Hypocrisy in the Free State by Joe McVeigh

The Counter revolution which began in the Free State as soon as the newly formed pro-Treaty party Cumann na nGaedheal, led by WT Cosgrave, assumed power in 1922, is still going strong today.  The latest outburst of failed FG politician Charlie Flanagan giving out about SF leader Mary Lou MacDonald TD for sympathising with the family of the late Bik McFarlane. This is pure hypocrisy on the part of Flanagan. Others in FG and FF indulge in these hypocritical condemnations to score political points and get noticed in the media. 

In 1922, the right wing Cumann na nGaedheal government (the ancestors of FG) cracked down immediately on those in Sinn Fein who were still advocating for the Republic declared by the revolutionaries in the Easter 1916 rebellion. They had fought against British forces and they had risked their lives during the War for Independence 1919-1921. Huge sacrifices had been made to force the British to the negotiating table in the latter months of 1921. The British colonial power had brutally executed the 1916 leaders and hoped that would be the end of the matter. 

That cruelty by the British inspired many Irishmen and Irish women to organise resistance to British rule from 1918. The war for Independence led to talks between Republicans and the British about a settlement. The British of course as usual acted in bad faith and undermined the republican cause by threats and by supporting the Unionists in the northeast to set up their own statelet to exclude a large section of the population and exclude them from power and basic rights. It was a cruel and defiant act.

The outcome of the negotiations and the Treaty between some Republican leaders and the British government in 1921 was considered by many in Sinn Fein to be totally unacceptable. It was seen as a capitulation by many on  the Irish republican  side to the demands of the British government and the Unionists. The elected representatives in Sinn Fein refused to take part in the newly established parliament because of the terms agreed in that Treaty. In particular they objected to the requirement by all elected to swear an oath of allegiance to the English monarch. They also objected to Partition.  

On 7 January 1922, the Treaty was put to a vote. The pro-Treaty side which had the backing of Pope Benedict xv and the Catholic bishops won the vote by a narrow majority of 64 to 57. (Three TDs abstained.) This split in the republican movement led to a bitter Civil War. The civil war ended but the hostility and bitterness continued.

The pro-Treaty party Cumann na nGaedheal was ruthless in dealing with former republican comrades in arms. 

On 8 December 1922, four leading members of the IRA, Liam Mellows, Rory O’Connor, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey who were arrested after they occupied the Four Courts were taken from their cells in Mountjoy prison and executed in retaliation for the shooting of two Dail deputies –Sean Hales and Padraic O Maile. 

On March 14^th 1923, four members of the Irish Republican Army – Sean Larkin, Daniel Enright, Charles Daly, Tadhg Ó Sullivan-who were being held in Drumboe in Co Donegal were taken out and shot dead by Free State soldiers.

The pro-Treaty government formally executed 77 Republicans during the bitter Civil war that followed the signing of the Treaty. There were a further 150 executions carried out by Free State forces against former comrades. There was a great deal of anger and bitterness over these executions by the Free State forces. Eventually, after their leader Liam Lynch was killed in the Knockmealdown mountains,  the anti-Treaty IRA conceded that they were outnumbered.  Frank Aiken acting on behalf of the IRA leadership along with Eamonn deValera  called a cessation in May 1923.

In 1926, Eamon De Valera resigned from Sinn Fein and formed a new party  calling themselves Fianna Fail. They were successful in their first election in 1927 attracting many who saw nothing more to be gained by continuing the armed struggle. 

Fianna Fail returned the largest number of TDs in the 1932 election and formed the government of the Free State. The harassment of republicans in Sinn Fein who refused to accept the Treaty of 1922, continued under de Valera and Fianna Fail. The anti-Treaty republicans were considered ‘enemies of the State’ and therefore were subjected to harassment and constant surveillance.

The two largest parties FF and FG vied with each other for power in election after election in the 26 county Free State –but they remained united in their opposition to those republicans  who professed their allegiance to the Republic declared in 1916 and who were still opposed to the Treaty. 

Both FF and FG had built support among the growing business class and the farmers, and both had the backing of the Catholic hierarchy and most of the Catholic clergy. That support of the official Church has weakened in recent years. 

With the growth of a revitalised Sinn Fein party after the hunger strikes in Long Kesh in 1980 and 1981 and especially since the IRA cessation in 1994 -the two main parties in the south- FF and FG -have joined  together in opposition to Sinn Fein. They saw the rise of SF as a real threat to their cosy political arrangement in the south. 

At the most recent election in 2024, FF returned a majority of seats to the Dail with SF in second place and FG in third. Fianna Fail, led by Micheál Martin, would not countenance forming a coalition with SF. Both FF and FG, once bitter enemies, are now best buddies and have been in government for over ten years. They have overseen the worst housing crisis in the history of the state. This year they united once again, with a group of Independents, to stop SF from getting into government. 

Neither party has shown much enthusiasm for pursuing the goal of Irish unity and constitutional change which is the desire of many Irish citizens -north and south.  That desire of many was recognised in the Good Friday Agreement and so the Agreement included a commitment to the holding of a referendum on the continuation of a Border in Ireland.

Their hostility towards Sinn Fein is also seen in Taoiseach Micheal Martin’sreaction to SF’s decision not to attend the White House on St Patrick’s Day in an act of solidarity with the people of Gaza and Palestine. It is becoming more obvious every year that the real opponents to Irish reunification are the leaders of FF and FG and their supporters in the media –The Irish Times, the Irish Independent and RTE. They are happy enough with Partition. They are making plenty of money out of it -thank you very much. But long runs the fox.