Neil Blaney | |
|---|---|
 Blaney in 1990 | |
| Leader ofIndependent Fianna Fáil | |
| In office 1972–1995 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Succeeded by | Harry Blaney |
| Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries | |
| In office 11 November 1966 – 7 May 1970 | |
| Taoiseach | Jack Lynch |
| Preceded by | Charles Haughey |
| Succeeded by | Jim Gibbons |
| Minister for Local Government | |
| In office 27 November 1957 – 10 November 1966 | |
| Taoiseach | Seán Lemass |
| Preceded by | Paddy Smith |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Boland |
| Minister for Posts and Telegraphs | |
| In office 20 March 1957 – 4 December 1957 | |
| Taoiseach | Seán Lemass |
| Preceded by | Michael Keyes |
| Succeeded by | John Ormonde |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office June 1977 – June 1981 | |
| Constituency | Donegal |
| In office June 1981 – 8 November 1995 | |
| In office October 1961 – June 1977 | |
| Constituency | Donegal North-East |
| In office December 1948 – October 1961 | |
| Constituency | Donegal East |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office June 1989 – June 1994 | |
| In office June 1979 – June 1984 | |
| Constituency | Connacht–Ulster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1922-10-01)1 October 1922 Fanad,County Donegal, Ireland |
| Died | 8 November 1995(1995-11-08) (aged 73) Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party |
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| Spouse | Eva Corduff |
| Parent |
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| Relatives |
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Neil Terence Columba Blaney (1 October 1922 – 8 November 1995)[1] was anIrish politician. He was first elected toDáil Éireann in 1948 as aFianna FáilTeachta Dála (TD) representingDonegal East.[2] A high-profile member of the party, Blaney served as a government minister several times; he wasMinister for Posts and Telegraphs (1957),Minister for Local Government (1957–1966) andMinister for Agriculture and Fisheries (1966–1970). In 1970 Blaney's career was radically altered when, alongsideCharles Haughey, he was involved in theArms Crisis and stood accused of clandestinely arranging to provide weapons to the newly-emergentProvisional Irish Republican Army. Although later acquitted of wrongdoing in an Irish court, Blaney's involvement in the crisis saw him stripped of his ministries and eventually forced his expulsion from Fianna Fáil. A dogged political campaigner, Blaney managed to retain his seat in Donegal and remained a TD for another two decades, running under the banner of "Independent Fianna Fáil". In addition to being a TD, Blaney also entered into European politics, becoming amember of the European Parliament in 1979. Blaney was a holder of both offices when he died in 1995. Entering the Dáil as its youngest member, he left itas the oldest member.
Neil Blaney was born in 1922 in the village of Rossnakill in ruralFanad Peninsula in the north ofCounty Donegal, in Ireland.[1] The second eldest of a family of eleven, Blaney's fatherNeal had been a commander of theIrish Republican Army (IRA) in Donegal during theWar of Independence and theCivil War.[1] His father served as both a TD and as aSenator from 1927 through 1948; at which point Neil Blaney succeed him in that role.[1] It was from his father that Blaney got his strong republican views and his first introduction to politics. He was educated locally atTamney on the Fanad Peninsula and later attendedSt Eunan's College inLetterkenny as a boarder. Blaney later worked as an organiser with the Irish National Vintners and Grocers Association.
