THE NORTH, FINE GAEL, FIANNA FAIL AND PHYSICAL FORCE FROM THE 1950s ON – by Donal Kennedy
I write from memory .
I think it was 1952 when Liam Kelly, who had been thrown out of the IRA,
gave a speech in Pomeroy in County Tyrone which resulted in a baton-charge by the RUC and the prosecution of some of the attendance.
Some of those accused claimed that they supported Fianna Fail and its
leader,De Valera who ruled out the use of armed force to resolve the
partition problem. With all the wisdom of a 10 year old I despised them
for what I considered crawling.
De Valera and Fianna Fail were enjoying a rare break from Office
and the Taoiseach at the time was Fine Gael’s John A Costello,
who had predicted in 1934 that, like the Blackshirts in Italy and the
Hitler-Shirts in Germany, the Blueshirts would come to power in
Ireland. Costello was opposing a Fianna Fail Bill to ban the wearing
of uniforms at political meetings in order to avoid the rekindling of
the 1922-23 Civil War.
Fianna Fail had rescued Ireland from that danger and avoided
the greater dangers of 1939-1945. And the ex-Blueshirt’s
Office of Taoiseach depended on a ragbag of 2 feuding Labour
parties, a small Farmer’s Party, a tiny Breakaway Republican
party, plus a smattering of Independents.
And on the recommendation of Sean MacBride, who had been IRA
Chief of Staff when Costello was an admirer of Mussolini and Hitler,
the latter appointed Liam Kelly to the Irish Senate. There was no taint
of Fascism about Liam Kelly, who was already an abstentionist Stormont
MP. He had been expelled from the IRA for belatedly accepted the
legitimacy of the 1937 Constitution as MacBride had over a decade
earlier.
Liam Kelly’s Saor Uladh battled in the brave but futile 1950s campaign.
They did so before the IRA got into their stride in it.
Ten years or so from the Pomeroy baton charge I heard from a man
who was at it. Dessie and Eamon Francis and their Former
Artane Platoon Commander in Forsa Cosanta Aitiuil (Territorials) were all
members of Fianna Fail and at the time of the Pomeroy baton charge
their Platoon Commander was a Dublin City Councillor.
Anyhow, Dessie Francis, now a Lieutenant himself, went on about Liam
Kelly’s “seditious” speech.
I was appalled and surprised to hear that word from a Fianna Fail stalwart.
His platoon commander in 1952 was Charlie Haughey.
I’ve read “THE ARMS CONSPIRACY TRIAL” by Angela Clifford, all 700
pages of it,
The idea that Haughey was involved in an illegal plot to import arms was
ridiculous.
The jury was right to acquit all the accused.
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