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Córas na Poblachta | |
|---|---|
| President | Simon Donnelly |
| Youth-wing Leader | Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin |
| Founded | 21 February 1940 |
| Dissolved | c. 1944 |
| Newspaper | Aiséirí |
| Youth wing | Aicéin |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right |
Córas na Poblachta (Irish:[ˈkoːɾˠəsˠn̪ˠəˈpˠɔbˠlˠəxt̪ˠə]; English:Republican System) was a minorIrish republican political party founded in 1940.[1]
The idea for a new party was discussed at a meeting inDublin on 21 February 1940 attended by 104 former officers of the pro- and anti-Treaty wings of theIrish Republican Army. The inaugural meeting of the new party took place on 2 March 1940.
Simon Donnelly, who had fought inBoland's Mill underÉamon de Valera in 1916, the former leader of the Dublin section of the IRA, and former chief of theIrish Republican Police, was elected as president of a central committee of fifteen members. Other leaders were Seán Fitzpatrick, anotherIrish War of Independence veteran;Con Lehane, who had lately left the IRA; Séamus Gibbons; Tom O'Rourke; Seán Dowling, one of Rory O'Connor's principal lieutenants in theIrish Civil War; ColonelRoger McCorley, one of the principal IRA leaders inBelfast during the War of Independence who had taken theIrish Free State side in the Civil War; Frank Thornton, one ofMichael Collins' top intelligence officers;Roger McHugh, a lecturer in English atUniversity College Dublin and later professor; Captain Martin Bell and Peter O'Connor.
Also in attendance at the first meeting wasSeamus O'Donovan, Director of Chemicals on IRA Headquarters Staff in 1921 and architect of theIRA Sabotage Campaign inEngland by the IRA in 1939–40. Indeed, O'Donovan proposed several of the basic resolutions. Additionally the meeting was attended byEoin O'Duffy and several former leaders of theIrish Christian Front.[2]
Many members of the Irish far-right joined Córas na Poblachta includingGearóid Ó Cuinneagáin, who became the leader of the party's youth wingAicéin and would go on to foundAiltirí na hAiséirghe,Alexander McCabe, Maurice O'Connor and Reginald Eager from the Irish Friends of Germany, George Griffin,Patrick Moylett, his brother John and Joseph Andrews of the People's National Party, Dermot Brennan of Saoirse Gaedheal, and Hugh O'Neill and Alexander Carey of Córas Gaedhealach. As a result, the party assumed a pro-German andanti-semitic attitude which was frequently expressed in party functions, andGardaí suspected Córas members of daubing the walls ofTrinity College in anti-semitic slogans following the visit of British politicianLeslie Hore-Belisha to Ireland in 1941.[3]
Socialist republicansNora Connolly O'Brien andHelena Molony took an interest in the group. Reflecting divisions within the IRA, a minority of the party's leaders sympathised withcommunism rather thanfascism.[4]
The main aim of Córas na Poblachta was the formal declaration of aRepublic. It also demanded that theIrish language be given greater prominence in street names, shop signs, and government documents and bank notes. It proposed to introducenational service in order that (male) citizens understood their responsibilities. The party's economic policy was thestatutory right to employment and aliving wage. It proposed breaking the link with theBritish pound, the nationalisation of banks and the making of bank officials into civil servants. In the area of education, the party espousedfree education for all children over primary age as a right, and university education when feasible. It also called for the introduction of children's allowances.[5] In addition Córas na Poblachta advocated for "the destruction of theMasonic Order in Ireland" and during its founding meeting reporters were told that the party would be ready to take over the government of Ireland "on either acorporate or fascist basis".[6][7]
The party had close ties with the Irish nationalist and pro-fascist party Ailtirí na hAiséirghe, whose leader, Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin, had led Córas na Poblachta's youth wingAicéin until its independence was terminated in 1942. There was talk of a merger however while the majority of the party's executive committee, noted by G2 to be made up of "four ex-Army men, old I.R.A., ex-Blue Shirts and a number of I.R.A. who had been active up until comparatively recently", desired a combination of Ireland's extreme nationalist movements, the three most prominent leaders Simon Donnelly, Sean Dowling and Roger McCorley opposed one due to the fear that the party would be submerged in a joint organisation. Ó Cuinneagáin was dismissive of Córas na Poblachta's prospects and discussions between him and the party's leaders reinforced their fears that Ó Cuinneagáin sought an outright takeover by Aiséirghe.[8] Proposals for a merging of the two parties were dropped though they continued to maintain cordial relations and co-operated in the1943 Irish general election.[9]
The party was not successful and failed to take a seat in aby-election held shortly after the party's foundation. The party slowly fell apart, andTim Pat Coogan notes that: “Dissolution occurred because people tended to discuss the party rather than join it.” Importantly, the party was not supported by the hardcore of republican legitimatists, such asBrian O'Higgins, who viewed theIRA Army Council as the legitimate government of an existingIrish Republic. Indeed, in March 1940, O'Higgins published a pamphlet entitledDeclare the Republic lambasting the new party as making what he regarded as false promises that would be compromised on following the party's election to theOireachtas.
Córas fielded candidates in the1943 General Election, none getting elected and receiving a total of 3,892 votes between them.
| Candidate | Constituency |
|---|---|
| Denis J. O'Driscoll | Tipperary |
| Simon Donnelly | Dublin South |
| Sean Dowling | Dublin South |
| Martin Bell | Dublin North-East |
Although a failure, Tim Pat Coogan argues Córas was the “nucleus” of theClann na Poblachta party which emerged to help take power fromFianna Fáil in 1948.
Córas na Poblachta.
