Author Michael Heney Publisher Head of Zeus Price £16.99 Released Out now
The Irish arms crisis of 1970 is an event steeped in its own folklore and mythology, with Taoiseach Jack Lynch as its hero and Minister for Finance Charles Haughey and Minister for Agriculture Neil Blaney its villains. The traditional narrative tells how Lynch, an honest and gentle leader, acted quickly to stop a plot to smuggle weapons to arm the Northern Ireland republicans. Had such an event occurred, the results could have been violent and bloody, with Haughey and Blaney ready to seize control from a leader they despised.