With the General Election nearly upon us, we take a look back at some of the Taoisigh that have graced the halls of the Leinster House, what their greatest political achievements were and how this has impacted directly on Ireland.
From Eamon DeValera to Enda Kenny, the careers of these Taoisigh changed the course of Ireland's political history and helped form this little nation.
The second Taoiseach in our series is one who cast a long shadow over Ireland, the republican and leader of Fianna Fáil, Eamon De Valera.
Who was he?
Eamon De Valera was born in New York in 1882 to an Irish mother and reportedly Spanish father, both of whom were immigrants. There has been speculation that his parents were not as some had claimed there were no marriage records or even a birth or death cert for his father, Juan Vivion de Valera.
The young De Valera was brought to Ireland at just two years of age by his uncle Ned when his mother, Catherine Coll, couldn't support the family following the death of his father. He was raised by his grandmother in Co Limerick. Coll married again in New York but never returned for the young De Valera.
Earning a number of scholarships, the young De Valera evenutally went on to become a Maths teacher although he did toy on occasion with entering a religious life, something that would rear its head years later throughout his political career.
De Valera had a passion for the Irish language, something that would have a massive impact on the State, and he was heavily involved in the Gaelic Revival. In 1913, he joined the Irish Volunteers.
"Who is he? I haven't heard of him before."
De Valera certainly threw himself into Irish revolutionary life. After joining the Volunteers in 1913, he rose through the ranks to become Captain of the Donnybrook company. He was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood and took part in the Howth gun-running.
When the Rising began in 1916, De Valera was left in charge of Boland's Mill, an outpost during the revolution but a significant part of the Rebellion. However, many attested and it is reported in Tim Pat Coogan's biogrpahy, that during the days of the Rising, their leader suffered from a nervous breakdown and asked them to set the train track on fire one night when he awoke from sleeping. De Valera loyalists dismissed the claims.
Following the end of the Rising, De Valera managed to avoid execution, largely due to the fact that he was technically an American citizen. Although the rising was initially not supported by the public, there was a massive change in opinion when the leaders were executed and Sinn Féin won a huge majority in the 1918 election. Of course, they refused to take their seats.
"If the Treaty were accepted, the fight for freedom would still go on"
Throughout the War of Independence in Ireland, De Valera spent much of his time in the States, raising the profile of an indpendent Ireland and valuable funding for the new self-declared Republic. In his absence, De Valera left the running of the State to his second in command, Michael Collins, his Minister for Finance.
When the British moved to enter Treaty discussions and put an end to the guerilla warfare that Collins had masterminded, Dev initially went to London to meet with Prime Minister, David Lloyd George. However, following the meeting, he returned to Ireland and moved the Dáil to elect him as President of Ireland and no longer Chairman of the cabinet. The move as far as he was concerned place him on a par with King George and allowed him to avoid attending talks. Instead, a delegation headed up by Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins went to London to enter Treaty discussions.
Following the signing of the Treaty, De Valera vehemently opposed it and he and other TDs walked out of the Irish parliament, essentially creating the beginning of the Civil War. With most of the country accepting and ratifying the agreement, De Valera found himself cast out. He aimed to join the IRA "irregulars" and eventually set up a Republican government in direct contrast to the accepted pro-Treaty side. It seems he had little influence however and supported a truce.
The Civil War ended in 1923 and with the death of two main leaders in the form of Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith, W.T. Cosgrave took over as Chairman of the Provisional Government. De Valera became convinced that instead of remaining out of the Dáil, he was much better off in there.
Fianna Fáil
With this huge political shift, De Valera tried to bring Sinn Féin along with him. They fundamentally disagreed with his policy and in 1926 he, along with some other former members of Sinn Féin, left to form a new party, Fianna Fáil. The party made huge gains in the 1927 election but refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the British crown that was included in the Treaty agreement. De Valera eventually gave in but noted that as far as he was concerned, it was an empty political formality.
By 1932, Fianna Fáil became the largest party in the country, securing a majority vote and setting up government. Over the next few years, De Valera spent his time getting rid of the Oath to the King and withholding land payments to the British government, essentially setting about dismantling the Treaty.
