The arms crisis of 1970 came about when two Irish cabinet ministers, Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney, alongside an army officer and other figures, were accused by Taoiseach Jack Lynch of smuggling arms to the IRA in Northern Ireland.

The introduction of The Free Travel Pass for the Elderly is one of Haughey’s greatest legacies. Described as “the greatest thing since fried bread or the sliced pan”, it enables the elderly or those over 66 years to escape from being perpetual prisoners in their own home and be able to freely travel daily, locally or throughout the length and breath of the country” by Micheál Ó Nualláin.

Haughey became Minister for Health in 1977 and a few short years later in 1983 Beaumont Hospital was built. The Hospital did not open due to a dispute with Health Minister Barry Desmond, finally opening in 1987 when Haughey was returned as Taoiseach.

In the 1980s CIE planned to make Temple Bar into a bus station. Haughey had other plans, passing the Temple Bar Renewal and Development Bill which created two state companies, Temple Bar Properties Ltd and Temple Bar Renewal Ltd which were established to oversee the regeneration of the entire area.

This article outlines Haughey’s role in the creation of the National Treasury Management Agency