Despite living in a mansion in North Dublin, Charlie Haughey succeeded in making himself seem more a 'man of the people' than his Fine Gael adversary. This is largely thanks to the personality of said adversary, Garret Fitzgerald.
An economist who was besotted with train timetables, it was thought that the preoccupations of the plain people were a total mystery to Garret.
He fed this perception himself during the 1982 general election campaign. Doing a spot of campaigning in Cork, a teddy bear dressed in red and white colours was pushed in his direction.
In the manner of the nineteenth century British civil servant asking the natives what garment they were wearing, Garret inquired as to the significance of the red and white colours. Was it a symbol of Polish solidarity, he asked?
While his aides held their heads in their hands and nearly wept, Garret was told 'they're the Cork colours, boy'. Garret had no idea he'd made a faux pas.
