Charlie, the TV series which brought one of the most intriguing eras for Irish politics to the small screen, ended last night after three episodes.
The mini-series followed the life of former Fianna Fáil leader Charles J. Haughey as he navigated through some of the biggest scandals of the day including pay-offs, murder, arms trials and the open secret which was his 27 year affair with Terry Keane.
However, Charlie just briefly touched on some of the juicy political scandals of the day and let's face it, we haven't really seen scandals like this since but did we really see enough of them in the RTÉ series? Here are six spin-offs we would really like to see.
1. The Brian Lenihan Presidency scandal.
Brian Lenihan Snr didn't actually feature in the series quite as much as we expected. Way back in 1990, Lenihan declared his interest in running for the Presidency. However, during the course of his campaign, the former TD and Minister suddenly began to deny the fact that he had made calls to then President Patrick Hillary asking him not to dissolve Garret FitzGerald's government. If the government wasn't dissolved by the President, Haughey could have formed an alternative government without an election being called.
This caused quite the media storm. Now, there's a story...
2. Terry Keane's life and that affair
Terry Keane featured quite prominently in the Charlie series and although politicians and media from a certain generation in Ireland would have heard rumours of her 27-year affair with the former Taoiseach, her admission of the fact on the Late Late Show took the country by storm. There was certainly a lot more to the Keane story.
3. Albert Reynolds and the leadership takeover
Albert presented himself as a possible leader of the Fianna Fáil party in last night's episode and even though Bertie had been groomed as Charlie Haughey's successor, it was the man who made a play for power who finally took over as leader. We only saw the beginnings of that power struggle last night, there is a lot more to that particular story. And what about the peace process or that Beef Tribunal?!
And let's not forget that beautiful singing voice...
4. Des O'Malley and the Progressive Democrats
One of the best characters and certainly one of the best performances from the series was Marcus Lamb as Desmond O'Malley, the leader of the Progressive Democrats. The origin of the party was touched on slightly with the first episode but there was a lot more to O'Malley than just the political party that he led. Despite his expulsion from Fianna Fáil, Haughey ended up depending on him to secure power in coalition. He was also a critic of Brian Lenihan following the Presidential scandal, Reynolds and the Beef Tribunal and certainly wasn't shy about discussing the Arms Crisis.
5. Bertie, my most devious Minister
Bertie is one of the very few Ministers from Haughey's government that many of the younger generation would be familiar with and let's face it, they're probably not going to forget him in a hurry either. Haughey once described Ahern as the "the most skilful, the most devious, the most cunning of them all" but what warranted Haughey's famous quote? Ahern was a key player in the talks to secure the coalition with the Progressive Democrats but what went on behind the scenes? Really, we're just waiting around on a new dramaseries called Bertie.
6. Haughey's parents and his involvement in the IRA
Haughey's parents both originally came from Derry and were both a huge influence on his life and on policy in relation to Northern Ireland. Haughey's father served in the IRA and eventually moved on to the army in the Irish Free State. Charlie spoke about his legacy at length in last night's episode, something he was deeply concerned about but what was the extent of his father's involvement in the IRA? Surely there's a great story in that.
