Mystery surrounds presidential fallout
MYSTERY remains over what exactly Defence Minister Paddy Donegan said to make President Cearbhall Ó Dalaigh resign in 1976 as newly released State papers refer only to the polite version of the Minister’s comments.
Donegan was reported at the time to have called the President a “thundering disgrace” but it has been widely speculated ever since that his remarks were much stronger, contained swear words and were changed for broadcast and print media.
Papers released by the National Archives, however, give no indication of whether the remarks were altered, and copies of the letters sent between Donegan and Ó Dalaigh following the outburst refers only to the reported term.
In an attempt to apologise for the insult, Donegan wrote on October 19th 1976, the day after the incident: “Specifically I wish to tender to you my very deep regret for my use of the words ‘thundering disgrace’ in relation to you.”
Donegan’s remarks were made in a speech to senior army officers at a ceremony at Columb Barracks in Mullingar on Monday, October 18th when he criticised Ó Dalaigh’s decision to refer a piece of new legislation to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality.
The Taoiseach had six weeks earlier declared a state of national emergency and introduced an Emergency Powers Bill in response to increased IRA attacks and in particular the assassination of the British Ambassador to Ireland, but the President, who must sign all new bills into law, was concerned about some of the proposed powers.
By referring the bill to the Supreme Court, he was in effect delaying the implementation of the law and this was what angered Donegan who felt the President was undermining the Government’s efforts to tackle IRA violence.
The papers suggest that Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave greatly underestimated the offence to Ó Dalaigh and declined Donegan’s offer to resign over the incident because he expected the President to accept the Minister’s apology.
The first sign that Ó Dalaigh was not in conciliatory mood came when he declared himself unavailable to receive Donegan at Áras an Uachtarain to allow him apologise in person.
Donegan then rushed a letter to the Áras in which he apologised but also made a questionable attempt to defend himself, saying: “I wish to assure you that my references to that Bill (the Emergency Powers Bill) were not intended either directly or by implication as in any way reflecting on you.”
Ó Dalaigh immediately sent a reply in which he accused Donegan of having “no understanding” of the law pertaining to the case or the damage caused by his comments, particularly as the President was the honorary supreme commander of the defence forces whom the Minister was addressing at the time.
“A special relationship exists between the President and the Minister for Defence,” he wrote. “That relationship has been irreparably breached not only by what you said yesterday but also because of the place where, and the persons before whom, you chose to make your outrageous criticism.” He underlined the words “outrageous criticism”.
He continued: “The gravamen (most offensive term) of your utterance is, “in my opinion he (the President) is a thundering disgrace”. These words, I find, are followed by the sentence: “the fact is, the Army must stand behind the State”.
“Can this sequence be construed by ordinary people otherwise than as an insinuation that the President does not stand behind the State? Have you any conception of your responsibilities as a Minister of State and, in particular, as Minister for Defence?”
The tone and content of the letter took the Government by surprise as a memo penned by an official to the Taoiseach shows.
“It (the letter) is two and a half pages long and looks, from my first hearing of it, as if a reply from the Minister is called for — because it asks him questions!” the startled official wrote on Wednesday, October 20th.
The Attorney General was brought in to help draft a reply for Donegan but the eventual letter, received by Ó Dalaigh on Friday, October 22nd — in which Donegan again apologises but insists the remarks regarding the Bill were misinterpreted — failed to appease the President, who resigned with effect from 6pm that evening.
Cosgrave subsequently faced a vote of no confidence motion tabled by Fianna Fáil, countered by a vote of confidence from his own side, and it is clear from the various drafts of his address to the Dáil that he did not accept Donegan’s resignation offer because he was waiting to see how Ó Dalaigh would react to the apology rather than because he felt he should on principle support his Defence Minister.
One draft reads: “I considered that the Minister’s offer was premature because of his intention to apologise to the President and our lack of knowledge of how the President would take the Minister’s offer.” The piece reading “and our lack of knowledge of how the President would take the Minister’s offer” is scored out in the revised draft.
It is noted that after he announced his resignation, Ó Dalaigh fulfilled an engagement at a function at Glengara Park School, Dun Laoghaire and then left directly for his home at Kilquade Co Wicklow.
His sudden resignation meant the temporary transfer of his powers to a Commission consisting of the Chief Justice, the Chairman of the Dáil and the Chairman of the Seanad — as arrangements were made for the election of a successor.
The controversy attracted worldwide attention and many letters were sent by members of the public to the Taoiseach lamenting the loss of the President.
Among the loose ends that had to be tied up was the question of the President’s pension. It was agreed that under law he was entitled to receive half his current salary, giving him £9,015 per year in addition to his annual judge’s pension of £8,195.52.
