The Prime minister and President

To be president of Ireland it requires a lot of patience and obediance towards the prime minister, as the president isn’t the boss and certainly doesn’t hold the cards for very long.

Party polilitical policitians especially when they are from opposing parties, and independents face the same challenge of getting on with the prime minister.

Charles Haughy- 1987-1992, and Mary Robdinson1990-1997, disliked each other, and Haughy made Robinson’s reality at first very restrictive.

According to the authorized biography of Mary Robinson, Charles was a conservative with the intent on being the symbol of Ireland, he disliked presidents, hence his previous times as PM having taken that position to any president. That only be president Hillery.

She was a liberal with the intent on speaking her mind, and promising an ever more active office than the people had ever known before. This was to be a step much further than Erskine Childer’s move to expand the office in 1973.

She looked at ways at how she could do the activies she promised without taking the office down the political road. Some would say she was a social engineer. But many visionaries would be, no?

Just before Patrick Hillery left office, the Aras was almost like a ghost house, at least it seems intepreteted that way. The Aras was falling apart, the staff were being paid out of Hillery’s money allowance, that being about £15,000, i believe that is the figure if I can recall.

It sounds like a mess. Hillery having been tired and looking for escape, he never wanted to be there for a second term. I believe the passing of one of his family members some years before he left office may of made things difficult for him.

Though personally, I think Charles Haughy was correct to be the symbol of the nation, the president by definition, and especially in the Irish case should have no or as little as possible in little else country other than the powers of the office and guardian of the people’s rights.

But then that would be boring wouldn’t it?

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