DCU receives Charles Haughey papers

The family of Charles J Haughey have formally announced the handing over of his private papers to DCU. The collection will be housed in the DCU library in an archival facility to be named after the former Taoiseach. 

According to DCU President, Ferdinand von Prondzynski, 'This is the most historically significant personal archive to come to an Irish university. It is an extraordinarily valuable collection which charts the public life of Charles J Haughey until the end of his career and after. The papers will provide essential source material for biographers, and those who will write the history of Ireland in the twenty-first century. They also provide a unique insight into the political decision-making that eventually produced the Celtic Tiger. We are particularly honoured to receive the collection and are
extremely grateful to the Haughey family.'

The collection includes correspondence and papers from all periods of Mr. Haughey's public life. In addition, it details his involvement with Fianna Fail from the 1940s onwards, election pamphlets and leaflets, private and official photographs, video tapes of speeches and other memorabilia.

Paul Sheehan, DCU Librarian said 'The documents will be archived and preserved by the DCU Library. This collection, consisting of 350 large storage boxes, will provide unique and vital source material for historians of modern Ireland. The papers have yet to be catalogued and their condition also needs to be assessed in order to carry out any conservation work necessary to ensure their physical integrity. Following this cataloguing and conservation process, the collection is expected to be available for research purposes from 2022, 30 years after Mr. Haughey left public office.'

In order to commemorate Charles J Haughey's life and career, the Dublin City University Educational Trust also announced the establishment of a memorial endowment. This will fund the 'Charles J Haughey Access Scholarships', which will support students attending DCU from the Northside Partnership area, and the 'Charles J Haughey Doctoral Fellowships in Law and Government supporting postgraduate research in law and government.

Patrick McDermott, Chief Executive of the DCU Educational Trust said, 'These scholarships as well as the planned doctoral fellowships are fitting tributes
to Mr Haughey's legacy of support for educational access and his role in establishing Dublin City University.'

Speaking on behalf of the Haughey family, Minister of State Seán Haughey T.D. said: 'We would like to thank the President of the University, Ferdinand von Prondzynski, for accepting my late father's collection of papers on behalf of Dublin City University.  There is a wealth of material among his papers which will, in due course, keep historians and
academics engaged for years to come. They encompass his long political career, his great breadth of interests and his various roles as parliamentarian, legislator and committed European.'

'There are few areas of Irish life where his influence has not been apparent and it is our hope that, in time, these papers will be both the basis of, and the stimulus for, an objective assessment and appraisal of my father's contribution to the building of modern Ireland.'

'I would also like to say how grateful our family are that an endowment fund has been established to support the creation of the Charles J. Haughey Access Scholarships and Doctoral Fellowships. We are particularly delighted about the provision of two, annual four year undergraduate scholarships for students from the Northside Partnership
Area.'

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