Bertie Ahern

"Ahern was at the cutting edge of Irish politics for over three decades. He was first elected to the Dáil Éireann in the Fianna Fáil landslide victory in 1977. In 1982, Charles Haughey appointed him Government Chief Whip. In 1987, he received his first cabinet portfolio as Minister for Labour at a time when the Irish economy was in crisis. He negotiated Ireland's first social partnership agreement, which underpinned the economic recovery and put in place the foundation for a period of sustained growth. in 1991, he was appointed Minister for Finance. When he left the Department of Finance in late 1994, for the first time in almost thirty years Ireland had a budget surplus. He succeeded Albert Reynolds as leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1994. Following the general election in 1997, he became Ireland's youngest ever Taoiseach. Working closely with Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, Ahern won acclaim for his perseverance and skill in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, which has provided the political framework for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. As president of the European Council in 2004, he presided over the completion of the largest ever expansion of the EU and concluded negotiations on a European constitution. He resigned as Taoiseach on 6 May 2008."--Publisher's description.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction, Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.