At the time the average pay of an RTE reporter was about £1,100 a year and the generous pension arrangements did not go down well in all circles. In a letter to the Taoiseach, the Kilkenny Borough Old Age Pensions Committee said they had passed the following resolution: “That this Committee views with great concern the fact that the retiring President, Mr Cearbhall Ó Dalaigh, has been granted a pension of £9,000 by the Government after only two years service and in view of the fact that he did not fulfill his contract of seven years.”
Following the death of President Erskine Childers on November 17, 1974, officials thought there was not enough time for sculptor John Behan to come from Cork to make the death mask. Professor O Murchú and Professor Herkner of the National College of Art said they would make the mask for nothing, but they recommended that sculptor Jack Power should first be invited as he was more experienced. Dan O’Sullivan, Secretary of the Taoiseach’s Department, was stunned when Power charged £1,000 for the death mask. It was assumed he was retaliating for not being commissioned to do the bronze of the later President. The Office of Public Works (OPW) balked at the fee, but eventually agreed to pay £950 in April 1976, after Power threatened to take legal action. “We considered that such proceedings could well be gravely embarrassing and would be certain to highlight the loose arrangements under which the mask was commissioned,” the Chairman of the OPW explained.
Anrija Artukovic — the infamous Interior minister of the Croatia who became known as “the Himmler of the Balkans” during the second world war — was accused of murdering as many as 100,000 people. He escaped with the help of Vatican authorities after the war. “I stayed in Switzerland until July 1947,” he explained. “Then with the knowledge of the Swiss Minister of Justice I obtained personal documents for myself and my family, which enabled us to travel to Ireland.” From there he went to the United States in 1948, but he was eventually deported to Yugoslavia in 1986. Convicted of war crimes, he was sentenced to death, but he died in jail at the age of 88 while awaiting execution.
Eamon de Valera died in August 1975 while the Dáil was in recess and as it did not reconvene until October 22, Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave was advised that it would not be necessary for him to refer to the former President’s death. “If the Taoiseach were to make a statement it could be the occasion for comment and ‘interruptions’ from the Opposition, especially if there is recrimination in the interim,” he was advised. The Taoiseach disregarded the advise and duly expressed “deep regret” for the deaths “during the Recess of the former President and Taoiseach, Eamon de Valera and of our colleague, the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance, Henry Kenny.” The latter was the father of current Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny, who succeeded his father as a politician. The statement was received with befitting dignity. De Valera was dead and the civil war recriminations finally were buried with him.
“The main hope for the future of Northern Ireland lies now in the rebuilding of power-sharing,” Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave told a press briefing on June 13, 1974. Conor Cruise O’Brien, who was sharing the top table, confirmed this: “I think the most important thing there is, and which we concentrate on all the time, is that it is necessary to re-construct power-sharing.”
When Con Cremin, the Irish Ambassador to the UN, met William Cardinal Conway in New York on November 26, 1971, they had a frank exchange of views. “There is no communication between the Church and the State in the ‘Republic’,” Cardinal Conway told him. “The position now is that it is sufficient to hint at Church support for a given policy to have it killed. Here the Cardinal spoke of what he called ‘liberals’ in Dublin and mentioned specifically Dr Garret FitzGerald. The statement was ironic because FitzGerald was in opposition at the time.
Wolfe Rudiger Hess, the son of Adolf Hitler’s former deputy leader Rudolf Hess, wrote on January 22, 1968, asking President de Valera to sign a petition calling for the release of his father on humanitarian grounds.
“It is my intention to send it to leading newspapers like the ‘Times,’ the ‘New York Times’ and ‘Le Monde’,” Wolfe Hess wrote. “It would make all the difference if you would add the weight of your signature to the appeal.” The President’s secretary advised Ambassador Eamonn Kennedy on March 5, 1968 to acknowledge the letter, and there was no intention of doing anything further.
Following the destruction of Nelson’s Pillar by the IRA in March 1966, Ambassador William Fay reported from Washington that the local Evening Star newspaper had an anti-French cartoon showing Nelson’s head on top of a pile of rubble, saying: “If it hadn’t been for me they’d be French and it would serve them right.” “At long last the free people of the Republic of Ireland in their own unique way have embarked upon a programme of urban renewal in Dublin city,” Congressman Robert Sweeney of Ohio told the House of Representatives.
Conor Cruise O’Brien wrote to the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave in May 1974 objecting to a cabinet sub-committee decision that “there was no question of a military response to a doomsday situation in Belfast.” He objected indicating that the Dublin Government had no intention of becoming involved in Northern Ireland. “I think this is inadequate and I am seriously worried about the apparent reluctance of the security head to prepare contingency plans to cover various possible eventualities,” he warned. “A military response adequate or inadequate, may be forced on us by the evolution of the situation.”
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