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The Lemass The Lemass tapes will substantially re-shape our ‘‘knowledge and understanding of Lemass himself, of Fianna Fáil in and out of government, and political history in the Tapes four decades after 1932 –Lemass biographer John Horgan Saturday,June2nd,2018 Editor:MarkHennessy

TheLemass family Lemass,a

Backrow,leftto reluctant right:NoelLemass, JohnO’Connor CaptJackO’Brien, CharlesHaughey, SeánLemass; Secondrow:SeanD Lemass,TinaLemass Ronan McGreevy Nolan(Noel’ssonand daughter);Eoghan andDonalO’Brien; EimearHaughey Regarded as Ireland’s Mulhern. greatest taoiseach, the Seated,extremeleft: FF leader yearned for PeggyO’Brien, Lemass’sdaughter, the simple pleasures holdingherson PadraigO’Brien.

Onarmofcouch: SeánLemass, whobecame taoiseach on EileenLemass, June 23rd,1959, at the age of 59, after Noel’swife,with daughterAilbheon Éamon de Valera was elected president herknee. of Ireland, never wanted the job, he said in now-revealed tapes. Womanin whitedress In theend, he spentmore than seven isSheilaO’Connor, yearsinoffice and finally retired in No- Lemass’sdaughter, vember 1966. Today, he is regardedby holdingherdaughter many as Ireland’sgreatest taoiseach. CatríonaandsonRory His successor, Leo Varadkar, has apor- MaureenLemass trait of him in his office. Though he nev- Haughey;herson er wroteanautobiography,Lemass did Seánissittingonher sit with the late businessmanDermot knee;Ciaranissitting Ryanin1967 for dozens of hours of justbesideher;son taped reflections of his life and career. Conorissitting The tapes, which were handed over cross-leggedonthe floor by Ryan to the Lemass family four years ago, have now been lodged by Lemass’s Extremeright,sitting: great-grandson, Aidan O’Connor, with KathleenLemassand University College ’s archive. SeánO’Connor(on Lemass, as tanáisteand minister for herknee). industry and commerce in the Fianna Thegirlsittingonthe Fáilgovernmentwhich tookoffice floorinthewhite againin1957, was effectively taoiseach dressisSinead anyway. Éamon de Valeraplayed no Lemass. partindrawing up the country’s first economic programme, which was launched in 1958 –still seen to this day as one of the most important chapters in the State’s history, get, one of universal relevance to students What are the Lemass tapes? Lemass’s reluctance to be taoiseach of politics. did not extend, however, to accepting Womenplay little role in the record- that any of the Fianna Fáil colleagues ings, but that is hardly surprising given the InterviewswithSeán histalentstobusiness.Ihave politics.Ryanmakesclear he had served with in cabinet should get PORTRAIT time and Lemass’s need to keep the then Lemasswerecarriedoutby neverknownamanwith fromthebeginninghe thejob instead of him. He had urged de most powerful, and largely male, trade un- DermotRyan,awell-known suchintelligence,judgement intendedtowriteabook Valera not to stand for the presidency, ions politically on-side. Irishbusinessmanofthe andintegrityasLemassand “withtheemphasisonthe suggesting that he should carry on as an 1960swhohadinterestsin whomadesuchlittlemoney newIreland,themodern “adjudicator”taoiseach,leavingLe- Remarkable hotels,caravanparks,car fromhisactivities.” Ireland”. masstodothe work: “I would havepre- Omissions notwithstanding,thesetran- hireandinsurance.Hewas Thereare23interviewsin Nobookwaseverywritten ferred if time stood still.” OF AMAN scripts –editedbyLemass himself –ofal- alsoamemberoftheFianna total,consistingof22hours andattemptsbyvarious mosttwo dozen interviews, manyofthem FáilNationalExecutive. ofrecordingsand 1,200 pag- authorstousethematerials Candour very lengthy, are remarkable both in style AnIrishTimesprofilein esoftranscript. intheinterveningyearswere With typical candour, he told Ryan: “I and in substance. 