Seán Lemass | |
|---|---|
 Lemass in 1966 | |
| Taoiseach | |
| In office 23 June 1959 – 10 November 1966 | |
| President | |
| Tánaiste | |
| Preceded by | Éamon de Valera |
| Succeeded by | Jack Lynch |
| Leader of Fianna Fáil | |
| In office 23 June 1959 – 10 November 1966 | |
| Preceded by | Éamon de Valera |
| Succeeded by | Jack Lynch |
| Tánaiste | |
| In office 20 March 1957 – 23 June 1959 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | William Norton |
| Succeeded by | Seán MacEntee |
| In office 13 June 1951 – 2 June 1954 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | William Norton |
| Succeeded by | William Norton |
| In office 14 June 1945 – 18 February 1948 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Seán T. O'Kelly |
| Succeeded by | William Norton |
| Minister for Industry and Commerce | |
| In office 20 March 1957 – 23 June 1959 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | William Norton |
| Succeeded by | Jack Lynch |
| In office 13 June 1951 – 2 June 1954 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Thomas F. O'Higgins |
| Succeeded by | William Norton |
| In office 18 August 1941 – 18 February 1948 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Seán MacEntee |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Morrissey |
| In office 9 March 1932 – 16 September 1939 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Patrick McGilligan |
| Succeeded by | Seán MacEntee |
| Minister for Supplies | |
| In office 8 September 1939 – 31 July 1945 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | New office |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office February 1948 – June 1969 | |
| Constituency | Dublin South-Central |
| In office November 1924 – February 1948 | |
| Constituency | Dublin South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Francis Lemass (1899-07-15)15 July 1899 Ballybrack,Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 11 May 1971(1971-05-11) (aged 71) Phibsborough, Dublin, Ireland |
| Resting place | Deansgrange, Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Spouse | |
| Relations |
|
| Children | 4, includingMaureen andNoel |
| Education | O'Connell School |
Seán Francis Lemass (bornJohn Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an IrishFianna Fáil politician who served asTaoiseach andLeader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served asTánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 and 1945 to 1948,Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954, 1945 to 1949 and 1932 to 1939 andMinister for Supplies from 1939 to 1945. He served as aTeachta Dála (TD) from 1924 to 1969.
A veteran of the1916 Easter Rising, theWar of Independence and theCivil War, Lemass was first elected as aSinn FéinTD for theDublin South constituency in aby-election on 18 November 1924.[1] Lemass was returned at each election until the constituency was abolished in 1948 when he was re-elected forDublin South-Central until his retirement in 1969. He was a founder-member ofFianna Fáil in 1926 and served as Minister for Industry and Commerce, Minister for Supplies and Tánaiste in successive Fianna Fáil governments.[2]
Lemass's legacy is tied to his efforts in facilitating industrial growth, bringingforeign direct investment into the country, and forging permanent links between Ireland and theEuropean community.[3] One of the most important modernizing reforms during Lemass's tenure was the introduction of free secondary education, an initiative that took effect shortly after Lemass retired as Taoiseach.[4]
Lemass was born at Norwood Lodge,Ballybrack,Dublin on 15 July 1899, the second of seven children born to John T. Lemass and his wife Frances (née Phelan) Lemass.[5] He was baptised at Ss. Alphonsus and Columba Roman Catholic Church,Killiney, six days later, on 21 July 1899. The family operated a hatter and outfitter business and lived at the premises in Capel Street (inDublin city centre) where Lemass grew up.[6][7][8] He was of distant FrenchHuguenot descent.[9] Within the family his name soon changed to Jack and eventually, after 1916, he himself preferred to be called Seán. He was educated atO'Connell School, where he was described as studious. He won a first-class honours exhibition in mathematics in 1915.[5]
