Mary McAleese was President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She is a former Pro-Vice Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast and she was Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin from 1975 to 1987.
Ray Mac Sharry is a retired public representative. He was a member of Dáil Éireann from 1969 to 1988 and a member of the Euro- pean Parliament from 1984 to 1987. He has served as European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; Minister for Finance and Public Services; Tánaiste; Minister for Finance; Minister for Agriculture and Minister of State at the Department of Finance and Public Service.
Dr Martin Mansergh was Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the OPW from 2008 to 2011. He was a Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary South from 2007 to 2011 and Senator from 2002 to 2007. He was a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, latterly vice-chairman, until 2008. As a special adviser to the Taoiseach, he was member of the Tax Strategy Group 1997 to 2002. He is the author of The Legacy of History for Making Peace in Ireland.
Rory Montgomery is Second Secretary General, Department of the Taoiseach, having previously been the Irish Permanent Representative to the EU and Ambassador to France. He is writing in a purely personal capacity as a long-standing friend of Brian Lenihan.
John Mullen is from Tinahely, County Wicklow, and served as Deputy National Organiser of Fianna Fáil until 2004.
Dr Brian Murphy is a former speech writer to two Taoisigh. He recently completed a PhD in the School of History and Archives, University College Dublin.
Dr Harman Murtagh is a native of Athlone and a former senior lecturer at Athlone Institute of Technology, where he is currently a visiting fellow.
Marie Louise O’Donnell was educated at Nottingham University, NUI Maynooth, and UCD. She lectured in the School of Communications at DCU. She trained in radio with the BBC and presented programmes for Radio 4 for several years. She has lectured in Ireland, Europe and the USA. She presents a weekly colour piece on The Today with Sean O’Rourke Show. Marie Louise is a published writer. In 2011, she was appointed to Seanad Éireann by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Feargal O’Rourke is Head of Tax Services in PwC Ireland and has been a partner in the firm since 1996. He was a member of the Government’s Commission on Taxation (2008–9). He is a frequent commentator in the media on tax policy matters.
Mary O’Rourke is a best-selling author. She was a member of Dáil Éireann from 1982 to 2002 and 2007 to 2011. She was Leader of Seanad Éireann from 2002 to 2007. She has served as Minister for Public Enterprise; Minister for Health; Minister for Education; Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Employment and Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce. She is a former Deputy Leader of Fianna Fáil.
Eamon Ryan is the leader of the Green Party. He was a member of Dáil Éireann from 2002 to 2011. He served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2007 to 2011.
John Trethowan is a career banker with 42 years of experience. He is a past President of the Institute of Banking in Ireland, and is currently head of the Credit Review Office which allows SMEs to appeal declined lending decisions up to €3 billion. John is also an experienced company director, and is currently chairman of the board of two large business organisations in Northern Ireland.
Jillian Van Turnhout is an Independent Senator nominated by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. She knew the late Brian Lenihan through her work as Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance from 2005 to 2011.
Noel Whelan is a barrister, Irish Times columnist and author of a number of books on politics and elections.
INTRODUCTION
NOEL WHELAN
FEW PERIODS IN IRISH history are likely to be as extensively excavated by future historians as that from 2008 to 2011.The financial and banking collapse, the acute economic and social crisis and the potentially seismic political shifts that Ireland experienced in those four years have already attracted volumes of analysis. Much of that analysis is framed in the context of political charge and counter-charge and almost all of it is shaped by intense and justified public anger.
It is unavoidable that this book, focusing as it does on the life and work of one of the central, if not the central, political figures of those years, will feed into the early drafts of the history of this turbulent period. While that is inevitable, that is not the purpose of this book.
This collection of essays gathers the observations of some of those most proximate to Brian Lenihan during these crucial years. It will be obvious to the reader that all of the contributors had strong affection for Brian and many of them are, therefore, defensive of his memory. Some, however, are simultaneously (or alternatively) defensive of their own actions. In some places, the contributors are critical of what Brian and his government colleagues did or, at least, are critical of how it was done. As well as covering their dealings with Brian Lenihan, some of the contributors have given their broader recollections and reflections on key events, some of them for the first time. Each contribution is shaped by the angle from which each writer viewed events at the time and by adjustments in their perspective, which may have occurred since. Like everyone writing about this period, they have, even after this short interval, the benefit of hindsight.
Those looking for a definitive account of Brian Lenihan’s life or detached judgement of his actions have come to the wrong place. In each of the following essays, the authors themselves set out their own particular connection to Brian Lenihan. It is for readers, each of whom will also come with their own pre-determined view of the man and the period, to decide the extent to which the contributors can be objective or the extent to which they may be over-compensating for being perceived as coming with inevitable bias.
While Brian Lenihan’s tenure as Minister for Finance will fascinate readers most, this book ranges over his entire political career and, indeed, covers non-political aspects of his life and his personal formation. The choice of contributors was not strategic or deliberate. In most cases, they were obvious. A number of people were asked to write up to five thousand words about the Brian Lenihan they knew and their workings or contact with him. There were some who declined, honestly acknowledging that, although they liked and respected him, they felt they knew him insufficiently to justify writing in this volume.
Through a combination of design and happenstance, the final line-up of contributors collectively gives a comprehensive if inevitably benign picture of Brian Lenihan’s political life and impact.
Harman Murtagh chronicles how Brian was shaped and initially schooled in Athlone, Mary McAleese and Rory Montgomery, as teacher and fellow student respectively, give some insight into how Brian’s years in Trinity College shaped him for later challenges, in which each of them had ringside seats. Mary O’Rourke, his aunt and later a fellow parliamentarian, was similarly positioned to give insights on his youth and later career. Feargal O’Rourke, Brian’s cousin and himself a leading expert on taxation issues, gives both a personal reflection and professional assessment of Brian.
Cathy Herbert was Lenihan’s closest political adviser in all his ministries, and along with Alan Ahearne, was part of his core team within the Department of Finance. Martin Mansergh was his junior minister in that department, while Eamon Ryan and Paul Gallagher engaged and befriended him from different perches around the cabinet table. Ray Mac Sharry had been minister for finance during a previous economic crisis and Brian valued his advice. Patrick Honohan was appointed by Brian as Governor of the Central Bank and he worked closely with him in that role. John Trethowan was asked by Brian to establish the Credit Review Office. Christine Lagarde, the then French finance minister, was a close colleague in the decision-making