1969estimatedhiswealth at Thefirstinterviewwas unsuccessful.In2014,Ryan couldsee no way of avoiding it exceptby Lemass was an autodidact who left for- £2.5million(¤35million).In conductedonApril12th, handedoverthetapesand keeping Dev as taoiseach until he died mal education in 1916, but he read copious- thatprofile,hesaidof 1967,andthelaston transcriptstotheextended in the expectation that he would not in- IN HIGH ly and continuously, particularly in eco- Lemass:“Thatmancould January9th,1969.They Lemassfamilywhohave terfere with what Iwas doing, as he was nomics,and his style was lapidary, evident havebeenamillionairemany coverLemass’scareerfrom nowdepositedthemwith not interfering anyway.” not only in these recollections. His amend- timesoverifhehad devoted 1923tohisretirementfrom UCDarchives. –RMcG In theend, he said, hetook the job out ments are brief, but always significant. of asense of duty when de Valera finally Evenmoresignificantly,thereis acornu- vacatedthe officeat theage of76.His re- copia of judgmentsinnocent of defensive- verse of Lemass’s clipped,economical de- analytical of the difficulties of the interest luctance, he toldRyan, was motivated OFFICE ness, self-glorification, or hubris, particu- livery. groups with which he had to deal. “In the larly relevant about his own immaturity as Browne, he remarked “is aqueer fellow. last resort, the Congress of Trade Unions anemerging politician and his dawning re- He had ideas, but he bored everyone by wouldback away from the implications of alisation that dialogue was anecessary ad- talking far too much in the Dáil.” Both whatthey werenegotiating, and the Em- The tapes, recorded by the late hotelier junct to political power. Browneand McQuillan,“usedtoworkfair- ployers’Federation, once they were get- In this sense, these recollections will un- ly hardinpreparing their stuff,but if they ting anywhere at all, wouldbecome twice Dermot Ryan in 1967, are an doubtedly re-shape the historyofthe dec- condensed it into shorter speeches they as intolerant and demand concessions.” ades between 1930 and 1970 in significant would have won far more respect”. Nonetheless, he expressed sympathy extraordinary political testament ways, particularly about the mistakes withthedifficultiesofthetradeunion lead- made. He notes at one point: “We mis- Scathing ers “who are dependentfor their inade- judgedtheeconomicclimateagreat deal.” Nor,indeed, doeshespare his own. He is quate salary upon the support of mem- On the other hand, he is brusque, some- scathing about Fianna Fáil minister for ag- bers” and their reluctance “tobecome the period. times critical –dismissive, even –about po- riculture Paddy Smith. “would community policeman”. When Michael Mills interviewed him liticalallies as well as political opponents. havebeenlessinclined tofight [theDepart- I used to have the for the Irish Press afterhis retirement and His frustrations with de Valera between ment of Finance] than Iwould”; Seán Mac- Splendidlyironic askedhim aboutthe Civil War, Lemass’s 1945 and 1957 are evident. Entee was “very slow” to take decisions, And he could, on occasion,besplendidly illusion that I could eyes filled with tears, he could not contin- “Atonetimehe [DeValera] wastheiniti- andother(sadly, unnamed) ministerialcol- ironic or mordantaboutpublic opinion, shed my ministerial per- ue, and had to take alittle time to compose ator of policy, but this had ceased by 1948 leagues also “had acomplete reluctance to and even more so about farmers. “If you ‘‘-sonality when I was not himself. orthereabout. Hethenbecamethe arbitra- takedecisions,who sufferedfromamental say ‘we are going to nationalise the farms There are only the slightest of hints of tor ...henever askedwhy you did any- process recognised as adifficulty in pass- of Connacht’, there are alot of Leinster doing ministerial work John Horgan Lemass’s view during the revolutionary thing; new ideas did not come from him at ingthe boundary line between considera- farmers who would say that this is the only years. One, however,comes when he talks all.” tion and decision”. thing to do with them.” by entirelyselfishreasons.Lemasswas of John FKennedy laying the wreath at the His descriptions of difficult Dáil situa- His voracious reading is displayed light- Another is the degree to which he is acreature of habit. He valued his free graves at Arbour Hill during his visitin tions not onlyexemplify his skill as atacti- ly, not least when, in what is almostan frank