Paddy Harte (1931–2018)

This is quite a good read, particularly for those with an interest in the Fine Gael party. Harte pulls no punches in his memoir and calls a spade a spade. With the exceptions of James Dillon and Garret FitzGerald every Fine Gael leader he served under is criticised heavily. I leave it to others to form their opinions as to whether Harte was right in his respective battles over the years but his work, largely behind the scenes in Fine Gael, during the Troubles to try and assist and end to the conflict is worth reading. It could be said that his experience in politics left him with a taste of bitterness towards some, which can happen, particularly for those who feel they were overlooked and eventually lost their seats. I don't think that this skews his argument, however.… (mehr)