Ruairí Brugha | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Brugha in 1978 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office December 1977 – June 1979 | |
| Constituency | Oireachtas Delegation |
| Senator | |
| In office 16 June 1977 – 8 October 1981 | |
| In office 5 November 1969 – 1 June 1973 | |
| Constituency | Industrial and Commercial Panel |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office February 1973 – June 1977 | |
| Constituency | Dublin County South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1917-10-15)15 October 1917 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 31 January 2006(2006-01-31) (aged 88) Dublin, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Other political affiliations | Clann na Poblachta (1946–1961) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingCathal |
| Parents |
|
| Education | Rockwell College |
| Alma mater | |
Ruairí Brugha (Irish pronunciation:[ˈɾˠuəɾʲiːˈbˠɾˠuː]; 15 October 1917 – 31 January 2006) was an Irish politician who served as aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) forIreland from 1977 to 1979,Senator for theIndustrial and Commercial Panel from 1969 to 1973 and 1977 to 1981 and aTeachta Dála (TD) for theDublin County South constituency from 1973 to 1977.[1] Brugha was a member of theIrish republican partiesClann na Poblachta (1946-1961) andFianna Fáil.
He was born inDublin in 1917.[2] He was the son ofCathal Brugha, who wasMinister for Defence in theFirst Dáil and was killed in 1922, during theCivil War; his motherCaitlín Brugha (née Kingston) was an anti-Treaty TD from 1923 to 1927.
Brugha was brought up as anIrish speaker, and educated atRockwell College and inColáiste Mhuire, and joined theIRA at the age of 16. When IRA members were interned at the outbreak ofWorld War II, he went on the run. He was eventually arrested in 1940, and interned at theCurragh for the duration ofThe Emergency.[3] While on parole for health reasons he metMáire MacSwiney, the only child ofLord Mayor of CorkTerence MacSwiney who died while onhunger strike in 1920, and they married in Cork in July 1945.[1] They had four children; three sons and a daughter.
Brugha then joined the business which his mother had established, themenswear shop Kingstons Ltd, eventually becoming managing director.[3]
Released from detention, he began to rethink his relationship with republicanism. Talking in 1968, toTim Pat Coogan for his bookThe IRA, Brugha described his eventual rejection of the IRA's doctrine of thecontinued legitimacy of the second Dáil, saying: "We became the victims of an illusion that could never become a reality" and that "it was obvious to me that the 26 counties were politically free and that the sort of activity in which the IRA had been engaged had not helped to end Partition."
Ruairí and Máire both joinedClann na Poblachta shortly after its foundation in 1946, and at the1948 general election, he stood in theWaterford constituency which his mother had represented in the 1920s. However, the election was a disappointment for the new party, which won only ten seats, and with less than 5% of the first-preference votes, Brugha did not win a seat.[4] Despite differences with Clann na Poblachta leaderSeán MacBride — particularly over MacBride's antagonism toFianna Fáil — he remained on the party executive during the 1950s.
In 1962, he joinedFianna Fáil, and at the1969 general election, Brugha stood unsuccessfully as a Fianna Fáil candidate inDublin County South. He was then elected to the12th Seanad on theIndustrial and Commercial Panel, and at the1973 general election, he won a seat in theDáil, succeeding his former Fianna Fáil running mateKevin Boland, who stood for his newAontacht Éireann party.[5] After that election,Fine Gael andLabour formed theNational Coalition government led byLiam Cosgrave, and Fianna Fáil went into opposition for the first time in 16 years. In 1974,Jack Lynch appointed Brugha as Fianna Fáil Spokesman onNorthern Ireland, where he helped reshape the party's policy and supported the Cosgrave government's position in favour of theSunningdale Agreement.
After boundary changes, he lost his Dáil seat at the1977 general election, to his party colleague,Niall Andrews. However, he was elected to the14th Seanad, again on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. On the recommendation ofJohn Hume, he was also appointed as anMEP, serving until thefirst direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, when he stood unsuccessfully in theDublin constituency. He was also active in theEuropean Movement Ireland into his late eighties, serving as an honorary president of the organisation.
Brugha did not contest the1981 orFebruary 1982 general elections, but at theNovember 1982 election he stood inDublin South, where he polled less than 3% of the first-preference votes, and did not stand for election again.
He died inDublin on 31 January 2006, at the age of 88.[6] On his deathTaoiseachBertie Ahern said Ruairí Brugha was "a man of firm convictions who was passionate about politics and had a deep patriotic concern for the welfare of this country". His wife, Máire, died on 20 May 2012, aged 93.[7][8]
In 2006, Máire's memoirHistory's Daughter: A Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney was published byO'Brien Press. It includes a detailed account of her husband's life, before and after their marriage.
