Fionnán Sheahan

At issue was a move to import arms for use by the nationalist community to defend themselves in Belfast, in Derry and other centres because they had been subject to vicious attacks the previous year and into that year of 1970.

Yeah, and a key element of Troubles.

Let's talk about kind of more modern era leaders then.

Charlie Haughey, I mean, ultimately, when you look back now, kind of remarkable, wasn't it?

Look, this is only...

40 years ago, a leader of the biggest party in the country, Taoiseach slash Four Occasions, who was so wealthy, had a large mansion, North County Dublin, owned a yacht, an island, and had all other trappings of wealth.

And the maths didn't add up, did they?

No, the great mystery, where did his wealth come from?

There were rumblings, there were questions in the Dáil.

Some of the more dissident left-wing deputies raised questions in the Dáil.

The Sunday Independent raised questions, but it wasn't going to fly.

It was an authoritarian era, mind your place, and he's the boss and that's that.

And by the way, that was his title, the boss.

Of all the leaders of Fianna Fáil, why did de Cahill command such enormous loyalty?

Was it that he was a brilliant figure?

Did it go back to the arms trial and how he was treated there, rightly or wrongly?

What was it about him that made him command such stern loyalty?

Just very briefly, he was unfairly treated.

We now know definitively that it was a government decision taken

to import those arms, and he was basically ratted out by Lynch and the others.