about his mistakes and modest time. He liked to play cards and golf. He 1963–the first timeaforeign head of state cian, but also significant differences be- aside about the 1957 election, he picked up about hisachievements,and these reminis- attendedrace meetingsandwas oftenir- had doneso. “Youwould havehad to be tweenhimself and de Valera. “I could sit John ACostello’scomparison of de Valera cences throw new light, in particular, on ritatedwhenpolitical pressures meant ldtapes can throw new light on alive in 1916,” Lemass commented almost for hours in the Dáil and listen to ráiméis to Machiavelli. “Machiavelli had laid down the diplomatic, economic and internation- he could not. history.SeánLemasswasapol- ruminatively, “to realise the real signifi- from Dillon, or speeches from Labour, the principle in one of his writings that the al aspects of the Irish struggle to modern- “ForalongtimeIusedto havetheillu- itician who never wrote an au- cance of this event.” withoutshowingonmy face anyobvious re- unpopular things had to be done straighta- ise after the second World War. sionthatIcouldshedmy ministerialper- tobiography, but he left be- Thereare anumber of reasons why action ...Dev could be provoked very easi- way and the benefits should be doled out, These interviewswillalsocontribute sig- sonality when Iwas not doing ministeri- O hind an extraordinary series of thesetranscripts –and Lemass’shandwrit- ly. He rose to every bait. Iused to say this to one by one, over alonger period. He was nificantly, and possiblytoadegree with al work like walking up the street, you interviews, now seeing the public light. tenannotations on them –are of extraordi- him and implore him to ignore the traps ... right: that was what we decided to do.” which Lemass himselfmighthave disa- know, as aprivate citizen. This illusion In them, Lemass talks candidly about nary value. For one thing, political mem- Ithink the opportunity to suffer fools glad- His comments on Stalin, Trotsky and greed, to amore problematicre-assess- died slowlybut it diedand Iwould have his life and career, Ireland’s relationship oirs highlight achievementsand obscure ly is something you can only learn from ex- others –notably Adenauer, whose political ment of de Valera, whom he once de- saiditwas for purely selfish reasons with NorthernIreland; and, pertinently, defeats. perience.” ability he greatlyrespected–always dis- scribed admiringly after the latter’s retire- that Idid not want to aspire to the office Ireland’s relationship with the United By contrast, Lemass’s frankness is note- He is scathingabout the Labour Party play an originallevel of analysis and in- ment as being “as tough as teak”. But he of taoiseach. Life was enjoyable. Ihad Kingdom and the latter’s relationship with worthy.Heall but donssackclothand ash- and,in particular, its oppositionto thepur- sight. had realised,bythe 1950s,hesays, that all the work Iwanted to do and all the Europe. esathisinabilitytogetunionsandmanage- chase of aircraft for the transatlantic route In the light of current events,his obser- “Dev was losing his grip, that he was no power Iwanted to exercise. At the same The transcribed tapes are an extraordi- ments to agree on national budgetary poli- (one of his pet projects). Nor does he vations on the UK’s attitude to Europe longer the man he had been” and he (Le- time, Icould have relaxation that was nary political testament, all the morere- cy, for example. spare gadflies like Noel Browne and Jack help to illuminate contemporary debates. mass) had developed the conviction that more or less normal and which Ias- markable fornot having been written by Meanwhile, his insights on contempo- McQuillan, no doubt at least in part be- Labour had been more difficult to deal “where the organisation and administra- sumed would cease to be available as Lemass himself, but recorded by one of his rary European leaders are sharp and per- cause they provided atwo-man opposition with than the Tories in the post-warperi- tion of the governmentwas concerned, I taoiseach.” political admirers, the late hotelier and ceptive, andquite novel in Irish historiog- to