Chapter 23-26 Irish Politics Flashcards
What was Cumann na nGaedhael?
A political party formed by the pro-treaty side of Sinn Fein
Who led Cumman na nGaedhael?
WT Cosgrave
Who established an independent judiciary And set up the court system?
Kevin O’Higgins - Minister for home affairs
Why was making an Garda Siochana and unarmed police force an important decision?
There were still many armed irregulars refusing to accept that they lost the civil war
What was the agricultural credit corporation?
A corporation established by the government to give cheap loans to farmers to buy new machinery and to improve the quality of the agricultural industry in Ireland
What did many people feel about the agricultural credit corporation?
They felt that the ACC only helped rich farmers and did nothing for poor farmers
How did Cosgrave’s go begin the process of rural electrification?
- The Shannon Scheme: they built a hydroelectric power plant at Ardnacrusha on the Shannon, the Shannon scheme brought electricity to the west of Ireland
- the gov set up the electricity supply board (ESB)
What was the Irish free state?
A 26 county semi-independent Irish state set up by the Anglo-Irish treaty
What was the 1927 electoral amendment act?
It said no person was allowed to stand for election unless they first promised to take their seat
Why was the 1927 electoral amendment necessary?
Eamon de Valera and Fianna Fáil members refused to take their seats in the Dail because it meant taking an oath of allegiance to the King
What party had anti-treaty Sinn Fein started?
Fianna Fáil
What was the Governor General?
The Kings representative in Ireland, in theory he has the right to overrule any decision made by the Dail. He lived in the Aras an Uachtarain
What were the three treaty ports?
Berehaven
Cobh
Lough Swilly
What was the boundary commission?
It was a three man group whose job it was to see if the border needed to be adjusted
Who made up the boundary commission?
Irish representative: Eoin MacNeill
Unionist representative: JR Fisher
‘Neutral’ representative: Richard Feetham
What went wrong with the boundary commission?
Richard Feetham was actually a supporter of the unionists so large catholic areas in Fermanagh and Tyrone stayed in Ireland
What was a dominion status?
It meant a country would have its own gov but Britain would still have the power to interfere with the gov decisions
What was the commonwealth?
A way of referring to countries that were part of the British empire
What were the imperial conferences?
Every two years representatives from each country from the commonwealth
Who represented Ireland at the imperial conferences?
Kevin O’Higgins
Desmond Fitzgerald
What were the moves the free state took to try get more independence?
- in 1923 the Irish free state became a full member of the League of Nations
- 1924 the free state appointed an ambassador to the US followed by a string of other countries
What was the statue of westminister?
It was law passed in 1931 that stated that the British gov could no longer make any laws for Ireland and the Irish gov could pass any laws without interference from the British gov
Why were Cumann na nGaedhael disliked despite all their achievements?
They were seen as a party for the rich
What were the key achievements of the Cumann na nGaedhael government?
- establishment of an Garda Siochana
- establishment of an independent judiciary
- establishment of the AAC
- establishment of the ESB (electricity supply board)
- the Shannon scheme
- introduction of the electoral amendment act
- negotiation of the statue of westminister
Why did Fianna Fáil win in 1932?
- De Valera’s role in 1916 made him popular
- Sean Lemass set up Fianna Fáil cumann
- De Valera promised to destroy the Anglo-Irish treaty
- Cumann na nGaedhael were seen as a party of the rich wheras Fianna Fáil claimed to represent the normal people
- Cumann na nGaedhael had been in gov for 9 years
What were the Cumann?
Local groups of Fianna Fáil supporters who supported the party in their area. They organised supporters of the party to go out and vote
Why did many of the IRA start to hate de Valera?
He was seen as a hero but then after he accepted the free state and started arresting IRA members who threatened the free state he was seen as a traitor
What were the land annuities?
At the end of the nineteenth century the British gov gave loans to Irish farmers to buy back their land from landlords who had been given the land during the plantations.
It was one of the terms in the treaty that the Irish gov hand to keep repaying the loan until all the land had been payed for.
This yearly payment called the land annuities
Why did the payment of the land annuities annoy de Valera?
He did not believe that the Irish people should have to pay for land that was taken from them in the first place
How did the British gov respond after de Valera stopped the payment of the land annuities as soon as he came to power?
They placed high taxes on cattle being exported to Britain
How did de Valera respond to the taxes?
Here placed high taxes on British goods, especially coal
What brought the economic war to an end?
The Anglo-Irish AGREEMENT (not treaty) of 1938
What was agreed in the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1938?
The Irish gov agreed to pay Britain a lump sum of £10 million to settle the land nudity debt and Britain agreed to return the treaty ports
How did de Valera’s gov dismantle the treaty?
- the payment of land annuities stopped
- the oath of allegiance was ended
- the Governor General was replaced by a shopkeeper called Domhnall Ua Buachalla who refused to speak English or stay in the Governor General’s residence
- the Fianna Fáil drew up a new constitution called Bunreacht na hEireann
Why didn’t de Valera declare Ireland a republic?
He said it wasn’t a republic until the partition was ended
What was the Army comrades association?
A group of pro-treaty soldiers who attended Cumann na nGaedhael meetings before the 1932 election to protect them from being attacked by the IRA
Why did the army comrades association gain the nickname ‘blueshirts’?
They wore blue shirts when they were at the Cumann na nGaedhael meetings
Who did de Valera sack as soon as he came to power?
The pro-treaty Garda commissioner, General Eoin O’Duffy
What did O’Duffy rename the Army Comrades Association after becoming its leader?
