Síle de Valera prefers to remember the positive aspects of Charlie Haughey, writes Miriam Donohoe, Political Staff
Outgoing Minister of State Síle de Valera says she hopes people will remember former taoiseach Charles Haughey for his achievements rather than for controversies surrounding him in his later life.
Ms de Valera (52), who steps down from her junior ministerial position in the Department of Education today, has also spoken of her plans to write a "warts-and-all" memoir based on her 30 years in politics.
Asked if she regretted supporting Charles Haughey for the Fianna Fáil leadership in 1979 given what emerged about him in recent years, she says: "My view on Charlie Haughey is that he will be remembered in years to come far more kindly than perhaps he is remembered now.
"I supported Charles Haughey at the time of the leadership. I regarded him in the light of what I knew about him as a backbencher. In relation to the negatives they have already been gone into. I prefer to now remember the positive aspects of him and there were some very positive aspects."
Ironically it is Mr Haughey's son Seán, a Dublin North Central TD, who is tipped to replace Ms de Valera as a junior minister, but she will not comment on who her successor might be. "I will leave that to the Taoiseach."
Ms de Valera says she kept notes of important events during her years in politics and plans to write her memoirs "warts and all".
"I didn't keep a diary as such on a day-to-day basis but I kept notes. I was lucky to be in politics when it was exciting and it was in a state of flux with Fianna Fáil coming in with a huge majority in 1977 and then in the 80s, which was a time of turmoil in Irish politics, with three elections in 18 months."
She says major reform is needed to encourage more women into politics, which is "still very much a man's world".
"I know that all the parties have to put in a good effort to encourage more women into politics. It has to be tackled in a number of ways, through fundamental reform of the system.
"I think we also have to have a look at the current 'pantomime' type of politics we have where people feel they have to disagree for the sake of it."
Ms de Valera reiterates that it was she who approached Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last year when she had decided she would not contest the next general election and offered to step down, but they agreed she would do so this month.
One of the lows of her career, she says, was when she was dropped from the cabinet by Mr Ahern in 2002 after serving as minister for arts for five years. At the same meeting in which she was sacked, she says, Mr Ahern offered her a choice of any ministry of state she wanted.
"That was extremely gracious of the Taoiseach. While I was disappointed about being dropped from cabinet, I was also excited about the prospect of having a role in the Department of Education."
Ms de Valera regrets that her retirement from politics at the next general election will be the end of the de Valera name in the Dáil.
Her grandfather Éamon de Valera was elected to the first Dáil in 1918 and her uncle Vivion de Valera also served. Her cousin, Éamon Ó Cuív, is Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
Ms de Valera, who was elected to the Dublin Mid County constituency in 1977 aged 22, says she regards herself as "entering a new phase in her life".
She plans to do a PhD in psychology and looks forward to new challenges ahead.