Charles Haughey, the former Irish prime minister who died yesterday at 80, was touched by but survived a series of scandals of almost Florentine dimensions; they included telephone-tapping of his political opponents, alleged complicity in IRA gun-running, and the discovery of a fugitive murderer at the home of his attorney general.

Then, after he had retired from politics, it was revealed that his regal lifestyle had been funded by a secret multimillion-pound offshore slush fund.

Haughey operated the politics of cronyism in an atmosphere of corruption and bullying; yet his acceptance of enormous bribes was never investigated by the tax authorities, since he was as much feared by the civil service as by his political enemies.

But his assiduous cultivation of potentially useful figures occasionally backfired. Muammar Gadhafi, who had been approached as a potential buyer of Irish beef, later publicly described Haughey as “a close friend”, and urged support for “the IRA struggle for liberation” in Northern Ireland; and Haughey’s public acceptance of a “token” gift of jewelry from Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz turned to scandal when a valuation of $400,000 was leaked.

Haughey’s wealth, which included a Palladian mansion and 300-acre estate near Dublin, a string of race horses, an island retreat off the south coast, and a 50-foot motor yacht, gave rise to much speculation; but it was not explained until after he retired, when records of his Cayman Islands fortune were uncovered by a tribunal investigating secret payments to another politician.

His holiday home on the island of Inishvickillane was built in 1974 at a cost of $600,000, with materials entirely transported by helicopter. Electricity came from a $350,000 “experimental” wind-powered station – installed free by the state power company.

Haughey’s self-invented princely status prompted him to introduce a herd of red deer to the island,but an attempt to breed sea eagles failed. Journalists were invited there, on condition that their photographs included Haughey with his wildlife, but excluded the house and contents.

At his home at Kinsealy, a marble fountain bore the Haughey coat of arms (which he designed himself). In the cellars Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 1953 and Chateau Margaux 1957 awaited his guests, who were encouraged by the majestic surroundings to believe Haughey’s audacious but spurious claim to direct descent from the ancient high kings of Ireland.

The house, originally built for the Right Honorable John Beresford,Taster of the Wines in the Port of Dublin, was bought by Haughey in 1969 when his salary was around $12,500 a year, and was thought to have been paid for by property deals involving controversial land rezoning. Haughey avoided paying any income tax on his gains,having himself introduced measures in the 1968 Finance Act, which exempted him.

Although he played the squire convincingly, Haughey’s outdoor lifestyle owed more to showmanship than sporting expertise.After his first yacht struck a rock and sank, Irish naval vessels were ordered to be on hand whenever he set sail; and his passion for powerful cars led to two serious accidents when he relieved his police driver at the wheel.

His political success, which began when he married the prime minister’s daughter, was partly due to his identification of small but influential groups to whom he made political promises.

Charles John Haughey was born at Castlebar, County Mayo, on September 16, 1925. His father, Johnny Haughey, was a native of Londonderry and in 1922 had been involved in the smuggling of 400 British rifles to the IRA in Co Donegal, establishing a republican pedigree which his son would consolidate.

Charlie was educated in a tough working-class school. A scholarship funded his education, and he qualified as an accountant, studied law and was called to the Bar. He entered politics as a county representative in 1953 and was elected to parliament in 1957.

Beginning in 1961, he was successively minister of justice, agriculture, and finance. In each ministry he enacted ambitious reforms, including abolishing the death penalty, providing free electricity and other services to pensioners, and abolishing the income tax for inventors and artists, a move that attracted many high-earning foreigners to Ireland.

To the man in the saloon bar, Haughey was either a national savior or a crook, and in 1970 fresh ammunition was supplied to both viewpoints.He was fired as finance ministry and later tried for using $250,000 to finance a gun-running scheme for the IRA. Although he was acquitted,it was five years before he had a prominent political role again.

Appointed health minister in 1977, he ostentatiously gave up smoking and drinking, but also legalized contraception, if only for married couples and by prescription.

After first becoming prime minister, in 1979, Haughey had accumulated numerous political debts,and appointed a Cabinet described by one commentator as “an overdressed collection of bookies’ runners.” His attorney general resigned after a murderer was arrested at his home.

Even as his personal finances were often in a parlous state – he owed his bank $2.2 million – he urged restraint on the nation. “As a community we are living beyond our means,” he complained. Several scandals marred his first government, which ran until 1981, and the second collapsed in 1982. He was far more effective when returned to office in 1987, and is widely credited with laying the groundwork for the Irish economic revival of the 1990s. He lost a vote of confidence over revelations that he had ordered the tapping of political opponents’ phones. He retired in 1992.

Charlie Haughey’s close friends always testified to his charm, generosity and affability, as well as to his accurate judgment. Those outside that firmly drawn circle saw only a diminutive figure (he was just 5 feet 5 inches tall, and wore Cuban-heeled shoes to add height) with a hooded expression and a conspiratorial manner, coupled with a high degree of self-control under pressure.

In 2000, he was prosecuted for hiding evidence of off-shore bank accounts bulging with money provided by an Irish supermarket tycoon. He avoided conviction, but was severely humbled in the eyes of the nation for being revealed as a liar.

After de Valera, Haughey was the most controversial Irish politician, but if “Dev’s” reign had been marked by the triumph of an ascetic intellect over tribal squabbling, Haughey’s was the exact reverse. Like Lloyd George, he was a trimmer and a ladies’ man. His appreciation of human frailty went with a mordant sense of humor, occasionally shown in self-deprecation.