When a moronic crazy trucker can invade and assault the Dublin embassy of a friendly country which has never injured Ireland and is not punished or condemned, it is time to write the Obituary of Enlightened Pluralism in Ireland.
When Eamon de Valera condemned the Nazi laws depriving German Jews of their citizenship he was answered by Fine Gael’s Desmond FitzGerald who asked him why he had not condemned attacks on Catholic priests in Spain. When de Valera failed to align himself with the mutineer General Franco, Fine Gael organised an Irish unit, led by its founding leader to help the murderous despot.
When De Valera presented, for endorsement by the electorate, an enlightened, pluralistic constitution specifically guaranteeing the rights of Irish citizens of Jewish faith, along with the rights of all citizens, Fine Gael opposed its endorsement. The electorate, most of whom had never gone beyond Primary School, cannot be blamed for rejecting Fine Gael’s advice. In 1931 De Valera had launched the Irish Press to breach the newspapers’ anti-Fianna Fail monopoly of written opinion. Enlightened pluralism had arrived in Ireland.
Desmond FitzGerald had been a poet and friend of Ezra Pound and T.S, Eliot two strongly anti-Semitic writers. In 1918 FitzGerald published, in Dublin, a review of Eliot’s “THE LOVE SONG of J.ALFRED PRUFROCK” apparently before Eliot had been noticed by literary publications in London.
Eliot was a frequent visitor to Fitzgerald in Dublin in the 1930s and up to 1940 during Garrett’s youth. Ezra Pound, an American, was a convinced fascist who remained in Italy during WWII and subsequently was imprisoned and was lucky not to be shot for treason.
Garret FitzGerald, as External Affairs Minister, toasted the Soviet defence of Stalingrad. In later life he was a good friend of the (recently deceased) Manus O’Riordan, son of the International Brigade hero, and Irish Communist leader Michael O’Riordan. Manus was a Communist for much of his life, and was proud of having been one, Manus disagreed with his father eventually but not in a disagreeable manner. He belonged to the enlightened pluralist tradition associated with Eamon de Valera.
That tradition is not much in evidence today which is why I write its obituary.
Two men who wrote verse and were mmbers of the Second Dail Eireann went separate political ways.
The verse of Desmond Fitzgerald is not around for me to judge.
The verse of Brian O’Higgins is easily available. It is not wonderful poetry, but some, written in 1914 still makes sense:
“Who is Ireland’s enemy?/ Not Germany or Spain,/ Not Russia, France nor Austria:/ They forged for her no chains……”
I’ve just heard what Priti Patel thinks of Ireland.
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