The Taoiseach(2004)

Peter Cunningham

In Ireland in the second half of the twentieth century, a corrupt circle of politicians and shadowy business figures control the levers of power. Lucrative property deals involving the sale of government assets are secretly financed by Middle Eastern oil dollars in exchange for Irish passports. Planning corruption is practised as a matter of course. Political donations are rewarded with access to offshore bank accounts as the ordinary people are forced to tighten their belts. At the heart of this web of deceit and intrigue is the Taoiseach, the Irish prime minister, Harry Messenger. A survivor of the political turmoil of the late 1960s, Messenger has now seized control and nothing is allowed stand in the way of his hold on power or his voracious lifestyle. The Taoiseach is a powerful story and top-notch political thriller, which shows modern Ireland as never before. But it is the people who provide the greatest fascination. Trapped in a spiral of ambition, greed and loyalty to one man, their all-too-fallible lives are a compelling insight into the Ireland of our time. To read this novel is to understand how it all happened. And why.