Seán MacEntee | |
|---|---|
 MacEntee c.1920s | |
| Tánaiste | |
| In office 23 June 1959 – 21 April 1965 | |
| Taoiseach | Seán Lemass |
| Preceded by | Seán Lemass |
| Succeeded by | Frank Aiken |
| Minister for Social Welfare | |
| In office 27 November 1957 – 12 October 1961 | |
| Taoiseach | Seán Lemass |
| Preceded by | Paddy Smith |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Boland |
| Minister for Health | |
| In office 20 March 1957 – 21 April 1965 | |
| Taoiseach | Seán Lemass |
| Preceded by | Tom O'Higgins |
| Succeeded by | Donogh O'Malley |
| Minister for Local Government and Public Health | |
| In office 18 August 1941 – 18 February 1948 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Éamon de Valera |
| Succeeded by | Timothy J. Murphy (Local Government) |
| Minister for Industry and Commerce | |
| In office 16 September 1939 – 18 August 1941 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Éamon de Valera |
| Succeeded by | Timothy J. Murphy |
| Minister for Finance | |
| In office 13 June 1951 – 2 June 1954 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Patrick McGilligan |
| Succeeded by | Gerard Sweetman |
| In office 9 March 1932 – 16 September 1939 | |
| Taoiseach | Éamon de Valera |
| Preceded by | Ernest Blythe |
| Succeeded by | Seán T. O'Kelly |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office February 1948 – June 1969 | |
| Constituency | Dublin South-East |
| In office July 1937 – February 1948 | |
| Constituency | Dublin Townships |
| In office June 1927 – July 1937 | |
| Constituency | Dublin County |
| In office May 1921 – June 1922 | |
| Constituency | Monaghan |
| In office December 1918 – May 1921 | |
| Constituency | Monaghan South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Francis McEntee (1889-08-23)23 August 1889 Belfast, Ireland |
| Died | 9 January 1984(1984-01-09) (aged 94) Booterstown,Dublin, Ireland |
| Resting place | Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland |
| Party | Fianna Fáil |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingMáire |
| Education | |
| Alma mater |
|
Seán Francis MacEntee (Irish:Seán Mac an tSaoi; 23 August 1889 – 9 January 1984) was an IrishFianna Fáil politician who served asTánaiste from 1959 to 1965,Minister for Social Welfare from 1957 to 1961,Minister for Health from 1957 to 1965,Minister for Local Government and Public Health from 1941 to 1948,Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1939 to 1941,Minister for Finance from 1932 to 1939 and 1951 to 1954. He served as aTeachta Dála (TD) from 1918 to 1969. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving member of theFirst Dáil.[1]
Born as John McEntee at 47 King Street,Belfast on 23 August 1889, the son of James McEntee, a publican, and his wife, Mary Owens, both of whom were fromMonaghan.[2] In 1901 and 1911, the family's address was 49 King Street.[3][4] James McEntee was a prominent Nationalist member ofBelfast Corporation and a close friend ofJoe Devlin MP.[5]
MacEntee was educated atSt Mary's Christian Brothers School,St Malachy's College and the Belfast Municipal College of Technology where he qualified as an electrical engineer.[6] His early political involvement was with theIrish Socialist Republican Party in Belfast city. He quickly rose through the ranks of the trade union movement becoming junior representative in the city's shipyards. Following his education MacEntee worked as an engineer inDundalk,County Louth, and was involved in the establishment of a local corps of theIrish Volunteers in the town. He mobilised in Dundalk and fought in theGeneral Post Office Garrison in theEaster Rising in 1916. He was sentenced to death for his part in the rising. This sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. MacEntee was released in the general amnesty in 1917 and was later elected a member of the National Executives of bothSinn Féin and the Irish Volunteers in October 1917. MacEntee was later elected Sinn FéinMember of Parliament (MP) forMonaghan South at the1918 general election.
