GAME OF FOES

Today's rivalries pale in comparison to Haughey and FitzGerald's epic spats

- BY PAT FLANAGAN

JIM Gavin might be wondering why he agreed to run for the presidency, considering the dog-eat-dog nature of Irish politics.

But modern rivalries pale into insignificance compared to vicious feuding between leading politicians during the 1970s and 80s when open political warfare erupted between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael and their respective leaders.

While civil war politics may now be a thing of the past, back then there was no love lost between them during an era when the country was almost bankrupt and the violence in the North intensified.

In his new book, Charlie vs Garret: The Rivalry That Shaped Modern Ireland, DCU politics professor Eoin O'Malley examines the characters and careers of Charlie Haughey and Dr Garret FitzGerald.

It's a fascinating reflection on the 1970s and 80s, when the country was divided into two large political camps: those who backed Fianna Fail and its charismatic but flawed leader Charlie, and Fine Gael whose supporters referred to their leader as "Garret the Good".

It was a time when a government minister was tapping journalist's phones and the State's Attorney General was inadvertently harbouring a crazed double murderer.

JIBE

O'Malley - son of former Minister Dessie O'Malley tells how it was FitzGerald who caused severe controversy when he claimed his rival had a "flawed pedigree", an insult Haughey was still mad about two decades later.

Although the jibe wasn't specifically directed at Haughey's working-class background, it was interpreted that way, leading to accusations that FitzGerald was something of a detached snob.