Britain’s top television host has claimed former Irish Prime Minister Charlie Haughey attempted to grope her in 1969.
Anne Robinson, presenter of the Weakest Link show, made the allegations in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.
She made the claims in a discussion on the issue of sexual harassment in the TV industry on the back of the recent Jimmy Saville revelations.
She met Haughey during the 1969 general election in Ireland which she covered for the Daily Mail newspaper.
Robinson said: “When I got my first job in the Daily Mail the term ‘sexual harassment’ didn’t exist.
“Looking back, we used to keep lists of men who weren’t safe in taxis, NST, and those who were NSL, not safe in lifts, they were a bit quicker with their hands than NSTs.
“I think my best experience was with Charlie Haughey, who was then Ireland’s Finance Minister.
“I like to imagine he went to his grave with my bruises on his hands after he tried to grope me during the 1969 Irish elections.”
TheJournal.ie reports that Haughey’s daughter Eimear has dismissed the claims as ‘disgusting’.
She said: “My father should be left alone to rest in peace.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Smyrnian | Oct 15, 2012, 05:09 PM EDT
Yeah, and then Anne woke up in a sweat ;)
Towngate | Oct 15, 2012, 07:56 AM EDT
She was probably sloshed and mistook him for Jimmy Savile!
trigger | Oct 15, 2012, 07:23 AM EDT
Dead men tell no tales. What kind of a person would bring this up 43 years later about a man who is dead? Yes the worst kind.
IrelandNorth | Oct 15, 2012, 06:52 AM EDT
Headline reads "groped". First paragraphed says "attempted" (sic). Either he did or he didn't! Then she's quoted as referring to "sexual harassment", whilst going on to describe "her best experience" (sic), inferring that harassment can be enjoyable. Do I detect a case of stereotypical feminine sexual ambivalence. Or that rich people are never be dirty old men.
seanomelb | Oct 14, 2012, 06:24 PM EDT
He sure wasn't fussy
brendan gillen | Oct 14, 2012, 05:40 PM EDT
Grope? The word is fondle. Or pat down. Maybe that's what Houghy did, he gave her a Pat down. I know what I was doing back in 1969. I was a hippie. And check out my book, High Noon in Stewart. Or, Gold Storm in Stewart. Don't be shy. Remember, it's a Pat down not a grope.
SingleDonald | Oct 14, 2012, 05:22 PM EDT
Here we go again-1969??? That being said, I never acted that way, as I have always respected the female gender. However, if a lady is drinking, as Anne did in that era, she may give signals that boundaries are relaxed. That is what often happens at parties, when the drinks flow freely. If any activity is mutual, be it close dancing or kissing, no sexual harassment has taken place. I hold this to be so, even if the consensual activity is between people of different status. Of course, any consensual dating, done after work, is irrelevant. So long as the parties conduct themselves properly while at work, no "discipline" should be meted out. I consider this to be a matter of Civil Rights, and also Constitutional Rights, if working for a public agency.
aloistmartin | Oct 14, 2012, 05:10 PM EDT
Fight a Hundred Years War for Socio- Political Self Determination, and Freedom from this sort of Abuse; Only to have some Greedy Little Cheesemaker ( Beer Brewer, Travel Agent ... ) sign some Treaty, and come nibbling after your Grandmomma`s Sunday Dinner apron !
Happyhippo | Oct 14, 2012, 04:54 PM EDT
yea ok
Happyhippo | Oct 14, 2012, 04:53 PM EDT
More like the weakest link had the hots for old Charlie,after all he had a girlfriend for a lot of his married life.
Smyrnian | Oct 14, 2012, 04:33 PM EDT
Really, Anne? Really? And this comes up now from way back in 1969???? Weird.
merefalow | Oct 14, 2012, 04:13 PM EDT
a bloke groping anne robinson,oh yeah,wishfull thinking anne,i,d rather grope godcilla,and he,s reputedly GAY.
Murph46 | Oct 14, 2012, 04:10 PM EDT
It appears from recent news that if you were a woman in the 80's,90's and 00's you were probably groped.
KevinKehoe | Oct 14, 2012, 02:59 PM EDT
More than likely Mrs Robinson had one too many of the booze and she tried to grope Charlie. I’d say Charlie took one look at her and ran.
seamus60 | Oct 14, 2012, 12:00 PM EDT
Why would he have done that ? was he not gay like everyone else who is now deceased.
Joe Kelsall | Oct 14, 2012, 11:42 AM EDT
I believe that in 1969, Anne Robinson would not have remembered who groped her. At the time she was in the grip of alcohol. Anne Robinson reveals she almost died due to her alcoholism. The Weakest Link star, 62, says she got hooked on booze while working as a reporter on a Sunday newspaper. ‘At the very end of my drink problem, around 1977, I weighed about 6st,’ she tells Piers Morgan on the BBC1 show You Can’t Fire Me I’m Famous.
hermitTalker | Oct 14, 2012, 09:48 AM EDT
The way she was so badly received on the USA version of that show if Mr Haughey did not do it, someone should have tried something humanly moral and workable to loosen her majestic bitchiness.
WoundedKnee | Oct 14, 2012, 09:45 AM EDT
Judging by pics I've seen of this woman, old Charlie must have been blindfolded.