In the early 1970s, Maurice Oldfield of Britain’s Secret Service, MI6, began a decade-long campaign to derail the political career of Charles Haughey. Oldfield rose to head MI6 in 1973 and served until his retirement in 1978. Yet the campaign failed: Haughey became Taoiseach in December 1979.
In October 1979, Oldfield was recalled to intelligence work by Margaret Thatcher and sent to Northern Ireland as overall intelligence chief. From this position, he continued his efforts against Haughey—once again to no avail.
In 1980, Oldfield was forced to step down when it emerged he had lied during security vetting about his homosexuality. It later transpired that he abused ‘rent boys’ and collected child pornography. Oldfield was the architect of the infamous Kincora Boys’ Home scandal.
Others in MI5 and MI6 carried on the push against Haughey after Oldfield’s departure. Though Haughey lost the 1981 general election, he returned to power in early 1982, only to fall from office again by the end of the year. Still, he remained leader of his party, Fianna Fáil, and in 1987 became Taoiseach once more—holding office until 1992. In the end, he outlasted Thatcher, who was ousted from power in 1990; news of her downfall delighted Haughey, who was being interviewed by Irish journalists abroad.
I clearly recall a conversation with Pádraig Ó hAnnracháin, one of Haughey’s closest advisers. He confirmed that Haughey’s inner circle was certain that British intelligence had worked systematically against him.
Martin Mansergh provided further insights about the plot. He explained that as late as 1980, Haughey had been reluctant to believe MI6 was targeting him, given the working relationship he had built with Margaret Thatcher. By the close of 1982, however, he had come to the firm conclusion that they were plotting against him.
By 1987, Haughey had the means to investigate the presence of British intelligence operatives within the Gardaí, yet chose not to. Those close to him say he was unwilling to revisit old grievances,. Instead he focussed on the economy and broader international developments—such as the reunification of Germany—at a time when Ireland held the presidency of the European Union.
The article focused on a 68-page booklet printed by British black propagandists. Since the publication of the NOW article, I have discovered two relevant publications. The first one was an A4-sized pamphlet published by Official Sinn Féin in 1971. British spies reprinted it, adding a paragraph about Haughey. I managed to acquire a copy of the British reprint about ten years ago.
The second publication was a 68-page A5 booklet. It was published in 1973 by Official Sinn Féin. It was packed with errors and wild conspiracies. A reprint of it was published by the spooks. I have the original 1973 Official Sinn Féin version and some handwritten notes by a British propagandist indicating possible alterations, but they are vague and difficult to understand. I never managed to acquire the British reprint of the 1973 booklet to compare it with the original. Nonetheless, it is reasonable to speculate that the spooks made only minimal changes to the original version to avoid drawing attention to the reprint. Hence, it is the case – at the very least – that MI6 and the IRD reprinted and circulated the existing falsehoods in the 68-page booklet. Those falsehoods were the focus of a sizeable part of the NOW article.
The NOW article also referred to a 1972 meeting at which the plot to smear Haughey was discussed. I later obtained a copy of a vicious, dirty-trick smear book that emerged from that meeting, which I quoted in ‘Enemy of the Crown’. The smear conference took place at Stormont Castle.
I also discovered, long after the NOW article appeared, that Oldfield had used Private Eye magazine in London as a conduit for his smears. They mirrored the lies in the 1972 Stormont Castle dirty trick document.
So, I guess, the 1990 article was a fair stab at a much larger and more complex story.
The NOW article was ignored by The Irish Times, and other mainstream media organisations back in 1990. To put it plainly: I was not in the least surprised. This article on The Irish Times may give you a clue why I was not surprised by the wilful blind eye turned by The Irish Times: Our Man in Dublin. [WebBook]
You may download and or read the 1990 article via the link below.
David Burke is the author of four books published by Mercier Press.
