very hard work. We would meet at 11 a.m. every Tuesday. Charlie was every bit as rigorous with his Shadow Cabinet as if it were a real
Cabinet. There is no doubt that Haughey expected you to work as hard as if you were a Minister in government. I really revelled in the work, however. I enjoyed shadowing Gemma Hussey, a very
pleasant woman, with whom I have maintained warm relations and indeed a friendship throughout the years. No doubt I made her life hell on occasion, as she did mine at times too. But I like to think
that we both played the game as it then was, within the limits — she as a full-blooded Minister and me as a full-blooded Shadow Minister.
In February 1987 the coalition of Fine Gael (under Garret FitzGerald) and Labour came to an end in a messy way. Now blessed Garret in retrospect often liked to represent this
parting of the ways as a very amicable one, insisting that they all remained great friends even as they fell out. Perhaps it was the case, but what they presented to the public seemed more like a
rather acrimonious adieu, as Labour pulled out over very necessary and indeed long overdue spending cuts.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil returned three out of four TDS in Longford–Westmeath: Albert Reynolds, Henry Abbott and myself. There had been a hugely entertaining
incident involving Albert Reynolds and me, which indeed he has delineated skilfully in his autobiography and which has gone down in political folklore as ‘the Battle of Tang’. Tang is a
small village on the borders of Westmeath and Longford, but technically it was part of my area for canvassing and garnering the vote. On the last Sunday before the General Election of February
1987, however, Albert and his cohort of followers decided they were going to speak outside Tang Church after morning Mass. Since my team and I had exactly the same plan, it seemed that we were set
for an almighty stand-off. I arrived at the church with my truck, my guys and my microphone. Shortly afterwards, Albert arrived with his truck, his guys and his microphone. We knew that the priest
was nearing completion in the church because we had a scout going inside and keeping us informed. But we had no idea what was going to happen next — whether or not we were just going to go
head-to-head and drown one another out, or whether someone would back down at the last moment. In the end, we both stepped back from the brink and agreed to stage a united front by addressing the
church crowd from the same truck. Fortunately, we got a great reception from those assembled! I can’t even remember now who got the most votes from Tang, but I know I was happy with the
overall outcome and no doubt Albert was too.
While in that election, things in my part of the country had panned out very well for Fianna Fáil, it looked very uncertain as to whether we would win the day and Charlie Haughey would be
returned as Taoiseach. The party had undoubtedly lost some important seats — a year earlier, Des O’Malley, Bobby Molloy and Mary Harney had left Fianna Fáil to set up the
Progressive Democratic Party (the PDS ), and of course that had affected the Fianna Fáil vote in some areas. But Charlie fought a great campaign. We had all of our
position papers at the ready and a series of huge billboards in place in a timely fashion in the key locations. It was an election of the old style: Charlie barnstorming around the country; church
gate meetings; intense canvassing day-by-day, night-by-night. Ultimately we emerged triumphant.
I had high hopes of being offered the job of Gemma Hussey, whom I had of course been opposite for over four years as Shadow Minister for Education. I knew very well, however, that I was still a
rookie member of the Dáil and that there were many more in the pecking order ahead of me — but still, I had my dreams. The intervening weeks between the results of the election and the
recalling of the Dáil were tense, with many forecasts in the papers and
Cabinet. There is no doubt that Haughey expected you to work as hard as if you were a Minister in government. I really revelled in the work, however. I enjoyed shadowing Gemma Hussey, a very
pleasant woman, with whom I have maintained warm relations and indeed a friendship throughout the years. No doubt I made her life hell on occasion, as she did mine at times too. But I like to think
that we both played the game as it then was, within the limits — she as a full-blooded Minister and me as a full-blooded Shadow Minister.
In February 1987 the coalition of Fine Gael (under Garret FitzGerald) and Labour came to an end in a messy way. Now blessed Garret in retrospect often liked to represent this
parting of the ways as a very amicable one, insisting that they all remained great friends even as they fell out. Perhaps it was the case, but what they presented to the public seemed more like a
rather acrimonious adieu, as Labour pulled out over very necessary and indeed long overdue spending cuts.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil returned three out of four TDS in Longford–Westmeath: Albert Reynolds, Henry Abbott and myself. There had been a hugely entertaining
incident involving Albert Reynolds and me, which indeed he has delineated skilfully in his autobiography and which has gone down in political folklore as ‘the Battle of Tang’. Tang is a
small village on the borders of Westmeath and Longford, but technically it was part of my area for canvassing and garnering the vote. On the last Sunday before the General Election of February
1987, however, Albert and his cohort of followers decided they were going to speak outside Tang Church after morning Mass. Since my team and I had exactly the same plan, it seemed that we were set
for an almighty stand-off. I arrived at the church with my truck, my guys and my microphone. Shortly afterwards, Albert arrived with his truck, his guys and his microphone. We knew that the priest
was nearing completion in the church because we had a scout going inside and keeping us informed. But we had no idea what was going to happen next — whether or not we were just going to go
head-to-head and drown one another out, or whether someone would back down at the last moment. In the end, we both stepped back from the brink and agreed to stage a united front by addressing the
church crowd from the same truck. Fortunately, we got a great reception from those assembled! I can’t even remember now who got the most votes from Tang, but I know I was happy with the
overall outcome and no doubt Albert was too.
While in that election, things in my part of the country had panned out very well for Fianna Fáil, it looked very uncertain as to whether we would win the day and Charlie Haughey would be
returned as Taoiseach. The party had undoubtedly lost some important seats — a year earlier, Des O’Malley, Bobby Molloy and Mary Harney had left Fianna Fáil to set up the
Progressive Democratic Party (the PDS ), and of course that had affected the Fianna Fáil vote in some areas. But Charlie fought a great campaign. We had all of our
position papers at the ready and a series of huge billboards in place in a timely fashion in the key locations. It was an election of the old style: Charlie barnstorming around the country; church
gate meetings; intense canvassing day-by-day, night-by-night. Ultimately we emerged triumphant.
I had high hopes of being offered the job of Gemma Hussey, whom I had of course been opposite for over four years as Shadow Minister for Education. I knew very well, however, that I was still a
rookie member of the Dáil and that there were many more in the pecking order ahead of me — but still, I had my dreams. The intervening weeks between the results of the election and the
recalling of the Dáil were tense, with many forecasts in the papers and
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