Under his leadership, Fianna Fáil went on to win the elections in 1933, 1937, 1983, 1943 and 1944. He remained the Taoiseach in power until the First Inter-Party Government in 1948.
Dominance of the Dáil
There is no question about it; De Valera dominated Irish politics for a number of years, his governments essentially remaining in power until 1959 not including the coalitions in the intervening years.
Throughout his time in government, he was heavily in support of a conservative Catholic policy and also looked to make Ireland self-sufficient. He firmly believed that family and God were central to every household, an aspect many historians claim was heavily influenced by his early life and absence of his mother. A law brought in during 1935 banning contraception was one which perhaps had one of the most lasting effects on the family along with his positioning of the mother in the family home.
In terms of Foreign Policy, he was responsible for a new Anglo-Irish trade agreement and ensuring the Treaty ports, signed over to Britain following the agreement, were returned to Irish control. This was crucial for Irish neutrality during the war, although he was much criticised for offering condolences to the German Minister in Dublin for the death of Hitler.
Interestingly, after 16 years in power and following the election of the First Inter-Party government of Fine Gael, Labour, Independents and other parties, DeV embarked on a trip to internationally dicsuss partition, leaving the duties of his office to a young Sean Lemass.
During his last election as Fianna Fáil leader in 1957, he won a majority beginning another 16 year term for the party but not for De Valera. He ran for the Presidency instead and was inaugarated in 1959. He served for two terms as President until his retirement in 1973 aged 90.
Impact on Politics
Out of all the leaders who governed since the dawn of the state, Eamon De Valera has most certainly had the most impact, his shadow cast across Irish politics from 1916 all the way to 1973. However, his biggest contribution to the State has to be his Constitution which was enacted into law in 1937. With the constitution changed from its original form in 1922, De Valera introduced new ways of asserting Irish sovereignty and tying the Church to the State. He made provisions for the importance of the family as a unit to the State and the importance of the Irish language. It also ensured our voting system remained as a proportional representation system, something he tried to reverse and blamed for dividing Ireland post civil war.
Although he is often criticised for his Republican stance following the Treaty, especially considering the fact that Fianna Fáil did enter the Dáil in 1926, De Valera did quite a lot to dismantle the hold of Great Britain in Ireland and ensure our neutrality before the war. However, it came at a price with the government embarking on a policy of self-sufficiency which was only reversed by Lemass's foreign and industry policies.
Historians have been equally critical and positive of De Valera's impact on our State but you can never deny that his impact was a an impressive one, a man who was always deeply committed to Ireland, whatever his view of this State may have been.
Best speech: "On Language & the Irish Nation", St. Patrick's Day (17 March) 1943, often called The Ireland that we dreamed of"
The ideal Ireland that we would have, the Ireland that we dreamed of, would be the home of a people who valued material wealth only as a basis for right living, of a people who, satisfied with frugal comfort, devoted their leisure to the things of the spirit – a land whose countryside would be bright with cosy homesteads, whose fields and villages would be joyous with the sounds of industry, with the romping of sturdy children, the contest of athletic youths and the laughter of happy maidens, whose firesides would be forums for the wisdom of serene old age. The home, in short, of a people living the life that God desires that men should live. With the tidings that make such an Ireland possible, St. Patrick came to our ancestors fifteen hundred years ago promising happiness here no less than happiness hereafter. It was the pursuit of such an Ireland that later made our country worthy to be called the island of saints and scholars. It was the idea of such an Ireland - happy, vigorous, spiritual - that fired the imagination of our poets; that made successive generations of patriotic men give their lives to win religious and political liberty; and that will urge men in our own and future generations to die, if need be, so that these liberties may be preserved. One hundred years ago, theYoung Irelanders, by holding up the vision of such an Ireland before the people, inspired and moved them spiritually as our people had hardly been moved since the Golden Age of Irish civilisation. Fifty years later, the founders of the Gaelic League similarly inspired and moved the people of their day. So, later, did the leaders of the Irish Volunteers. We of this time, if we have the will and active enthusiasm, have the opportunity to inspire and move our generation in like manner. We can do so by keeping this thought of a noble future for our country constantly before our eyes, ever seeking in action to bring that future into being, and ever remembering that it is for our nation as a whole that future must be sought.
