Haughey defends honour in Shakespearean style

The Moriarty tribunal signed off for the summer with Charles Haughey, like Sir John Falstaff, meditating on the meaning of honour.

Unlike Falstaff, Mr Haughey was prepared to fight for his, but the Shakespearean anti-hero and the former Taoiseach had some ideas in common. When, prior to battle, Prince Hal tells Falstaff "thou owest God a death", the latter counters: "I would be loath to pay him before his day. What need I be so forward with him that calls not on me?"

This is uncannily close to Mr Haughey's argument about the £110,000 he still owes AIB, more than 20 years after the final settlement with the bank negotiated by his financial adviser, Des Traynor.

The deal involved a payment of £750,000 up front and a write-off of £283,000. The remaining £110,000 was a "debt of honour", placed in a special interest-free account, to be paid within "a reasonable period of time".

This period has not yet elapsed, Mr Haughey implied yesterday, when taking exception to a suggestion by counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Coughlan, that "a debt of honour would be honoured by honourable people".

The witness replied that Mr Coughlan was "laying a lot of stress on honour". The bank had never come to him for the money. "The debt is still there, I haven't dishonoured it," he added.

Perhaps Mr Haughey was surprised to find this greeted by general laughter from the public gallery, but whatever the reason, his last exchange with the tribunal before the summer break was "to be given leave to say I did not act dishonourably in this case".

Honour thus pricked Mr Haughey on; unlike Falstaff, who worried what would happen if "honour prick me off when I come on". After pondering further on the subject, Falstaff concluded: "I'll have none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon: and so ends my catechism." The tribunal has arrived at no conclusions yet, however, and will resume meditations in September.

As Mr Haughey exited stage left, Dermot Desmond entered right to give evidence about his financial support for Conor Haughey's mining company, Feltrim. He said his £300,000 investment was motivated by sound business sense, as well as to be supportive of the young Haughey. But he saw it quadruple in value after the company was taken over, and agreed his windfall was "pure luck".

Anyone wishing to acquire some of Mr Desmond's luck, or purity, might be interested in the reading matter in the back seat of his chauffeur-driven Bentley. This included a two-volume set of Spiritual Wisdom From The Celtic World by John O'Donohue and a book called Attitudes of Gratitude.