Fianna Fáil at atime when od, he notes, because they (Labour) were could do abetter job thanhewas doing at Lemassloved to gothe raceson aSat- businessman Dermot Ryan. raphy,whilehis concerns aboutthe prob- was in the doldrums, but alsoprobably be- more vulnerable to pro-empire rhetoric that time.” urday but denied he was ever a“serious Political memoirs often disappoint. lems of party managementand leadership causetheir speakingstyle wasthedirectob- from the Tory side, and this didnot really There is plenty of evidence of his own di- gambler”, though he was dogged with Lemass’s son-in-law,Charles JHaugh- are as relevant today as when they were re- change until Harold Wilson became prime rigiste tendencies and of his conviction unprovenrumours he had large gam- ey,once toldanentreating publisher that corded. minister. that “when you are speakingfor the party bling debts, mostly from playing cards. hehadneverread agoodone.Reminded of His judgment on some of his contempo- Independent TDs are dismissed,deri- you can never admit having made amis- “Itbecame ahabitof mine to go every the record left by British cabinet minister raries (including cabinet colleagues) rang- sively,whilehisrevelations aboutthe inter- take; you cannotever admit never having Saturdaytoarace meeting.I’d be dis- Denis Healey, Haughey was dismissive: es fromthe benign to the acerbic witha nal cabinet discussions on the abolition of foreseen somethingthat happened which gusted if there was no race meeting on “He never got the top job.” frankness that few politicians have had the proportional representation fascinate. was important ...sometimes you have to because of bad weatherorbecause it Paradoxically, the fact that Lemass nev- courage to apply, before or since. The Fianna Fáil cabinet might have admitthat foreknowledge was not possi- was too far out of Dublin,” he told Ryan. er wrote amemoir, but did get the “top And –most palpable of all,perhaps– backed PR in single-seat constituencies, ble, and sometimes it wouldbedangerous “But when Ibecame taoiseach Idecided job” after he took over from Éamonde there is his growingsense of frustration, At one time he [De Valera] but could not do so because of de Valera’s to admit that you had foreknowledge with- that Icouldn’t do this as it wasn’t in con- Valera in 1957, makes the Ryan recordings fuelled by acombination of loyalty and im- prior publiccommitment to the “straight” out having warned the country.” formitywith thedignity of my office and possibly even more valuable than if he had patience, at the length and increasing im- was the initiator of policy. .. vote, from which he could not resile. There are many, more contemporary, it took me ahell of along time to adjust put pen to paper himself. mobilism of de Valera’s last two periodsin He then became arbitrator .. The Lemasstapeswill substantially politicians who would say amen to that. to the situation.” Of course, there are omissions. The office. .henever asked why you did re-shape our knowledge and understand- Later on, Lemass had no regrets moststriking are the years before Fianna All in all,thisisamorecomplete –and a ‘‘ ing of Lemasshimself, of Fianna Fáilin JohnHorganisajournalistandacademic, aboutdeparting from the office of taoi- Fáilentered the Dáil, and particularly the compelling –portrait of aman in high of- anything; new ideas did not and out of government, and political histo- andwasIreland’sfirstpressombudsman. seach:“On thecontrary,theonly senseI CivilWar. But Lemasshad obviously taken fice,ofhis difficulties, his achievements, come from him at all” ry in the four decades after 1932. HeisauthoroftheLemassbiography experienced when Iwas out was relief – aTrappist vow in relationtothistroubled and his mindset, as we are everlikelyto Ever frankthroughout, Lemass is wryly SeánLemass:TheEnigmaticPatriot free at last of all the responsibilities.” THE IRISH TIMES 2 The Lemass tapes Saturday,June 2,2018 ‘I think there is apolitical advantage in having acertain anti-clerical tinge’