Blaney was first elected toDáil Éireann for theDonegal East constituency in a by-election in December 1948,[3] following the death of his father from cancer. He also became a member ofDonegal County Council. Upon his election Blaney was the youngest member of the Dáil. He remained on the backbenches for a number of years before he was one of a group of young party members handpicked bySeán Lemass to begin a re-organisation drive for the party following the defeat at the1954 general election. Within the party Blaney gained fame by running the party's by-election campaigns throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He introduced the concept ofcavalcades after his election victories in his constituency together with roadside bonfires. At the time this was an alien political concept in Ireland. Blaney also adopted wearing sunglasses, chewing gum and wearing bright ties and colourful suits. His dedicated bands of supporters earned the sobriquet 'the Donegal Mafia', and succeeded in gettingDes O'Malley andGerry Collins elected to the Dáil.[4]
Following Fianna Fáil's victory at the1957 general electionÉamon de Valera, asTaoiseach, brought new blood into theCabinet in the shape of Blaney,Jack Lynch,Kevin Boland andMícheál Ó Móráin. Blaney was appointedMinister for Posts and Telegraphs, becoming the first government minister from Donegal, however, he moved to the position ofMinister for Local Government at the end of 1957 following the death ofSeán Moylan. Blaney proved to be an innovative minister and his first task as minister was to prepare the groundwork for thereferendum to scrap theproportional representation electoral system and replace it with thefirst-past-the-post voting system. The referendum failed to be passed, however, Blaney was retained in the post when Lemass succeeded de Valera as Taoiseach in 1959. In 1963 he introduced the Planning Act to rationalise planning throughout the local authorities in the state. This act also created the agency, An Forás Forbatha, to bring planning experts together and also created TheIPA as a development agency for the Public Sector. In time An Bord Pleanala would be created as an independent oversight authority. His department underwent a very large programme to provide piped water to rural homes. In 1965 Blaney introduced the Road Traffic Act which required that motorists take a driving test in roadworthy cars. During his tenure it became possible to pay rates (property taxes) by instalment and he also introduced legislation which entitled non-nationals to vote in local elections. In his time in this Department he is also synonymous with the construction of the towers inBallymun an attempt at state-planning. Blaney always claimed that the project would have worked had it remained out of local-authority regulatory ownership or management.
In 1966 Lemass resigned as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. The subsequentleadership election sawGeorge Colley andCharles Haughey emerge as the two front-runners. Blaney was unimpressed with the choice and, with the support of the like-mindedKevin Boland, he threw his hat in the ring, declaring himself to be the "Radical Republican" candidate. However outside the Northwest and apart from Boland, Blaney failed to attract much support. After some pressure from Lemass theCork politician,Jack Lynch, entered the race and was deemed to be an unbeatable candidate. Haughey and Boland withdrew in support of Lynch, however, Colley forced a contest. He was defeated heavily with Lynch becoming party leader and Taoiseach. In the subsequent cabinet reshuffle Blaney was appointedMinister for Agriculture and Fisheries.
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In 1969, when conflict broke out inNorthern Ireland, Blaney was one of the first to express strong Irish republican views in support of Northern nationalists, views which contradicted the policy of the Irish Government. Blaney was a native ofUlster, and was affected by the outbreak of violence in parts of his home province. He was concerned about the plight of the Nationalist majority in WestTyrone and inDerry, areas that bordered his constituency in West Ulster. From around late 1968 onwards, Blaney formed and presided over an unofficialNationalist group inLeinster House popularly known as 'theLetterkenny Table', so named because this group of politicians used to meet at a certain table in either the Dáil bar or the Dáil restaurant. The group was dominated by Blaney up until his death. He had also been one of a four-member Cabinet sub-committee set up to decide on government policy to Northern Ireland together withCharles Haughey,Pádraig Faulkner, andJoseph Brennan. A fund of £100,000 was set up to give to the nationalist people in the form of aid. However, those involved have denied that the government supported the importation of arms.
In December 1969 Blaney declared in Donegal that "the Fianna Fáil Party has never taken a decision to rule out the use of force if the circumstances in the Six Counties so demanded".[5]
There was general surprise when, in an incident known as theArms Crisis, Blaney, along with Haughey, was sacked from TaoiseachJack Lynch's cabinet amid allegations of the use of the funds to import arms for use by the new emergentProvisional IRA.[6] Opposition leaderLiam Cosgrave was informed by theGarda that a plot to import arms existed and included government members. Cosgrave told Lynch he knew of the plot and would announce it in the Dáil next day if he did not act. Lynch asked for Haughey and Blaney's resignations. Both men refused, saying they did nothing illegal. Lynch then advised President de Valera to sack Haughey and Blaney from the government.Kevin Boland resigned in sympathy, whileMícheál Ó Móráin was dismissed one day earlier in a preemptive strike to ensure that he was not the Minister for Justice when the crisis broke. Lynch chose government chief whipDes O'Malley for the role. Haughey and Blaney were subsequently tried in court along with an army Officer,Captain James Kelly, andAlbert Luykx, aBelgian businessman who allegedly used his contacts to buy the arms. At trial, all the accused were acquitted, but many of their critics refused to recognise the verdict of the courts. Although Blaney was cleared of wrongdoing, his ministerial career was brought to an end.
