One Irish statesman who led by example at home and abroad

ALTHOUGH it has become somewhat trendy to denigrate the leadership of Éamon de Valera, he led by magnificent example both at home and on the world stage in the 1930s.

His first act on coming to power in 1932 was to cut his own salary by 40% from £2,500 to £1,500, and all his ministers from £1,700 to £1,000. This was splendid leadership in comparison with the atrocious fumbling of recent years.

In assessing ‘Ireland’s Greatest’, RTÉ has overlooked de Valera. This fits into a trend in recent years of depicting him as morally indifferent to what was happening in the world as a result of his refusal to lead Ireland into the Second World War. It is a gross distortion because he was actually one of the most courageous and outspoken leaders of the 1930s.