Catholic Church rather arcaneconceptofvocationalism, having afull-scale row with the bishop of ployingnew teachers,McQuaid withdrew which generated agreatdeal of interest in Galway and this was dominating the politi- the report. Ireland during the period. cal sceneand Ifound this on otherocca- Lemass does not mention the spat be- First articulated by PopePiusXIinhis sions too –that having agood row with the tweenMcQuaid, Lemassand de Valera. Ronan McGreevy 1931 papal encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, bishop is quite apolitical assetand you do McQuaid refused, as chair of the commit- vocationalism presented aroad map for not suffer politically for it because there is tee, to take submissions from Protestant how Catholics could order their society an anti-clericalism in the Irish people.” organisationsand offered to resign if he Lemass believed his row andavoid theextremesoffascismandcom- Lemass may be referring tothe 1944 had to. De Valera called his bluff and re- with bishop of Galway led munism. general election in which he got almost a fused to back down. Eight years after the papal encyclical, Lemasssaid of his relationship with the to his ‘enormous vote’ in ÉamondeValera commissionedhis own My relationship with clergy:“I donotrememberhavinganydiffi- inquiryinto vocationalism in the months culty,sense of strainorproblems in deal- the 1944 general election before the start of the second World War. all the principal ing withthe church. My personal relation- However,the1944 reportfromthecom- archbishops and cardinal ship with all the principal archbishops and bative bishop of Galway, which was critical ‘‘was always very good the cardinal was always very good. may have lived during atime ofthe governmentand theCivil Service,ar- “Whenever Iwanted advice about any- when the Catholic Church was dominant rivedas abombshell ingovernmentdepart- thing there was never the slightest sugges- in Irish society, but, nevertheless,heal- ments. It warned of the State’s “despotic ■ Archbishop of Cashel Dr Thomas Morris, President Éamon de Valera, Cardinal third of the vote in the Dublin South con- tionthat they felt it was their dutytoim- ways believed there was astrong sense of control of production and labour”.Lemass D’Alton and then taoiseach Seán Lemass, in 1960. PHOTOGRAPH: GORDON STANDING stituency. Lemass said in his time as apoli- poseany point of viewupon us. Icould anti-clericalism in the Irish people. took this criticism personally, as his own tician, “I neverhad any difficultyatall ei- have beenlucky, nothingemerged in my In theLemasstapes, theformer taoise- departmenthad taken draconianemergen- politician at the time. very popular throughout the country. ther with Dr [John Charles] McQuaidor time that would have raised aconflict. I ach recounted amajor row he had with the cy measures during the war to control the “I think there is apolitical advantage in the cardinal [John D’Alton]. can only testify on my personal experience bishopofGalway, Dr Michael Browne, economy. Exchangedinsults having acertain anti-clerical tinge,”Le- LemassputMcQuaidincharge of acom- in that regard.” who was never slowindelivering instruc- Fiercely denouncing the report publicly Browne responded indignantly and the mass remembered. “The only time in my missiononyouth unemployment.Itrecom- Lemass had little time for Noel Browne, tions to the political classes. as a“slovenly document”, Lemass said the two exchanged insults in aseries of letters lifethat Iever got an enormousvote,the mended the school leavingage be in- the minister at the centre of the infamous It followed on foot of the publication of a workwas “querulous, nagging and propa- in the Irish Press.However, Lemass be- highest vote ever accorded to any candi- creased.When Lemasspointed out that Mother and BabyScheme which was sty- 1944 report led by Browne into the now gandist”–extraordinary language for a lieved his stand against the bishop was date in ageneral election was when Iwas would mean building new schools and em- mied by the Catholic bishops. British reneged on wartime deal over tea supplies

