Mr Charles Haughey's style of leadership was marked by threats and intimidation from the very moment he was elected to succeed Mr Jack Lynch, according to a fascinating vignette which has emerged in the wake of the McCracken report.
Senior and well-placed sources in Fianna Fail have confirmed that commercial pressure was brought to bear on at least one member of Mr Lynch's government team in an effort to get him to back Mr Haughey in the 1979 leadership contest with Mr George Colley.
Mr David Andrews, the current Minister for Defence, was Minister of State at the Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Justice in Mr Lynch's government when Mr Lynch resigned in December 1979, precipitating the contest between Mr Haughey and Mr Colley.
At the time, Mr Andrews, who is a barrister, was on the panel of lawyers used by the Private Motorists Protection Association, then the state's largest car insurance company.
On the morning of December 7th, 1979, the day of the vote to elect a new Fianna Fail leader (who would automatically become Taoiseach as the party was in government), Mr Andrews received a telephone call from the late Mr Joe Moore (snr), a supporter of Mr Haughey.
Mr Moore, who was the founder and head of PMPA, asked Mr Andrews if he was going "to do the right thing" when choosing between Mr Haughey and Mr Colley.
Mr Andrews, who had already decided to support Mr Colley, assured Mr Moore that he was going to do the right thing and the conversation concluded.
On his way into the meeting via some back stairs in Leinster House, Mr Andrews met Mr Haughey. At this point, he told Mr Haughey that he would not be voting for him. In the event, Mr Haughey won the contest by 44 votes to 38.
Immediately after the meeting, Mr Andrews's name was removed from the PMPA panel of lawyers, with a consequent loss of income to Mr Andrews. "The message was clear, unequivocal," said a source yesterday.
