Jim Duffy (journalist) - The Lenihan Interview

The Lenihan Interview

In 1990 as part of his postgraduate thesis for his Master of Arts in Political Science Duffy interviewed senior politicians, one of whom was the then Tánaiste, Brian Lenihan. The on-the-record interview, in May 1990, formed one source for a major series of articles on the presidency of Ireland, published in The Irish Times in September 1990. In the interview Lenihan confirmed what he had previously confirmed to other writers over eight years, that on 27 January 1982 he, along with party leader Charles Haughey and a colleague, Sylvester Barrett, had repeatedly phoned Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland, to try to put pressure on the President, Patrick Hillery, to refuse a dissolution of parliament to the Taoiseach (prime minister), Dr Garret FitzGerald. (FitzGerald's government had just been defeated in Dáil Éireann in a vote on the budget.)

In October 1990, in the midst of the presidential election, FitzGerald was to be a guest, alongside Lenihan, on RTÉ1's Questions and Answers political debate programme. He has previously issued a press release about the phone calls issue, but it had received no publicity. He decided to raise the issue of the calls again on the programme, given that in the preceding week Lenihan changed his story of eight years and had now denied twice, first in a student debate, then in an Irish Press interview with Emily O'Reilly, making any calls. When challenged on the programme Lenihan maintained that his October 1990 version was correct, denying that he had played "any hand, act of part" in attempts to pressurise President Hillery. FitzGerald had been in Áras an Uachtaráin on the night of the calls and had been told by the President's staff that Lenihan had persistently been making calls. FitzGerald aggressively challenged Lenihan, saying "I was in the Áras, Brian, and I know how many calls there were."

Aware that Lenihan had been one of Duffy's sources for the original article in September, with Duffy's permission the Irish Times ran a front page story stating that Lenihan had made the calls he was now denying. In the resulting furore Lenihan's campaign manager Bertie Ahern either deliberately or accidentally revealed on a radio programme that Duffy had interviewed Lenihan. Duffy became the subject of mounting political and media pressure, with his silence being spun by Fianna Fáil press staff as evidence that the rumours that Lenihan had confirmed to him that he had made calls were false. (Lenihan had assured his campaign team that he had said nothing in the interview that could cause problems.) After three days of intense political and media pressure, Duffy released the relevant proportion of the on-the-record tape interview he had done with Lenihan. The release took place in a press conference in a Dublin hotel.

The release of the tape threw Lenihan's campaign into meltdown. Lenihan tried in a subsequent live television interview on the Six-One News to insist that what he had said to Duffy was wrong, insisting that "on mature recollection" his October 1990 version was the correct one, and all that he had said previously over eight years was incorrect. However his popularity plummeted by 18% overnight. The opposition Fine Gael party put down a Motion of No Confidence in the government. The Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, denied that Lenihan was under any pressure to resign. However when the minority party in government, the Progressive Democrats, threatened to quit government unless Lenihan resigned or was sacked, and Lenihan refused to resign, the Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, instructed President Hillery to sack him. Lenihan went on to become the first candidate from his party ever to lose an Irish presidential election, with the Irish Labour Party candidate, Mary Robinson, eventually winning the office.

Duffy was strongly attacked by the Taoiseach and members of the government under parliamentary privilege, with claims that his research was bogus and that he had been part of a secret plot to destroy Lenihan. However his thesis on the presidency of Ireland was awarded a First Class honour by the National University of Ireland. Duffy has written an account of the events of this period in the March 2006 edition of Magill magazine.