Former health minister John O'Connell has claimed he secured a letter of resignation from Charles Haughey, weeks before the then taoiseach actually resigned over a phone-tapping scandal in 1992.
Dr O'Connell's claim to have persuaded Mr Haughey to resign at a meeting in January 1992 was made in last night's concluding episode of the Haughey series on RTÉ.
According to the programme, Dr O'Connell says he had at least two meetings with Mr Haughey at this time.
Catherine Butler, Mr Haughey's former special adviser, told the programme that Dr O'Connell called in to see the taoiseach and told her he was going to seek Mr Haughey's retirement because he was very concerned about his health.
Dr O'Connell, who has not spoken up to now about his role in the events that led to Mr Haughey's resignation, did not appear on the programme. However, producer Steve Carson told The Irish Times yesterday that he spoke to the former backbench Fianna Fáil TD at the weekend.
According to the programme, Dr O'Connell says that at a second meeting in a friend's home in Sutton he again urged Mr Haughey to resign for health reasons.
He denies that a £50,000 payment he made to the former taoiseach in 1985 was discussed at this secret meeting. Dr O'Connell made the payment on behalf of Mahmud Fustok, a Saudi billionaire for whom he acted as a bloodstock agent in Ireland.
Dr O'Connell says he did talk to Mr Haughey about his health and the discontent in Fianna Fáil. Some days later, he received a letter from the taoiseach promising to resign on March 22nd, 1992. The reason given for the delayed date was that it would allow Mr Haughey to go on a State visit to Canada for St Patrick's Day.
Mr Carson said Dr O'Connell told him he was unable to locate the letter during the weekend but would make further attempts to do so.
Shortly after the alleged meeting with Dr O'Connell, Mr Haughey was forced to resign when the late minister for justice, Seán Doherty, made allegations about phone-tapping in the 1980s.
Dr O'Connell went on to become minister for health for a short time in the government formed by Mr Haughey's successor, Albert Reynolds.