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Cumann na nGaedheal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | W. T. Cosgrave |
| Founded | 27 April 1923 |
| Dissolved | 8 September 1933 |
| Split from | Sinn Féin |
| Merged into | Fine Gael |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right |
Cumann na nGaedheal (Irish pronunciation:[ˈkʊmˠən̪ˠn̪ˠəˈŋeːl̪ˠ];lit. 'Society of theGaels') was apolitical party in theIrish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. It was named after the originalCumann na nGaedheal organisation which merged with theDungannon Clubs and the National Council to formSinn Féin in 1905.[1] In 1933 it merged with smaller groups to form theFine Gael party.
In 1922 thepro-TreatyGovernment of the Irish Free State lost the support ofSinn Féin, its political party. The need to create a party supporting the government was not immediate.Cumann na nGaedheal was the name of the antecedent nationalistumbrella organisation to Sinn Féin formed in 1900 (seeCumann na nGaedheal (1900)). The secondCumann na nGaedheal did not come into existence until more than a year later, on 27 April 1923 when the pro-TreatyTDs recognised the need for a party organisation to win elections. Initially, the party's ability to influence the government was limited.[2]
The party was largely centre-right in outlook. The pro-Treaty wing of Sinn Féin had decided to break off and become a distinct party in late December 1922, but its launch was delayed until after the New Year as a direct consequence of the turmoil caused by theIrish Civil War.
The leadership of the pro-Treaty Sinn Féin in 1922 includedArthur Griffith,Michael Collins andW. T. Cosgrave. Cosgrave and Griffith had been prominent in Sinn Féin since the 1900s, while Collins rose quickly through its ranks after the 1916Easter Rising. Griffith and Collins died in August 1922 during the early stages of the Civil War, leaving Cosgrave to lead the pro-Treaty Provisional Government in the run-up to the formal establishment of theIrish Free State. Cosgrave had also fought in the Easter Rising and had been prominent in the Government of theIrish Republic; the burden of responsibility for building the newstate on solid foundations was now on Cosgrave and his colleagues. Difficult years of state-building amidstpolitical violence characterised its time in government.
TheIrish Unionist Alliance was dissolved in 1922, when many of its followers swung their support behind Cumann na nGaedheal, seeing it as less hostile to them than the anti-TreatyRepublicans and the laterFianna Fáil.[3] When thefirst Seanad was formed, half of the seats were filled by unionists nominated by the Cumann na nGaedheal government.[4] Prominent Southern Unionist politicians, likeMaurice Dockrell,Richard Beamish andBryan Cooper, supported the party.[5][6]
The first election the party contested was thegeneral election of 1923, when it won 63 seats (out of 153), with 39% of the votes cast. Until 1932, Cumann na nGaedheal continued to form the Government of the Irish Free State, with Cosgrave asPresident of the Executive Council.
In government, the party established the institutions upon which the current Irish state is still built. It also re-established law and order through a number of public safety acts in a country that had long been divided by war and competing ideologies. The party's Minister for Home Affairs,Kevin O'Higgins, established theGarda Síochána, an unarmed police force. As Minister for External Affairs in 1927, he was successful in increasing the Free State's autonomy within the BritishCommonwealth of Nations.
Cumann na nGaedheal as a government party was characterized by conservatism. Thus, when J.J. Walsh, Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, resigned in 1927 due to the government's lack of support forprotectionism, he sent an open letter to Cosgrave, claiming inter alia that the party had gone ″over to the most reactionary elements of the state″.[7]
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In the general election in June 1927, Cumann na nGaedheal performed very poorly, winning just 47 seats with 27% of the vote, and was able to survive in office only because ofFianna Fáil's continued refusal to take up its 44 seats due to the party's rejection of theOath of Allegiance to the Free State.
The assassination of Kevin O'Higgins, the controversial Minister for Justice, by Republicans shortly after the election came as a bitter blow to the party. In response to this act of violence, the state introduced a second Public Safety Act, which introduced the death penalty and was widely unpopular with the public, and an Electoral Amendment Act which forced elected TDs to take the Oath of Allegiance. Thus the murder indirectly led to Fianna Fáil's forced entry to the Dáil and in August 1927 the government narrowly survived a vote of no confidence. Following victory in twoby-elections, Cosgrave called asnap election in September 1927. Cumann na nGaedheal regained most of the ground lost in June, winning 62 seats and 39% of the vote, although most of these gains were from potential allies.
For the first time the party now faced vigorous parliamentary (if not entirely constitutional) opposition in the Dáil, as Fianna Fáil also made significant gains. Since the foundation of the state Dáil business had been relatively calm as the relatively small Labour party functioned as the official opposition in the absence of die-hard Republicans. The scene was now set for a volatile atmosphere in parliament as the two sides who had fought each other in the civil war now met face to face.
The party's support base gradually slipped toÉamon de Valera's new partyFianna Fáil after its inception in 1926. Cosgrave's Cumann na nGaedheal became solely identified with protecting the treaty and defending the new State while it seemed preoccupied with public safety. Economically the party favoured balanced budgets and free trade at a time when its opponents advocated protectionism. The weak economy of the Free State suffered during theGreat Depression. Nonetheless, it came as a surprise when Cumann na nGaedheal was defeated byFianna Fáil in thegeneral election of February 1932, winning 57 seats to Fianna Fáil's 72.
Having spent its entire existence prior to 1932 in government, Cumann na nGaedheal was ill-prepared for a role in opposition. Its support base contracted further at thegeneral election in January 1933, when it won 48 seats compared to Fianna Fáil's 77. Increasingly, the party found itself unable to counter de Valera's populism and was increasingly labelled the party of the middle class. The party subsequently entered discussions with theNational Centre Party and the ultranationalistNational Guard (Blueshirts) on the possibility of a merger. That came about in September 1933, with the formation ofFine Gael from the three parties, though, in reality, Fine Gael was a larger version of Cumann na nGaedheal. It was in the lead-up to the merger that the then Editor of theIrish Times,R.M. Smyllie, described Cumann na nGaedheal as a party "who one wished would be open to ideas, until one saw the kind of ideas they were open to".[8]
| Election | Leader | FPv | % | Seats | % | ± | Dáil | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | W. T. Cosgrave | 410,695 | 39.0 (#1) | 63 / 153 | 41.2 (#1) |  5[9] | 4th | Government 2nd executive (CnGminority) |
| June 1927 | 314,703 | 27.4 (#1) | 47 / 153 | 30.7 (#1) |  16 | 5th | Government 3rd executive (CnG minority) | |
| Sep. 1927 | 453,028 | 38.7 (#1) | 62 / 153 | 40.5 (#1) | 15 | 6th | Government 4th, 5th executive (CnG-FP minority) | |
| 1932 | 449,506 | 35.3 (#2) | 57 / 153 | 37.3 (#2) | 5 | 7th | Opposition 6th executive (FF minority) | |
| 1933 | 422,495 | 30.5 (#2) | 48 / 153 | 31.4 (#2) | 9 | 8th | Opposition 7th executive (FF minority) |
| Election | Seats won | ± | Position | First Pref votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | 14 / 60 | 1 |  1st | 126,218 | 41.3% |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
