With the General Election nearly upon us, we take a look back at some of the Taoisigh that have graced the halls of the Leinster House, what their greatest political achievements were and how this has impacted directly on Ireland.
From Eamon DeValera to Enda Kenny, the careers of these Taoisigh changed the course of Ireland's political history and helped form this little nation.
The first Taoiseach, who many don't even consider a Taoiseach, in our series is the one and only W.T. Cosgrave, the leader of Cumann na nGaedheal and Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State.
Who was he?
Born in Dublin in 1880, W. T. Cosgrave (often called Liam) entered the publican business through his father. He, like many others of the time, became actively involved with Sinn Féin following the convention of the party in 1905.
Cosgrave was heavily involved in the movement, serving in 1916 under Eamonn Ceannt and sentenced to death following the rebellion. His sentence was eventually changed to life imprisonment where he served some time in Frongach in Wales. He won a seat in the Kilkenny by-election for the party during his time there.
Following the 1918 election, the party members, in accordance with their manifesto, refused to take their seats in Westminster, a policy they continue to this day. In that year, they set about creating the First Dáil.
Cosgrave married Louisa Flanagan, the daughter of a very successful market gardener, in 1919.
"The freedom to achieve freedom"
Cosgrave was a close condfidant of Eamon De Valera during the War of Independence and became a trusted member of his Cabinet, assuming the office of Local Government, partially due to his work in the Dublin corporation.
Following the Treaty agreement in 1921, he sided with Collins following the fall out in the row with De Valera, believing that this was in fact a stepping stone to greater independence for Ireland. De Valera resigned and Arthur Griffith was elected President of the Council.
Despite the fact that a majority supported the Treaty, the Republican anti-Treaty side of Sinn Féin refuse to accept anything that wasn't the declaration of a free Republic for Ireland. The Civil War ensued in 1922 and by August of that year, both of the important leaders in the fledgling government were dead; Collins ambushed and shot in Co Cork and Griffith dying of natural causes.
Cosgrave was voted to head up the State by the pro-Treaty side and when the Treaty was ratified, he became the first President of the Executive Council.
Cumann na nGaedheal
As the leader of an emerging nation, Cosgrave took over a government and country divided by political and family loyalties. His first priority was uniting the nation once again following the bitterness of the Civil War. However, there has been much debate about how exactly Cosgrave dealt with the matter.
In his time in office, 77 Republicans were executed by the Irish Free State, a much higher figure than the 14 that had been executed by the British government during the War of Independence. It was an issue which marked a stain on the reputation of Cosgrave.
However, he pressed on, eventually setting up a new political party which would become separate from Sinn Féin, Cumann na nGaedheal. The Civil War came to an end in 1923.
"I am not going to hesitate if the country is to live"
Cosgrave faced a number of issues in the new government, not least the reduction of the Army which virtually caused another split with Cumann na nGaedheal. Referred to as the "Army Mutiny", reducing the number of soldiers within the army caused a great division. It was eventually resolved with the Minister for Defence resigning and more lay-offs announced.
On top of that, an issue, which still has a hold on politics to this day, first raised its head in 1924. The Boundary Commission, a group which was essentially tasked with redrawing the border between North and South following Treaty negotiations, didn't do much to re-draw the border at all. In fact, it remained the same, a bone of contention for many who believed in a 32 county Ireland.
Unlike later leaders like Lemass, Cosgrave didn't really concentrate on industry for Ireland instead choosing to support agriculture. He led essentially a conservative government, afraid of borrowing what they couldn't afford and keeping taxation to a minimum. Their policies stabilised a broken nation but they did little to enhance it.
Abroad however, the government was eager to use new diplomats and make an impact, declaring themselves almost as an independent nation. They even joined the League of Nations set up in the aftermath of the First World War.
In 1927, legislation was enacted forcing Fianna Fáil, who had taken up a similar campaign to Sinn Féin of not taking their seats in parliament, to be present in the Dáil. The state, as we know it, was born.
