Saturday, June 17, 2006

Mortally offended

It's not clear what motive former Fianna Fail minister Maire Geoghegan-Quinn has for drawing attention to an article in Le Monde that no-one in Ireland would have seen otherwise. It's their overview of Charlie Haughey's life and near the end it says:

Citant Othello dans son discours d'adieu, "Charlie" affirme "avoir rendu quelque service à l'Etat". Mais le dernier hommage pourrait revenir à Moira Geoghegan-Quinn, ancien ministre de son cabinet, qui décrit ainsi celui qu'elle appelait "Sweetie" : "C'était un personnage entouré d'intrigues, de mystères et d'argent, mais protégé par son populisme, son intelligence et son sens opportun du bon mot."

The "Sweetie" appellation indicating that they mixed her up with Terry Keane, and thus in her view, carrying the implication that she was his mistress; it's possible that an earlier version of the text was more direct about this. Anyway, she claims to already be in touch with lawyers who perhaps will advise her that French libel law is not the jackpot that Irish libel law can be -- or indeed that her current sinecure with the European Union is. If she persists, one might wonder whether she likes the story being out there.

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