Eoghan Harris tried to run the 1997 election through Derek Nally, former head of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. He tried to destroy the Mary McAleese campaign by using Nally. That is where Harris's description of McAleese as a 'Tribal Time Bomb' came from. The bomb blew up in Harris's face when Nally found out. He ditched Harris and his political playmate, John Cadden, when he found out that he was a patsy. Nally was an unusual policeman who challenged the Garda 'Heavy Gang' in the 1970s.
The info is here:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/81368
Today, Harris wants to run the election through Gay Mitchell, see:
is-get-the-gag-taken-off-gay-mitchell-and-let-him-at-it-2893566.html">http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/eoghan-har....html
The first outing of the new strategy was on Newstalk today:
http://media.newstalk.ie/podcast/26542/popup
It is up to the Irish people to see whether they want the Irish equivalent of the US 'Tea party' to influence their affairs. It will destroy Mitchell, but Harris hopes it will preserve the reactionary separation of northern and southern politics.