Impact on Politics
Although often criticised as not being very assertive with his policies, it is impossible to fathom how important Cosgrave's position was. With the death of two fallen and trusted leaders, he led a shaky government who seemed to go from one crisis to the next. Asserting his control over that government and the Republican rebels who continued to carry out guerrilla attacks was not doubt his greatest achievement. He essentially was responsible for establishing the State.
However, his lack of attention to other matters had a massive impact on the state. The Boundary Commission essentially led to more trouble in the North and his lack of vision in relation to industry really hit the state hard in the 1930s.
De Valera famously declared to his son Vivion: "They did a magnificent job, Viv. They did a magnificent job."
Best speech: Speech by Cosgrave to the Assembly of the League of Nations on Ireland’s admission to the League of Nation
On behalf of Ireland, one of the oldest and yet one of the youngest nations, and speaking for the Irish Government and the Irish Delegation, I thank this Assembly of the League of Nations for the unanimous courtesy and readiness with which our application to be admitted to membership of the League has been received and approved.
Ireland, in ancient times linked by bonds of culture and of friendly intercourse with every nation to which the ambit of travel could carry her farventuring missionaries and men of learning has to-day formally, yet none the less practically, entered into a new bond of union with her sister nations, great and small, who are represented in this magnificent world-concourse.
With all the nations whose spokesmen form this Assembly, Ireland joins today in a solemn covenant to exercise the powers of her sovereign status in promoting the peace, security and happiness, the economic, cultural, and moral well-being of the human race.
Lofty ideals have inspired the best minds who have faith in the power of good will and of joint international endeavour to operate for good through this Council of the Nations. It is our earnest desire to co-operate with our fellowmembers in every effort calculated to give effect to those ideals – to mitigate, and whenever possible, to avert the ancient evils of warfare and oppression; to encourage wholesome and to discourage unwholesome relations between nation and nation; to enable even the weakest of nations to live their own lives and make their own proper contribution to the good of all, free even from the shadow and the fear of external violence, vicious penetration, or injurious pressure of any kind.
In the actual proceedings which we have witnessed, we have seen a keen appreciation of the fact that nations are interdependent in matters of economic and intellectual development. We hope that the means of closer intercourse provided or initiated through the League of Nations will be helpful to the economic and educational progress for which Ireland is looking forward and always striving.
We willingly testify that the advocacy of these ideals has strongly attracted us towards the League of Nations, and if as yet the means provided have not always proved fully effective to secure their worthy ends, we are mindful of our national proverb, 'Bíonn gach tosnú lag' ('every beginning is weak'), and we trust that in time to come, adequate means and faithful use of them will justify our common hopes. Our history and the instinct of our hearts forbid us to think that temporary or even recurrent failures can deprive a just and steadfast purpose of the assurance of success.
Ireland counts on having no enemy and on harbouring no enmity in the time to come. She counts also on bringing forth fruits worthy of liberty. Si tollis libertatem, tollis dignitatem. These are the words of a famous Irishman of the sixth and seventh century. Inscribed on his tomb at Bobbio in Italy, they met our eyes when, a few days ago, a happy conjuncture enabled the members of this Irish Delegation to assist at the celebration of the thirteenth centenary of Saint Columbanus, pioneer of Ireland's moral and intellectual mission among the nations of Western Europe.
We shall return to our own country to take part with our own patriotic people in the enormous work of national construction and consolidation. The kind welcome, the cordial words of understanding, that have greeted us here on the part of every nation whose representatives we have met, will not be forgotten. They will cheer and sustain us in that work, and they will remind us, too, that as the life of a man is bettered and fructified beyond measure in the harmonious society of men, so must the life of nations reach a much fuller liberty and a much fuller dignity in the harmonious society of nations.
Sources: Tim Pat Coogan, Éamon de Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow, Tim Pat Coogan, Michael Collins, Wikepedia and Anthony Jordan, W T Cosgrave 1880-1965: Founder of Modern Ireland.
