the man that was Albert Reynolds. R.I.P. It is not how long he was in office it is what he achieved. . I understand he was also involved in the Dance Hall business in another life before Politics..
Must be wonderful to live in a world where a politician is perfect. Name me one politician who did any change or act that was supported by all the folk. Remember Albert for the good he brought to our lives. It’s too easy to criticise – particularly in the Journal.
Comments like that Powerabbey Re the reason why political reform and accountability will never come about. ‘Sure just disappear for a bit until I forget ya, and then sure waltz right back in!’
I wonder if you’ll be taking the same line to Fianna Fáil politicians who caused the crash, or Fine Gael politicians who beat people as they were down.
It’s absolutely flabbergasting to see how short peoples memories are.
Many thanks for proving my comment to be correct.
I have no personal opinion on Reynolds. He did both good and bad. I can’t help but think of Shakespeares’ Julius Caesar:
“The evil men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.”
My condolences to the family of Albert Reynolds the man.
*Thief
What does ‘Justice for Gaza’ even mean? amadán. #rhetoric!
He spoke to Gerry Adams when nobody else would, he realised you could not have peace if you could not bring the terrorists to the table which included the IRA UDA UVF UFF etc etc. RIP Albert.
Despite what some have said,good or bad.they say you should never speak ill of the dead..let’s hope history will be kind to him.
That’s an old wives saying, Shane.
Surely, it’s better to tell the truth about him – alive or dead.
It’s quite a number of years,that I recall,where this state had any outstanding leader of this country,who was not stuck in some scandal or orther-it’s a rare exception to find an honest,sincere,minister,etc who lasts long enough in Leinster house without knives being sharpened to oust them out!..
>>>The dance hall was a popular place in the 1960s and Reynolds managed to secure a nice living, investing some of the money earned into other ventures such as a cinema, local newspapers, a pet food company, a bacon factory, a hire purchase firm and a fish-exporting operation.<<<
Sure didn't he get some rich arabs to invest €1million in his pet food company in exchange for some passports. Don't see that mentioned. Oh no, it was all because of his sound business skills. Of course it was.
The morale of our country would be in much better shape if we had doers and men with common sense and decency, such as Mr Albert Reynolds, in Government today.
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