Lynch subsequently moved against Blaney so as to isolate him in the party. He was defeated byGeorge Colley in a vote for the position of Joint Honorary Treasurer at the 1971Ardfheis, while his constituency colleague,Liam Cunningham, had been appointed a Parliamentary Secretary in the cabinet reshuffle. In the Dáil, Blaney abstained on amotion of no confidence on the worthiness of cabinet ministerJim Gibbons for office, sponsored by the opposition.Paudge Brennan andDes Foley acted similarly and, while the government survived, they were all expelled from the parliamentary party. When Blaney and his supporters tried to organise the party's national collection independently, Lynch acted, and in 1972 Blaney was expelled from the Fianna Fáil party for 'conduct unbecoming'.
Following his expulsion from Fianna Fáil, Kevin Boland tried to persuade Blaney to join theAontacht Éireann party he was creating but Blaney declined. Instead, he contested all subsequent elections forIndependent Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party, an organisation that he built up, chiefly in theCounty Donegal constituencies from disaffected members of the Fianna Fáil party who remained loyal to him along with a large number of Republicans. Throughout the 1970s there were frequent calls for his re-admittance to Fianna Fáil but the most vocal opponents of this move were Fianna Fáil delegates from County Donegal.
At the1979 European elections Blaney topped the poll in theConnacht–Ulster constituency to the annoyance of Fianna Fáil. He sat in theTechnical Group of Independents and served as chair of the group along with the Italian RadicalMarco Pannella and Danish left-wingEuroscepticJens-Peter Bonde. He narrowly lost the seat at the1984 election toRay MacSharry but was returned to serve as anMEP in1989 election where he sat with the regionalistRainbow Group. He also canvassed forIRAhunger strikerBobby Sands in theFermanagh and South Tyrone by-election, in which Sands was elected toWestminster.
Blaney contracted cancer from which he died at the age of 73 on 8 November 1995.[1] He held his Dáil seat until his death and was the reigningFather of the Dáil at that time.[7] His death occurred at theMater Private Hospital inDublin.[7]
In the resulting by-election on 2 April 1996, theFianna Fáil candidate reclaimed the seat. However, Blaney's brother,Harry Blaney, was elected as an Independent Fianna Fáil TD at the1997 general election. He was replaced by his son,Niall Blaney, who was elected at the2002 general election. But in July 2006 Niall rejoined Fianna Fáil. This was opposed by other members of the Blaney family, including all seven children of Neil Blaney and his widow Eva, who issued a press release prior to Niall Blaney's decision castigating the Fianna Fáil party and disassociating themselves from any so called 'truce' with them.
Irish historian Patrick Maume summarised Blaney's career by noting
“the ruthless authoritarianism which marked his career [and] his effectiveness as administrator and party fixer. The volatile mixture of calculation, resentment, sophistication, provincialism, ruthlessness, and nostalgia which he displayed is reminiscent of other political figures of his intermediate generation; he might well have been taoiseach but instead became a catalyst for the formation of the Provisional IRA”.[8][9]
A road inLetterkenny is named the Neil T. Blaney Road in his honour. He is buried inSutton.
...the remains of Neil T Blaney began the first leg of the journey back to his native Fanad from the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin yesterday (Thursday). Crowds gathered outside the City Hospital Chapel from 11 am to pay their respects to the country's longest serving TD.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister for Posts and Telegraphs 1957 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Local Government 1957–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries 1966–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Baby of the Dáil 1948–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Father of the Dáil 1987–1995 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
