The State's current prosperity is directly based on the economic changes made by Charles J Haughey between 1987/89, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said in some of his most laudatory remarks about the former taoiseach.
Mr Ahern said the former taoiseach had acted "bravely" in handling the economic crisis of that era, when unemployment exceeded 20 per cent.
Complimenting RTÉ's four-part series on Mr Haughey, Mr Ahern said it was "good for a younger generation to see all of the good things that he has done, when people see the International Financial Services Centre, when they see all the good work that we have done on tourism in this country, with the Erne Canal, and when they have seen many of the projects that would not have happened [ without him].
"His bravery in 1987 to face up to the fact that this country did not have to be a banana republic with debt that was higher than Ethiopia, with unemployment at one of the higher rates in the world, and that we could actually turn it around.
"The policies that were pursued in that 1987/89 government are why we are where we are today, and the person who helped to turn that around was Charlie Haughey," said Mr Ahern.
Mr Ahern's comments will raise questions as to whether he now believes that the public is ready to judge Mr Haughey's political record in its entirety, rather than focusing only on his dependence on rich businessmen.
Asked about the RTÉ series, made by Mint Productions, Mr Ahern said: "I saw quite a lot of it. Most of it was as things were.
"I think it was a good production, a fair production. Like in anything, I would quibble with a bit here and a bit there," he told RTÉ's This Week programme.
While Mr Ahern's compliments to Mr Haughey were warmer than in the past, he was also unusually prepared to place himself at the centre of some key political events of the period - indeed he emphasised his central role on a number of occasions.
"History might put some bits in other order. It was always interesting to see some people reflecting on meetings," he told the programme.
He said he had been "the only one" who was at the key meeting during the 1990 presidential election when Mr Haughey demanded the resignation from cabinet of the party's candidate, Brian Lenihan. "I was the only one who was at that meeting [ besides the two men]. There were only three of us there, so I know what happened, so I was very interested in people giving their accounts of a meeting that they were not at," he declared.
"I was the director of elections for Brian Lenihan and, of course, I was a minister in Charlie Haughey's government. That was a very difficult time. I remember all of that time very well," said Mr Ahern.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach, who met Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican last week, expressed doubts that he will visit Ireland. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II had been ready to visit here this year - a fact that may help to explain why the Taoiseach was invited so early to meet Pope Benedict. During a 25-minute meeting, Mr Ahern said, "he made it clear to me that he is 78-years-of-age, that he had been ill in the past and that he does not intend to go many places. I didn't get into discussions [ about inviting him to Ireland].
"He is unlikely to go on any transatlantic visits and his visits, even in Europe, would be short," Mr Ahern said.
