I was speaking with Eoin O’Malley at Kilkenomics over the weekend on the topic of “Charlie v Garret”. Eoin, son of Des O’Malley, has written a superb book on the Haughey v FitzGerald political rivalry that dominated the 1980s.
We noted that people tended to choose who they favoured in that contest based on their general impression of the two combatants: FitzGerald – mannerly, academic, courteous – tended to be favoured by liberal, graduate bourgeois types. Haughey – aggressive, direct, impatient – tended to be favoured by direct, non-graduate, small business types.
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