One of Lemass's classmates was the popular Irish comedianJimmy O'Dea. Another friend during his youth wasTom Farquharson, who went on to play as agoalkeeper forCardiff City. In January 1915, Lemass was persuaded to join theIrish Volunteers. His mature looks ensured he would be accepted although he was only fifteen and a half at the time. Lemass became a member of the A Company of the 3rd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade. The battalion adjutant wasÉamon de Valera, futureTaoiseach andPresident of Ireland. While out on a journey in the Dublin mountains during Easter 1916, Lemass and his brother Noel met two sons of ProfessorEoin MacNeill. They informed the Lemasses of theEaster Rising that was taking place in the city. On Tuesday 25 April, Seán and Noel Lemass were allowed to join the Volunteer garrison at theGeneral Post Office. Lemass was equipped with ashotgun and was positioned on the roof. He also was involved in fighting on Moore Street. However, by Friday the Rising had ended in failure and all involved were imprisoned. Lemass was held for a month in Richmond Barracks, due to his age he was released from the 1,783 that were arrested. Following this, Lemass's father wanted his son to continue with his studies and be called to theIrish Bar.[citation needed]
Three of Lemass's brothers died while young. When he was 16, Lemass killed his own baby brother, Herbert, aged twenty-two months, in a domestic shooting accident with a revolver on 28 January 1916.[10] His older brother, Noel, an anti-Treaty officer, was abducted in June 1923 and murdered the following October, when he was 25; the Lemass family believed he was killed by pro-treaty soldier,Emmet Dalton.[10] Another of Lemass's brothers, Patrick, died of natural causes at the age of 19 in 1926.[10]
Following the Easter Rising, Lemass remained active in the Irish Volunteers, carrying out raids for arms. Until November 1920, Lemass remained a part-time member of the Volunteers. In that month, during the height of theIrish War of Independence, twelve members of the Dublin Brigade of theIRA took part in an attack on British agents living in Dublin, whose names and addresses had been leaked toMichael Collins by his network of spies. The names[note 1] of those who carried out Collins' orders on the morning of 21 November 1920 were not disclosed until authorTim Pat Coogan mentioned them in his book on the history of theIRA, published in 1970. Coogan identified Lemass as taking part in the killing of a British agent as a member of the "Apostles" assassin squad which killed thirteen (and wounded five other)British agents of theCairo Gang. That day, 21 November 1920, became known asBloody Sunday.[5]
Lemass was arrested in December 1920 and interned atBallykinlar Camp,County Down.[11]
In December 1921, after the signing ofAnglo-Irish Treaty, Lemass was released. He became a training officer for a period inBeggars Bush Barracks before the IRA split and was involved in the Belfast Boycott operations (seeThe Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922)). During the debates of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, Lemass was one of the minority who opposed it along with de Valera. As a protest, all the anti-Treaty side withdrew from theDáil. In theIrish Civil War which followed Lemass was adjutant toRory O'Connor, when the group seized theFour Courts, the home of theHigh Court of Ireland. The occupation of the Four Courts eventually resulted in the outbreak of the Civil War, when, under British pressure, the Free State side shelled the building on 28 June 1922.[12] As a result,fighting broke out in Dublin between pro and anti-Treaty factions. The Four Courts surrendered after two days of bombardment, however, Lemass escaped withErnie O'Malley and some others toBlessington.[13] TheirFlying Column operated inEnniscorthy,Tullow,Ferns,Baltinglass andBorris before the Column was broken up. Lemass and O'Malley returned to Dublin along withThomas Derrig as a member of the IRA Eastern Command Headquarters but were later captured in December 1922 and interned in theCurragh Camp.[5]
In June 1923, after the end of the civil war, Seán Lemass's brother Noel Lemass, an anti-Treaty IRA officer, was abducted in Dublin by a number of men, believed to be connected to theNational Army or the PoliceCID unit.[14] He was held in secret until October when his mutilated body was found in the Dublin Mountains,[15] (see alsoExecutions during the Irish Civil War). Seán Lemass was released from prison on compassionate grounds following his brother's death. On 18 November 1924, Lemass was elected for the first time as aSinn Féin TD.[16]
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In 1926, de Valera, supported by Lemass, sought to convinceSinn Féin to accept the existence of theIrish Free State and the legitimacy of theDáil, and to abandon itsabstentionist intention to refuse to sit in the Dáil if elected. Their effort was unsuccessful, however, and in March 1926 both de Valera and Lemass resigned from the party.[5]
At this point, de Valera contemplated leaving public life, a decision that would have changed the course of Irish history. It was Lemass who encouraged him to stay and form a political party. In May, de Valera, assisted byGerald Boland and Lemass, began to plan the new party, which became known asFianna Fáil – The Republican Party.[note 2] Lemass travelled around the country trying to raise support for Fianna Fáil. The vast majority of Sinn Féin TDs were persuaded to join. The new party was strongly opposed to partition but accepted thede facto existence of the Free State, seeking to republicanise it from within. It opposed the controversialOath of Allegiance and campaigned for its removal.[5]
