BERTIE'S GOT NO B***S; KEANE REVEALS WHAT HAUGHEY THOUGHT OF AHERN.

Byline: By PAT FLANAGAN 

CHARLIE Haughey believed Bertie Ahern had no "b***s" and was not fit to lead Fianna Fail, the former Taoiseach's lover has claimed.

Terry Keane said Haughey was totally disillusioned with his protege and accused him of having a "fatal lack of b***s".

Haughey, who famously described Ahern as "the most devious of them all", told his lover that Bertie was reluctant to take high office because of his own domestic situation.

A hern was worried that the people "would want to know where the Taoiseach slept at night" and simply couldn't handle the repercussions.

Keane said: "Charlie - who always maintained it wasn't what you did or what happened to you that mattered, it was how you handled it - lost interest in him overnight.

"He was never vindictive to people who disappointed him - he simply dismissed them and moved on.

"That was the end of Bertie, who I must say never impressed me either."

And she revealed Haughey had little sympathy for IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands as he neared death.

Keane added: "Bobby was a young man and it was a dreadful thing to hear how he was slowly, painfully dying.

"But Charlie, whose first question about anything was always, 'How does this affect me?', only had one thought, which was that Bobby Sands was buggering up his relationship with Maggie Thatcher." The former gossip column queen said she feels she was betrayed by Haughey who wanted to "airbrush" her from his life because he was worried about how he would be remembered.

She added: "Did posterity matter that much to him? I thought my existence might even have enhanced his memory, humanised him - the pain, the hurt, the consequences of his decision and my reaction were indescribable.

"It is tragic that he was beleaguered at the end. The whole thing really did end in tears. He felt every one was against him."

And she admitted that going on The Late Late Show in 1999 to reveal her affair with Haughey was "selfish" but that she was so hurt and humiliated she had no other option.

She told the Daily Mail: "Going on The Late Late was not a spiteful gesture but it was the most selfish thing I've ever done and no, I would not do it again.

"My family was aghast, the ripples spread far and wide and I wonder now was the price too high, did too many people get hurt on both sides?"

She said Haughey lost his dignity when he dumped her after their 27-year affair and said that he always put politics before her.

Keane added: "The only time his dignity ever slipped was on the day we broke up, the day he wanted me to return my precious memories. Maybe it was his illness affecting him, or maybe it was even his way of trying to protect me - I don't know.

"The only thing I am sure of was that it had to end. It was frightening to see what he was capable of, even though his priorities had always been politics first, then his family and then me.

"I couldn't believe that my rock, who'd always been there through thick and thin, had turned into a total stranger."

When asked if she would do it all over again, she said she has "mixed emotions" and that she believes Haughey also had some regrets about breaking up their relationship.

She added: "Would Charlie have done it if he'd known he was going to live for another seven years? I don't know, but he must have had his regrets, wondered if all the suffering was worth it.

"I certainly have my regrets, can't say for sure whether I'd do it all again. I was young when I met him and not very worldly-wise."

And she claimed she knew little of the controversy surrounding Haughey and said the millions given to him by rich businessmen was standard practice.

Keane said: "We didn't discuss money the way we discussed politics.

"Of course he told me all about the Arms Trial, which hung over him all his life and put him at a permanent disadvantage." She added Haughey could, at times, be as "tough as nails" and had little sympathy for Middle East hostage Brian Keenan, calling the kidnapping "legitimate".

And although the colourful Haughey did not detest many people, "there was a special place reserved for Dick [former Labour Party leader Spring] in the pantheon of hatred".

Keane also claimed Haughey was obsessed with Pope John Paul II and was completely paranoid that he would be assassinated when he visited Ireland in 1979 and that he would be blamed for it.

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Charlie lost interest in Bertie overnight.. he didn't impress me either

-TERRY KEANE

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FACE-OFF: Haughey described Ahern as 'the most devious of them all'