Emergency from the Estonians and Latvians who had been invaded by Soviet Russia and another fromItaly, thoughItaly was one of the Axis powers. Ronan McGreevy Thegovernmenthadstockpiledcof- feebefore thewar fromBrazilinantici- pation there wouldbenotea. By the Lemass went to end of the war, the government had in extraordinary lengths stock 40 years’ supply of coffee, which was then sold abroad at aconsidera- to ensure Ireland got ble loss to the State. The supply of petrol was another provisions during war source of aggravation for Lemass dur- ing the war. On Christmas Eve 1942, a hugeoil tanker carrying 15,000 The Britishgovernment “dou- tonnes of petrol arrived in Dublin Port ble-crossed” Ireland duringthe sec- withmuch-neededpetrol supplies.Le- ond World War whenitreneged on a mass said the country was so short of promise thatIrelandwould be able to petrol at the time that he contemplat- import the same quantities of tea per ed cutting the ration to ahalf gallon head. per motorist. The Irish were obsessed with the If the ship docked, he couldin- tea ration during the second World crease the ration to two gallonsfor War,forcing Lemass to go to extraor- eachmotorist.The shipwas so laden dinary lengths to source it, even with oil that it couldn’t clear the bar at though it was, arguably, the least im- Dublin Port. It was senttoLiverpool portant of the food imports needed. to unload several thousandtonnes of The troublefor Lemass was that oil. Unfortunately, it was sunk by a the British controlled the supply of tea German submarine on its passage for mostofthe war.Dublinand Lon- acrossthe Irish Sea,leavingthe coun- don had come to an agreement at the try in straitened circumstances again. start of the war that both countries Lemasswas famousfor his scrupu- would receive the same per-capita ra- lous adherence to the ration regime tion of tea. he created,which included even his Instead,hehad reached the conclusion ■ Capt Terence O’Neill and Seán Lemasscomplained thattheBritish own family.Lemass saidrationing that any attempt to coerce unionists into a Lemass with their wives at Iveagh House reneged on the deal by announcing workedinIreland because it was per- united Ireland would createahugeprob- in Dublin. PHOTOGRAPH: JOE CLARKE that the Irish would only be entitled to ceived to have been fairly applied. MEETING lem for the Irish state.Hetold Dermot aquarter-ounceoftea per person Lemassmade his reputation as one Ryan: “I could see it as almost adisease while the British would retain their of the most energetic and able of gov- which would ultimatelydestroy the na- cussed.Themeetingsbetweenthe twopre- ounce per person. ernmentministersbyhis handling of tion, and Itherefore began to talk about miers were warmly welcomed by many on The British would not give the Irish the issue of supplies, for which he had unity as aspiritual and not apolitical con- both sides of the Border. “Immediately af- anavy certificatetocollecttea from been given authority by Éamon de WITH O’NEILL ception”. termymeeting with O’Neill, Ireceived an the warehouses in Calcutta, so Le- Valera at the start of the war. He saw themeetingwith O’Neillassim- enormous flood of letters from Protes- mass soughttoget aroundthe effec- He outlined his philosophy as fol- ply reflecting “that there were problems of tants and Presbyterian clergymen in the tive British embargo by hiringan an all-Irelandkind which an all-Ireland ef- North expressing their satisfactionatthe American ship. Lemass was fort could moreeasily solve than separate turn of events and expressing asense of re- The tea was taken via the Panama famous for his MET STIFF efforts”. leasefromold compulsions not to consort Canal to New Yorkand then sent by Nobody who was interested in ending with Catholics,” Lemass recalled. train to St John’s, Newfoundland. It adherence to the ration partition, he reasoned, could “possibly Hebelieved O’Neill had received similar wastransportedacross theAtlanticby regime‘‘ he created raise objections to what appeared to be the messagesofsupport,but manyinthe un- one of the Irish merchantnavyships, firstbreaking down of the barriersbe- ionist community were not happy. “The the Irish Poplar. which included even his OPPOSITION tween the six counties and here”. Paisley element came on the scene and the