An attempt to develop his career as a consulting engineer inBelfast was interrupted by theWar of Independence in 1919. MacEntee served as Acting Commandant and Vice-Commandant of theIrish Republican ArmysBelfast Brigade.[7] He was also a member of the Volunteer Executive,a sort of Cabinet and Directory for the Minister for Defence and the HQ Staff[8] But MacEntee remained one of the few Sinn Féiners from the north.[9] On 6 August 1920, MacEntee presented 'a Memorial' lecture to the Dáil from the Belfast Corporation. He told the Dáil it was theonly custodian of public order, and that a Nationalist pogrom was taking place, he advised themto fight Belfast.[10] The Dáil government's policy was dubbed[11]Hibernia Irredenta or 'Greening Ireland'. Sean MacEntee was asked to resign his South Monaghan seat, after voting against a bunting celebration in Lurgan to mark the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.[citation needed]
From April 1921, when MacEntee was transferred toDublin to direct a special anti-partition campaign (Belfast Boycott) in connection with the May general election. The boycott was in response to the expulsion of Catholic workers from Belfast's shipyards and mills (seeThe Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922). MacEntee strongly advocated for the use of the boycott.[12] It remained Collins's policy, he declared, that the largely Protestant shipyard workers of Belfast were being directed by the British, urging all Irishmen to rejoin the Republic.[13] Correspondingly the Ulster Unionist Council rejected the call for a review of the boundary commission decision made on Northern Ireland. But when Ulstermen choseJames Craig as Premier, Collins denounced democracy in the north as a sham.[14] It was on the partition of Ireland issue that MacEntee voted against theAnglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.[15] During the subsequentCivil War MacEntee commanded the IRA unit in Marlboro Street Post Office in Dublin. He later fought withCathal Brugha in the Hamman Hotel and was subsequently interned inKilmainham andGormanstown until December 1923.
After his release from prison, MacEntee devoted himself more fully to his engineering practice, although he unsuccessfully contestedDublin County by-election of 1924. He became a founder-member ofFianna Fáil in 1926 and was eventually elected aTD for Dublin County at the1927 general election.[16]
MacEntee founded the Association of Patent Agents in 1929, having gained his interest in Patents when he worked as an assistant engineer in Dundalk Urban District Council.[17] On MacEntee's appointment as Minister for Finance in 1932, his colleague, Francis Litton who was acting as Secretary of the Association, circulated the members with a notice to the effect that the Association was "suspended" until MacEntee could return as he now had to devote his energies to the affairs of the State. However, the other members decided to carry on. MacEntee must have valued his status as a Patent Agent since he maintained his name on the Register for over 30 years while he held Ministerial rank in the Irish Government, although he is not thought to have taken any active part in the patent business, which was carried on by his business partners.
In 1932, Fianna Fáil came to power for the very first time, with MacEntee becoming Minister for Finance. In keeping with the party'sprotectionist economic policies, his first budget in March of that year saw the introduction of new duties on forty-three imports, many of them coming fromBritain. This saw retaliation from theBritish government, which in turn provoked a response from theIrish government. This was the beginning of theEconomic War between the two nations, however, a treaty in 1938, signed by MacEntee and other senior members brought an end to the issue.
During the Dáil debates on theConstitution of Ireland in 1937, MacEntee described it as 'the Constitution of a Catholic State'.[18]
In 1939,World War II broke out and a cabinet reshuffle resulted in MacEntee being appointed as Minister for Industry and Commerce, taking over from his rivalSeán Lemass. During his tenure at this department, MacEntee introduced the important Trade Union Act (1941). In 1941, another reshuffle of ministers took place, with MacEntee becoming Minister for Local Government and Public Health. The Health portfolio was transferred to a newDepartment of Health in 1947. Following the1948 general election, Fianna Fáil returned to the opposition benches for the first time in sixteen years.
In 1951, Fianna Fáil were back in government, although in minority status, depending on independent deputies for survival. MacEntee once again returned to the position of Minister for Finance where he felt it was vital to deal with the balance of payments deficit. He brought in a harsh budget in 1951 which raised income tax and tariffs on imports. His chief aim was to cut spending and reduce imports, however, this came at a cost as unemployment increased sharply. The increases were retained in his next two budgets in 1952 and 1953. It is often said that it was MacEntee's performance during this period that cost Fianna Fáil thegeneral election in 1954. The poor grasp of economics also did his political career tremendous damage as up to that point he was seen as a likely successor asTaoiseach. Now, however,Seán Lemass was firmly seen as the "heir apparent".
