The agreement gave Ireland an advisory role in the governance of Northern Ireland. In 1987, Fianna Fáil returned to power and Lenihan was for the third and final time appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs, with the additional post of Tánaiste (deputy prime minister). In power Haughey and Lenihan reversed their opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Lenihan attending meetings of the Anglo-Irish Conference which the Ireland's Foreign Minister and the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland co-chaired. Lenihan's last period as Minister for Foreign Affairs was overshadowed by his serious ill-health. A long-standing liver problem had developed into a life-threatening issue requiring a liver transplant. Lenihan, previously a large-framed man, had been reduced to a bone-thin jaundiced-looking shadow of his former self, so ill-looking that the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King, said afterwards that on seeing Brian at an Anglo-Irish Conference meeting, he had speculated as to whether Lenihan would die at the meeting. In May 1989, Lenihan underwent the liver transplant at Mayo Clinic in the United States. In his absence he was re-elected to the Dáil in the 1989 general election for Dublin West, after which, while remaining Tánaiste, he was made Minister for Defence. Lenihan returned to Irish politics with a new lease of life. When he entered the Dáil chamber he received an ovation, an indication of his personal cross-party popularity. It was revealed subsequently that Lenihan's operation was partly paid for through fundraising by Taoiseach Charles Haughey, from businessmen with Fianna Fáil links. In evidence to the Moriarty Tribunal investigating Haughey's finances, it was established that much of the money raised but not ultimately needed for the operation was redirected by Haughey into his own personal bank account. Haughey was revealed in the 2006 tribunal report to have been engaged in numerous acts of corruption, to finance a lifestyle considerably in excess of his earnings as a politician. In January 1990, leaks to the media suggested that Lenihan was considering seeking the Fianna Fáil nomination in the 1990 Irish presidential election, which was due in November 1990. Speculation abounded that this was part of a plan to discourage other parties from running candidates in the belief that Lenihan would prove unbeatable and so get the office unopposed. Labour Party leader Dick Spring indicated that Labour would run a candidate for the presidency, even if he had to stand himself.