Due largely to Lemass' organisational skill, most of Sinn Féin's branches defected to Fianna Fáil.[17] This enabled the new party to make a strong showing atthe June 1927 election, taking 44 seats while reducing its parent party to only five. More importantly, this was only three seats behind the governing party,Cumann na nGaedheal. Pending the removal of the Oath of Allegiance, the party announced that it would not take up its Dáil seats. A court case was begun in the name of Lemass and others. However, the assassination by theIRA ofKevin O'Higgins, theVice-President of the Executive Council (deputy prime minister), led to the passing of a new Act requiring all prospective Dáil candidates to take an oath that, if elected, they would swear the Oath of Allegiance; a refusal to do so would prohibit anyone from candidacy in a general or by-election.[5]
Faced with the threat of legal disqualification from politics, de Valera eventually took the Oath of Allegiance while claiming that he was simply signing a slip of paper to gain a right of participation in the Dáil, notactually taking an Oath. On 11 August 1927, having signed the Oath of Allegiance in front of a representative of theGovernor-General of the Irish Free State, the TDs from what Lemass described as "a slightly constitutional party" entered the Dáil. The party had another strong showing ata fresh election in September, taking 57 seats.[5]
Lemass was one of the party's stronger performers in opposition, attacking Cumann na nGaedheal as being too pro-British. He also attacked the government's stewardship of the economy, and was largely responsible for drafting Fianna Fáil's economic programme.[citation needed]
In 1932, Fianna Fáil took office in theIrish Free State, remaining in government for 16 uninterrupted years. The party which Lemass had described as only a "slightly constitutional party" in 1929[note 3] was now leading the Free State, a state that de Valera and Lemass had fought a civil war to destroy a decade earlier. De Valera appointed Lemass asMinister for Industry and Commerce, one of the more senior cabinet positions in theExecutive Council, which he would occupy, with only one short break, in all three of de Valera's governments.[5]
Lemass had the two difficult tasks of developing Irish industry behind his new tariff walls, and convincing the conservativeDepartment of Finance to promote state involvement in industry. Against the background of theGreat Depression, he and de Valera engaged in theAnglo-Irish Trade War which lasted from 1933 until 1938, causing severe damage and hardship to the Irish economy and the cattle industry. In 1933, Lemass set up theIndustrial Credit Corporation to facilitate investment for industrial development; in the climate of the depression, investment had dried up. A number of semi-state companies, modelled on the success of theESB, were also set up. These included theIrish Sugar Company, to develop the sugar-beet industry,Turf Development Board for turf development, and an Irish airline,Aer Lingus. Years later Lemass described Aer Lingus as his "proudest achievement".[5]
The Irish market was still too small for multiple companies to exist, so practically all the semi-states had a monopoly on the Irish market. While Lemass concentrated on economic matters, de Valera focused primarily on constitutional affairs, leading to the passage of the newConstitution of Ireland in 1937. De Valera becameTaoiseach, while Lemass served in the new Government (the new name for the cabinet) again as Minister for Industry and Commerce.[5]
Subsequently, Irisheconomic historians have found that many of his decisions on tariffs and licences were made on an ad-hoc basis, with little coherent policy and forward planning.[18][19]
Lemass becameMinister for Supplies in 1939, following the outbreak ofWorld War II (known in Ireland asThe Emergency). It was a crucial role for Ireland, which maintained official neutrality.[note 4]
The state had to achieve an unprecedented degree of self-sufficiency and it was Lemass's role to ensure this; he had the difficult task of organising what little resources existed. In 1941, theIrish Shipping Company was set up to keep a vital trickle of supplies coming into the country. However, petrol, gas, and some foodstuffs remained in short supply. WhenSeán T. O'Kelly was electedpresident of Ireland in 1945, de Valera chose Lemass over older cabinet colleagues to succeed him asTánaiste.[5]
AfterWorld War II Lemass sought help from theMarshall Aid Plan, securing $100m that was mainly spent on the road network. Emigration continued, particularlyto Britain. Despite a high birth rate, the Republic's population continued to fall until the 1960s (see chart).
