Inquiries by the Margin's colleagues this week uncovered what looked like a hitherto unknown property belonging to the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles J. Haughey - this one in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo. Documents in the Land Registry office showed that the house was acquired by Charles Haughey in 1978, and had previously been owned by Basta Properties Ltd. The plot thickened when further inquiries established that Basta Properties, now in liquidation, was formerly part of the Abbey group, the company run by members of the Gallagher family. A major scoop was in the making.

A team of reporters and photographers were preparing to descend on Tubbercurry to gather all the detail possible in relation to this latest twist in the Haughey saga. But a wiser counsel suggested that before heading west, it might be an idea to look in the Sligo telephone book, under Charles Haughey, to see if there was one listed for Tubbercurry. Sure enough, there was. A call was put through and a woman answered the phone. She was, she said, Mrs Charles J. Haughey, and what's more, her name was Maureen.

She didn't mind the interruption at all, she said. Indeed she was well used to it - during the other Mr Haughey's reign as Minister for Health she was, she said, plagued with people ringing up looking for medical cards.