Party that self betrayed

The Cosgrave Party: A History of Cumann na nGaedheal, 1923-1933, Ciara Meehan, Royal Irish Academy: €30

THIS book, which seeks to evaluate Cumann na nGaedheal’s proper place in Irish history, provides a balanced coverage of its years in power. It attributes the “creation of stability” within the State to the party during a period in which the government faced “more frequent and serious cabinet crises” than any other.

Cumann na nGaedheal was only formed after the government had been established. This was the first and only time an Irish party was formed in such circumstances. Kevin O’Higgins is usually seen as the strongman of the government, because he was the one who handled the Army mutiny in 1924. WT Cosgrave was indisposed at the time, but Ciara Meehan argues convincingly that Cosgrave was the real boss throughout the party’s period in government.

O’Higgins is frequently attributed with handling the retaliatory executions of Rory O’Connor and the three others on December 8, 1922, but he was actually opposed to those killings. O’Connor had been best man at O’Higgins’s wedding the previous year, with the result that O’Higgins was blamed for not trying to save his friend.

“Personal spite, great heavens!” O’Higgins exclaimed in the Dáil that day. “Vindictiveness! One of these men was a friend of mine.” At that point he broke down and wept.

Although often mistakenly depicted as dour, WT Cosgrave had a good, quiet sense of humour. He was called a “great man — all the greater for being a quiet, unpretentious man”.

The government oversaw the transition from the Civil War to civil government, even though the party never established itself properly at a grass roots level. It bravely introduced the Shannon Scheme and established the country’s independent international status by appointing a minister to the USA, joining the League of Nations and playing a major role in the development of the Statute of Westminster, which allowed the country to complete the transition to full international independence.

On the down side, Cumann na nGaedheal resorted to the Red Scare, largely as it was “unable to trump the green card” that Fianna Fáil played. Though good on the role played by Cumann na nGaedheal in power, the book is weak on the party’s demise in 1933 and it fails to consider the party’s role in secretly encouraging the British to wage the Economic War, rather than concede to the Fianna Fáil government’s demands on the land annuities.

Cumann na nGaedheal’s ineptitude in opposition was typified by its scheming to undermine the government. It left itself wide open to the charge of betraying the national interest with its devious behaviour after losing power. In reality the party betrayed itself.