In 1948, partly due to its own increasing isolation and also due to a republican backlash against its anti-IRA policies (which during the Emergency had seen the execution of IRA prisoners – in part due to IRA links with theNazis), which had produced a rival republican party,Clann na Poblachta, Fianna Fáil lost office.[5]
TheFirst Inter-Party government, made up ofFine Gael, theLabour Party,National Labour Party,Clann na Talmhan, Clann na Poblachta and Independents, was formed under Fine Gael TDJohn A. Costello. In opposition, Lemass played a crucial role in re-organising and streamlining Fianna Fáil. As a result of this, and also due to crises within the Inter-Party government over the controversialMother and Child Scheme, Fianna Fáil were not long out of government.[5]
In 1951, Fianna Fáil returned to office as a minority government. Lemass again returned as Minister for Industry and Commerce. Lemass believed that a new economic policy was needed, however, de Valera disagreed.[citation needed]Seán MacEntee, theMinister for Finance, tried to deal with the crisis in the balance of payments. He was also unsympathetic to a new economic outlook. In 1954, the government fell and was replaced by theSecond Inter-Party government.[5]
Lemass was confined to the Opposition benches for another three years. In 1957, de Valera, at the age of seventy-five, announced to Fianna Fáil that he planned to retire. He was persuaded however to becomeTaoiseach one more time until 1959 when the office ofPresident of Ireland would become vacant. Lemass returned asTánaiste and Minister for Industry and Commerce. In 1958, the firstProgramme for Economic Development was launched. De Valera waselected president in 1959 and retired asFianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach.[5]
On 23 June 1959, Seán Lemass was appointedTaoiseach, on the nomination ofDáil Éireann. Many had wondered ifFianna Fáil could survive without de Valera as leader. However, Lemass quickly established his control over the party. Although he was one of the founding members of Fianna Fáil he was still only fifty-nine years old, seventeen years younger than De Valera.
The change of personnel in Fianna Fáil was also accompanied by a change of personnel inFine Gael, withJames Dillon becoming leader uponRichard Mulcahy's retirement in 1959, andLabour, in whichBrendan Corish succeededWilliam Norton in 1960. A generation of leaders who had dominated Irish politics for over three decades had moved off the stage of history – although neither Fine Gael nor Labour's new leaders initiated major policy changes on the level of Lemass's.[citation needed]
Lemass also initiated several changes in the cabinet. He is credited with providing a transition phase between the old guard and a new generation of professional politicians. Younger men such asBrian Lenihan,Charles Haughey,Patrick Hillery andDonogh O'Malley were all given their first cabinetportfolios by Lemass, and ministers who joined under de Valera, such asJack Lynch,Neil Blaney andKevin Boland were promoted by the new Taoiseach. Similarly, several members of the old guard retired from politics during the Lemass era. By 1965,Frank Aiken was the only de Valera veteran remaining in government, and would become the only founder-member of Fianna Fáil to survive Lemass as a member of the government and the Dáil.[citation needed]
The termLemass era is used by author and academic Brian Girvin to describe the period of economic change between 1959 and 1966. It is so termed because Lemass came from a business background, unlike the more academic and religious de Valera, and this was seen as a factor in the economic turnaround at the time.[20] However, factors other than the leadership of Lemass had a role to play in the change in Ireland at the time – a generation of young politicians born after theCivil War, the presence ofT. K. Whitaker in theDepartment of Finance and the arrival of television all had a role.[20]
During the Lemass era, theIDA greatly refocused its efforts on attracting quality industry,RTÉ was created, whilst population decline and emigration halted somewhat, and the Programme for Economic Expansion was implemented.[20]
The period also saw the destruction of much ofGeorgian Dublin to make way for modern buildings, and the resettlement of inner-city Dublin communities in new developments such asBallymun andTallaght.[citation needed]
Lemass summed up his economic philosophy by copying an often-quoted phrase: "A rising tide lifts all boats". By this, he meant that an upsurge in the Irish economy would benefit both the richest and the poorest.[citation needed]