In 1957, Fianna Fáil returned to power with an overall majority with MacEntee being appointed Minister for Health. The financial and economic portfolios were dominated by Lemass and other like-minded ministers who wanted to move away from protection to free trade. He is credited during this period with the reorganisation of the health services, the establishment of separate departments of health and social welfare, and the fluoridation of water supplies in Ireland. In 1959, MacEntee becameTánaiste when Seán Lemass was elected Taoiseach.
Following the1965 general election, MacEntee was 76 years old and retired from the government. This did not mean that he went quietly to the backbenches. He re-emerged in 1966 to launch a verbal attack on Seán Lemass for deciding to step down as party leader and Taoiseach. The two men, however, patched up their differences shortly afterwards. MacEntee retired from Dáil Éireann in 1969 at the age of 80, making him the oldest TD in Irish history.
He had a negative view of theProvisional IRA.[19]
MacEntee served in theParliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and repeatedly proposed amendments that would have watered down resolutions against theGreek junta (seeGreek case).[20]
MacEntee died inDublin on 9 January 1984, at the age of 94.[21][22][23][24]
In June 1921, he married a strongly nationalistic woman fromCounty Tipperary, Margaret Browne (1893–1976), who later taught Irish atAlexandra College and then atUCD. Among Margaret's brothers wereCardinalMichael Browne, poet and academicMonsignorPádraig de Brún, and author MonsignorMaurice Browne. One of Seán and Margaret's daughters was the Irish poetMáire Mhac an tSaoi (1922 - 2021).[25] She was married to the politicianConor Cruise O'Brien until his death. Their other daughter was Barbara MacEntee-Biggar (1928–1995), who was married to Irish Ambassador Frank Biggar (1917–1974);[26][27][28][29] Barbara and Frank's eldest son is former Irish ambassador John Biggar (1952–).[28][29][30] Barbara and Frank's third son was Maurice Biggar (1956–2023), a "young star ofL&H debates, diplomat, barrister, gaeilgeoir, linguist and poet".[31] Seán and Margaret also had a son, Seamus MacEntee (1924–2000), who lived mostly in England, working as a psychiatrist, as well as being an artist painting under the name Sagesson ("Sage's son" is an English translation of the name MacEntee, which is ananglicisation of theIrish Mac an tSaoi, meaning "Son of the wise man"[32]).[26][29]
File Reference SP34REF16538
Name Seán MacEntee
Date of birth 1889
Date of death 1984-01-09
Civilian occupation Politician
Military Service Pensions Acts 1934 Yes
Grade A
Notes Awarded 14 years service for pension purposes.
He died in Dublin on 9 January 1984, at ninety-four years of age.[140]Note 140 on page 226 says "See Irish Times, 10 January 1984, for obituary". Original from theUniversity of Michigan. Digitized 30 June 2010
Mr. MacEntee is survived by his son, Seamus, and two daughters, Barbara and Maire, a Gaelic-language scholar married to former Posts and Telegraphs Minister Conor Cruise O'Brien. Mr. MacEntee's wife, Margaret, died in 1976.
... the Irish ambassador to the Common Market, Frank Biggar, was also Irish ambassador to Belgium and non-resident ambassador to Luxembourg.
BIGGAR. Frank. Ambassador. Grande Croix de la Couronne (Belgium) Grande Croix du Chane (Luxembourg) lrish Ambassador to Switzerland. b. Dublin 29 May 1917. ... m. 1951 Barbara. 2nd daughter of Sean MacEntee and Margaret (nee Browne). Children John 1952 ...Original from theUniversity of Michigan, Digitized 6 Sep 2011
Irish resident Ambassadors to Bulgaria ... John Biggar 2013-to 2015 (also accredited to Armenia and Georgia)
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forMonaghan South 1918–1922 | Constituency abolished |
| Oireachtas | ||
| New constituency | Teachta Dála forMonaghan South 1918–1921 | Constituency abolished |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Finance 1932–1939 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Industry and Commerce 1939–1941 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Local Government and Public Health 1941–1948 | Succeeded byas Minister for Local Government |
| Preceded by | Minister for Finance 1951–1954 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Health 1957–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Social Welfare 1957–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Tánaiste 1959–1965 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
