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