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Although the White Paper entitled "Economic Development" was first introduced in 1958 in de Valera's last government, its main recommendations formed the basis for the First Programme for Economic Expansion, which was adopted by Lemass asgovernment policy upon his ascension in 1959.[21]
The programme, which was the brainchild ofT. K. Whitaker, involved a move away from theprotectionist policies that had been in place since the 1930s. Tax breaks and grants were also to be provided to foreign firms wishing to set up a company in Ireland. The programme also allowed for the spending of P£220 million of state capital in investing in an integrated system of national development.[22]
Following the introduction of this programme the policy of protection was eventually ended and the Control of Manufacturers Act, which had been in place since 1932 and had been introduced by Lemass himself, was also abolished. The implementation of the programme coincided with favourable trading conditions, which contributed to the initiative's popularity. However, the government's introduction of a 2.5%turnover tax in 1963, badly damaged the political position, with a by-election of that year reducing the government's majority to one seat. But by the beginning of 1964, another round of by-elections saw a rebound in the government's popularity: in the preceding five years, unemployment had fallen by a third; emigration had reduced considerably and the population grew for the first time since thefamine. Agriculture was the only sector which failed to respond to the programme.[citation needed]
ProfessorTom Garvin has found that the protectionist policies were first suggested to de Valera by Lemass in a paper written in 1929–30, and then adopted following the change of government in 1932. He considers the proposition that Lemass moved the economy away from free trade in the 1930s, and back into it in the 1960s; a costly mistake that affected many thousands of (non-voting) emigrants.[23]
The programme paved the way forfree trade. In 1960, Ireland signed theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a worldwide agreement to reduce tariffs. In 1961, Ireland applied unsuccessfully for membership in theEuropean Economic Community. Ireland's failure to join was said to be Lemass's biggest regret and disappointment as Taoiseach. Ireland eventually joined in 1973, two years after Lemass's death. The 1965 Merger Treaties paved the way for the signing of the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement between Lemass's government andHarold Wilson's Labour government.[citation needed]
A Second Programme was launched in 1963, with even more ambitious targets. In particular, the policy focused on expenditures for education, with a doubling of expenditures planned, and high production goals for the dairy industry. Agriculture, which had disappointing results in the First Programme, was understated in the second – a clear break in the Lemass policies from de Valera's longstanding courting of rural voters.[citation needed]
The Second Programme was discontinued in 1967 after Lemass had left office and the programme's goals proved far from completion.[citation needed]
As a result of the economic expansion, there was an increase in industrialisation and urbanisation. An increase in prosperity also led to a move away from insularity and conservatism in Irish life. This was facilitated in no small part by the establishment of the state television service,Raidió Teilifís Éireann on 31 December 1961. Television programmes, such asThe Late Late Show and imported American and British ones, had a profound effect on a change in attitude. Subjects such as contraception, the Catholic Church and divorce were being discussed openly in a way that previous generations would never have imagined. The pontificate ofPope John XXIII and theSecond Vatican Council also had a profound effect on the changing attitudes of Irish Catholics.[citation needed]
In 1963, Ireland saw the first visit of a sittingUS President to Ireland, PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, the great-grandson of an Irish emigrant, came on an official visit. His visit seemed to symbolise a new age for the post-Famine Irish. During his visit Kennedy visited distant relatives inCounty Wexford, as well as visitingDublin,Cork,Galway andLimerick. Kennedy later said that his four-day visit to Ireland was one of his most enjoyable. Kennedy later personally invited Lemass back toWashington in October of the same year. One month later the young President Kennedy would be assassinated.[citation needed]
In 1965, a report titled "Investment in Education" was published. After over forty years of independence, the report painted a depressing picture of a system where no changes had taken place. Lemass appointed several young and intelligent men to the post ofMinister for Education, including Patrick Hillery andGeorge Colley. Under these people, a slow process of change eventually began to take place.[citation needed]