The National Guard
What fascist practices did the national guard copy under O’Duffy?
- they used the straight arm fascist salute
- members called out ‘Hail O’Duffy’
- they organised marches all over Ireland that led to the breakdown of law and order a they were attacked by republicans and communists
Why did de Valera cancel the March O’Duffy organised?
He was afraid that O’Duffy would try to seize control of the gov, like Mussolini did
How was Fine Gael formed?
The national guard, Cumann na nGaedhael and other smaller parties joined together
Why did O’Duffy have to resign as leader of Fine Gael?
He made a speech saying that they should invade Northern Ireland
What did O’Duffy do after he had to resign?
He formed an ‘Irish Brigade’ in 1936 that went to Spain to fight for the fascist in the Spanish civil war
What was The point of the Irish gov declaring a state of emergency?
It would last as long as the war did and it gave the Irish gov special powers to ensure that Ireland remained neutral
Why did Ireland choose to stay neutral?
- Ireland was definitely not going to side with Germany but it wasn’t going to side with Britain either, the memories of suffering under British rule were still fresh and many Irish people didn’t feel comfortable fighting alongside the British
- Ireland had a small army with 7000 soldiers and virtually no Air Force
- Ireland fought hard for independence and neutrality was seen as proof of that independence
What was britain’s reaction to Ireland’s neutrality?
Winston Churchill was angry and demanded that Ireland allow Britain to use the treaty ports again for the British navy as they said it would make the long, dangerous journey to America safer
Why did Ireland refuse to let Britain use the treaty ports?
He knew that Ireland would probably be attacked by the Germans if they let Britain use the ports and Ireland old be dragged into the war
What was evidence that Ireland, although neutral, was biased?
- Ireland sold food to Britain throughout the war
- any American/British airman who accidentally landed in Ireland would be allowed to cross the border into Northern Ireland but any German soldier who landed would be interned for the duration of the war
- the Irish gov interned thousands of IRA men who tried to take advantage of Britain being at war
- over 50,000 Irish people served in the British army and 100,000 went to work in British factories
- when Belfast was bombed by Luftwaffe de Valera sent the Irish fire brigade to help
What happened to Ireland after they helped Belfast after the bombing?
The Germans bombed the North Strand in Dublin, which at the time was claimed to be accidental but documents after the war showed it may have been ordered
What was Sean Lemass during the emergency?
The minister for supplies (he was in charge of making sure Ireland survived the war through conserving supplies)
Who was the glimmer man?
An inspector sent to check if the gas was being rationed
Who were the only people allowed to drive?
The local doctor and the parish priest
What was the point of the gov setting up the Local Defence Forces?
It was set up to train young men in case of an invasion
Why was censorship used during the emergency?
To protect Irelands neutrality
What parties was the first inter-party gov made up of?
Fine Gael
Labour Party
Clan na Poblachta
Who was the leader of clan na Poblachta?
Sean MacBride
Who led the first inter party gov?
John A Costello
What key achievements did the first inter-party gov have?
- established the Industrial Development authority (IDA)
- eradicated TB
- declared Ireland a republic
Who led the campaign to get rid of TB?
Dr Noel Browne: the minister for health
How did the gov eradicate TB?
They set up santoria, special hospitals, to treat victims
What was the mother and child scheme?
It was Dr. Noel Browne’s plan to give free medical care to all expectant mothers before and after they gave birth
Who opposed the mother and child scheme and why?
The Irish Medical Association and the church opposed the plan because the church didn’t want the gov interfering with private family matters
What did Dr. Noel Browne do after Costello told him to forget about the plan because of the church’s opposition?
Browne and some other party members resigned as protest and the first inter-party gov collapsed
What did the first inter-party governments collapse show?
The power of the church at the time
Why were the 1950’s hard?
- the economy was a failure
- there was widespread unemployment and poverty
- the church had complete control over Ireland
Who did the gov often consult before making a decision in the 1950’s?
Archbishop John McQuaid
When did Ireland become a member of the UN?
1955
Who opposed Ireland joining the UN and why?
Russia b/c:
- Ireland was neutral in WW2
- russia thought Ireland was too friendly with the US and would always side with it in decisions
Who replaced Eamon de Valera when he resigned in 1959?
Sean Lemass
Why did the economy improve I the 1960’s under Lemass’ gov and thanks to who?
Thanks to TK Whitaker (head of the department of finance) ordered over 300 factories to be built so employment was decreased by 35%
How did Ireland change significantly in the 1960’s?
- the economy improved
- Telifis Eireann was set up and Ireland joined the television age
- the gov introduced free second-level education
- Lemass met the leader of Northern Ireland, Terence O’Neill and it was the first time the leaders of the two states had met since the partition
- Irish soldiers started serving as UN peacekeepers
Who was responsible for the introduction of free second-level education?
Donagh O’Malley
How was Irelands economy in the 1970s-80s?
The economy went down partly because of the international economic crisis caused by a shortage of oil and the gov was distracted from improving the economy by the northern troubles
What happened to the IRA during the 1970’s?
They split, the more violent side calling themselves the provisional IRA which was shortened to Provos
When did Ireland join the EEC (later the EU)?
1973
Why couldn’t Ireland join the EEC before 1973?
French president Charles de Gaulle had opposed britains entry to the EEC and Ireland couldn’t join without Britain, its main trading partner
How did EEC membership impact Ireland?
- big boost to the farming industry thanks to the ‘Common Agricultural Policy’ which granted farmers money to invest in new technology
- EEC money helped to build infrastructure which caused an economic boom called the Celtic tiger (died in 2008)
