There can be no doubt that Haughey went to his grave a happy man. Apart from the fact that he was never brought to justice for his corruption, it has now emerged that Vincent Browne, for years one of Haughey’s strongest critics has become a Haugheyite.
Browne was one of the first to be interviewed after Haughey’s death was first announced on the The Tubridy Show last Tuesday. Obviously very upset, Browne made a tearful and emotional defence of his new found ‘hero’.
Last night,(Wed.) on his radio show Vincent demonstrated in the clearest possible manner how much he has been taken in by Ireland’s most corrupt politician. I strongly urge anyone who is interested in how the cancer of corruption, and the role played by Haughey in spreading that cancer, has warped even the most objective and professional of journalists, to listen to this show.
On the show, Vincent had Haughey’s former personal assistant, Catherine Butler. Haughey may be a hero to Browne but to Butler he is a god. She describes him as a cultured, intelligent, dedicated and patriotic man.
She blames the media (don’t they all), the Progressive Democrats (she describes them disparagingly as the ‘Perfect Democrats’), Fine Gael and the gullibility of the Irish people for believing all the ‘media lies’ for all the ills that befell Haughey.
Butler is not, however, media savvy so Vincent took it upon himself to guide, lead, prompt and manipulate her views in an obvious effort to present Haughey as an ‘innocent victim’ of cruel circumstances.
There is so much in this broadcast that it will be necessary to come back for further analysis.
I’d suggest not reading this weeks issue of Village Magazine either. Jesus, but it’s vomit inducing stuff.
Haughey was a class A bastard for many reasons, I knew this I was only a teenager when he left office. I can still remember my parents struggling to make ends meet in the 1980’s.
Browne is a coward and showed himself to be one when he rolled over for Charlie Haughey and refused to expose him for his part in publishing a fraudulent book of estimates in the 1980’s. However predictable Browne may be (Champagne socialist, Bush-hater, terror apologist etc), he has recently outdone himself by interviewing John Gilligan.
What does Browne stand for but opportunism and station identity. He tries not to be whatever he believes the media consensus to be. Not an enviable role to bring upon himself but I hope he suffers under its weight!
respect