The most innovative change in education came in 1966 whenDonogh O'Malley was appointed Minister. Shortly after taking over O'Malley announced that from 1969 all schools up to Intermediate level[note 5] would be free and free buses would provide transport for the students. This plan had the backing of Lemass; O'Malley, however, never discussed this hugely innovative and expensive plan with any other cabinet ministers, least of all the Minister for FinanceJack Lynch.[citation needed] However, the plan was not expensive in the long term and has continued ever since. O'Malley had died by the time his brainchild came to maturity.[citation needed]
Various improvements in welfare provision were also carried out during the Lemass era. In 1960, old-age pension insurance was introduced for all manual workers and for salaried employees under a certain earnings ceiling, and in 1963, child allowances were extended to the first child.[24] A National Manpower Agency was also established.[25]
The failure of the IRAborder campaign in the 1950s and the accession of Lemass as Taoiseach heralded a new policy towardsNorthern Ireland. Although he was of the staunch republican tradition that rejected partition, he saw clearly that it was unlikely to end in the foreseeable future and that consequently the Republic was better served by disposing of the matter.[7] The new Taoiseach played down thenationalist and anti-partition rhetoric that had done little to further the situation over the previous forty years. Still, as long as the hardlineBasil Brooke wasPrime Minister of Northern Ireland there was little hope of arapprochement.[citation needed]
However, in 1963,Terence O'Neill, a younger man with a more pragmatic outlook, succeeded Brooke as Prime Minister. He had years before told Tony Grey ofThe Irish Times that if he ever succeeded Brooke, he hoped to meet with Lemass.[26] A friendship had developed between O'Neill's secretary, Jim Malley, and the Irish civil servant,T. K. Whitaker. A series of behind-the-scenes negotiations resulted in O'Neill issuing an invitation to Lemass to visit him atStormont inBelfast.[27]
On 14 January 1965, Lemass travelled toBelfast in the utmost secrecy. The media and even his own cabinet had not been informed until the very last minute. The meeting got a mixed reaction in the North. In theRepublic, however, it was seen as a clear indication that the "Irish Cold War" had ended, or at least that a thaw had set in. Lemass returned the invitation on 9 February of the same year by inviting O'Neill toDublin, but he did not want to be seen to be anti-British. The Irish government encouraged overseas developments with theUnited States, so that they could share in the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the Easter Rising. The two leaders discussed cooperation between the two states on general economic matters; local services such as road systems and sewage facilities; agriculture, including exempting Northern Ireland from Britain's quota on butter imports from the Republic; customs; and all-Ireland representation in international sporting events.[7] While in 1966 people began to take notice ofIan Paisley's more hard-line speeches, O'Neill was by Ulster standards a "liberal" (Roy Hattersley MP), and Harold Wilson's government decided that there had to be radical change as a consequence of the diplomaticrapprochement with Lemass.[citation needed] The 50th Anniversary of the Easter Rising was celebrated byInsurrection, a TV mini-series commissioned byRTÉ that was later broadcast on theBBC.[citation needed]
The meetings heralded a new (but short-lived) era of optimism, although, for the most part, it was manifested in the Republic. Hardline Northernunionists led by Ian Paisley continued to oppose any dealings with the Republic, and even moderate unionists felt the 50th-anniversary celebrations ofEaster Rising in 1966 were insulting to them. The rise of thecivil rights campaign and the unionists' refusal to acknowledge it ended the optimism with violence in 1969, after Lemass's term in office had finished.[citation needed]
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The Lemass era saw some significant developments in Irish foreign policy.Frank Aiken served asMinister for External Affairs during the whole of Lemass's tenure as Taoiseach. At theUnited Nations, Aiken took an independent stance and backed the admission ofChina to the organisation, in spite of huge protests from the United States. Admitted only in 1955, Ireland played a large role at the UN, serving on theSecurity Council in 1962, condemning Chinese aggression inTibet and advocating nuclear arms limitation. One of the main areas of foreign policy which emerged during the Lemass years was a debate[clarification needed] overIreland's neutrality, a debate that has never been formally resolved, with the de facto policy being to avoid joining military engagements or alliances without neutrality as it's traditionally understood.[citation needed]
