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Article: The devil they know. (Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 3, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Ireland
The devil they know
THE English and other right-thinking people know that Mr Charles Haughey, the Irish prime minister, has cloven hooves. Still, the old devil knows how to run a government. Since he was elected in February 1987 to replace an inept Fine Gael-Labour coalition, Mr Haughey has not ceased to surprise his critics.
Dread met his election. The bumbling coalition had piled up a debt mountain equal to 1 1/2 times yearly national income; the government's budget deficit was running at 13% of GNP. A lot of the debt had been built up by three earlier governments led by Mr Haughey and his free-spending Fianna Fail party. When he ...