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Gene Kerrigan
Opinion Invisible lines and silent presidents
There was a time when politicians went to extraordinary lengths to protect the image of the president. While working for Magill magazine in 1983, I wrote a lengthy, irreverent piece about President Paddy Hillery of Fianna Fáil. Thirty years later, the state papers from 1983 were opened and the Irish Times revealed how the Fianna Fáil leader of the time — a Mr Haughey — discussed my irreverent article with the leader of Fine Gael, a Mr FitzGerald.