Lemass was always sceptical about remaining neutral, particularly if Ireland were to join theEuropean Economic Community. Aiken was much more in favour of a neutral, independent stance. In 1960,Irish troops embarked on their first peace-keeping mission in the First Republic of theCongo. Nine soldiers were killed during this mission.[citation needed]
While Aiken was at the UN, Lemass played a major role in pressing for Ireland's membership of the EEC which in many ways became the chief foreign policy consideration during the 1960s.[28]
On 24 August 1924, Lemass marriedKathleen Hughes, much to the disapproval of the bride's parents. The wedding took place in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Name,Ranelagh, Dublin.Jimmy O'Dea, the well-known comedian, acted as Lemass'sbest man.[5]
Together Seán and Kathleen had four children –Maureen, Peggy (1927–2004),Noel and Sheila (1932–1997). Maureen Lemass would marryCharles Haughey, a successor of Lemass asFianna Fáil leader andTaoiseach.[5]
In 1966,Ireland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Éamon de Valera came within 1% of defeat inthat year's Irish presidential election, less than two months after the celebrations in which he played such a central part. On 10 November 1966, Lemass announced to theDáil his decision to retire asFianna Fáil leader andTaoiseach with his usual penchant for efficiency, "I have resigned". Lemass retired to the backbenches and remained a TD until 1969.[5]
On the day of Lemass's retirement,Jack Lynch became the new leader and became the Taoiseach.[5]
During the last few years of his leadership, Lemass's health began to deteriorate. He had been a heavy pipe smoker all his life, smoking almost a pound of tobacco a week in later life. At the time of his retirement, it was suspected that Lemass had cancer, but this assumption was later disproved. In February 1971, while attending a rugby game atLansdowne Road, he became unwell; he was rushed to hospital and was told by his doctor that one of his lungs was about to collapse.[5]
On Tuesday, 11 May 1971, Seán Lemass died in theMater Hospital in Dublin, aged 71.[29][30] He was afforded astate funeral and was buried inDeansgrange Cemetery.[5]
Lemass remains one of the most highly regarded holders of the office of Taoiseach, being described even by laterFine GaelTaoisighGarret FitzGerald andJohn Bruton[note 6] as the best holder of the office, and the man whose cabinet leadership style they wished to follow. Some historians have questioned whether Lemass came to the premiership too late, arguing that had he replaced de Valera as Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach in 1951 he could have begun the process of reform of Irish society and the industrialisation of Ireland a decade earlier than 1959 when he eventually achieved the top governmental job. Others speculate whether he had been able to achieve some of his policy reforms he initiated in the 1950s precisely because de Valera was still the leader, his opponents being unwilling to challenge him given that he appeared to have de Valera's backing.
What is not in doubt is that Éamon de Valera and Seán Lemass held diametrically different visions of Ireland; de Valera's was of a pastoral rural-based society "given to frugal living", while Lemass had a vision of a modern industrialised society, a member of the European Community. Lemass's coolness towards the revival of theIrish language and intellectual agnosticism also contrasted with de Valera's passionate Gaelicism and commitment to traditional Catholicism.[31]
The following governments were led by Lemass:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister for Industry and Commerce 1932–1939 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Minister for Supplies 1939–1945 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by | Minister for Industry and Commerce 1941–1948 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Tánaiste 1945–1948 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Tánaiste 1951–1954 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Industry and Commerce 1951–1954 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Tánaiste 1957–1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Industry and Commerce 1957–1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Taoiseach 1959–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of Fianna Fáil 1959–1966 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