Having made aperilous journey own family ... he said Lemassbelieved O’Neill had called the backbench peoplebegantofeel thatthey acrossthe Atlantic dodgingGerman rationing worked historic meeting between the two pre- might havebeen jeopardising someof U-boats, the shiparrived withits pre- miers because he was conscious that the their support by these approaches. cious cargo into Dublin Port only to be because it was imageof Northern Ireland had taken abat- Subsequently, many Unionist MPs were diverted to Waterford because of a perceived to have Historic meeting with Northern Ireland PM teringin theworld.O’Neill recognisedthat targeted because of their support for lightning strike at the docks. been fairly applied the North could not move forward without O’Neill’s policy towards the South. “We were abletokeep the one uncovered ‘bare, hard-rock prejudices’ an improvement in community relations. Lemassalso spokeofhis attempts toper- ounce of tea ration by and large dur- This would prove to be prescient, given suade the Nationalist Party in the North ing the wholewar and people regard- lowingtohis interviewer Dermot theoutbreak of theTroubles four years lat- that they should participate in the North- ed thisasquite an achievement Ryan: “I said at one time in the Dáil er. O’Neill recognised there needed to be ern Ireland parliament. (whichitwas) because they assumed that if the necessityarose for me to “greaterharmony between the two ele- Prior to the Troubles,the Nationalist there would be no tea,” Lemass re- makeanorder prohibitingmen wear- and public opinion, successive govern- mentsinthe populationandanacceptance Partywas themainpoliticalvoicefornorth- membered. ing trousers, the public would accept Ronan McGreevy mentsintheRepublichadrefusedtorecog- ofthe needforco-operation inthesix coun- ern nationalists. this untilthe day they saw one man nise the North,leavingLemass and those ties, including the nationalists.” LemasstoldNationalist Partyleader Ed- Acutedilemma wearing trousers.” desiring greater co-operationwith dilem- Difficulties over this historic meeting die McAteer that any solution to partition The war provided an acute dilemma He said he was “ruthless” in dealing ver the pragmatist, Seán Lemass mas. were all O’Neill’s, Lemass said.Hefaced would involve keeping the Stormont Par- for Ireland, which was critically de- with black marketeersand those who had no objections when the prime Lemass had begun to lay the grounds opposition from the “Paisleyelement”,as liament in place as part of afederalised pendent on Britain for its shipping abused the system. Doctors were giv- minister of Northern Ireland, Ter- for his visit to Belfasttwo years earlierina Lemass put it. united Ireland. and Lemass sensed the British were en an extra ration of petroltoattend E ence O’Neill, invited him to travel speech in Tralee in 1963, where he had “As we dug downdeeper, of course, we Therefore it was in the Nationalist Par- trying to exercise some control over to their patients. toasnowyBelfast to meet on January 14th, madethecasethat greatertieswould bene- came upon the bare, hard-rock prejudices ty’s interesttomakethe parliament work. the Irish government by restricting Ten doctors’ cars were found out- 1965. SpeakingtoDermot Ryan, he said: fit all. which have always been there.” Lemass said McAteeragreed with his as- the supply of shipping. side Portmarnockgolfcourse by anin- “Now Icould have said to O’Neill that the One did not have to officially recognise IndeedPaisley andhis supporters pelt- sessment and became the main opposition Lemass and his principalsecretary spector. When the inspector queried first meeting must be in Dublin,but Ifelt NorthernIrelandto acknowledge thereali- ed Lemass’s car with snowballs as it left in Stormont in 1965. JohnLeydon realised in 1940 that what they were doing, they all re- that this would be all wrong, because it ty that “partition had persisted for Stormont. they could not dependupon the Brit- sponded thatthey wereattending to a would appeartobecapitulationonhis 40 years; there was no immediate pros- *The Nationalist Party did not enter the ish to charter shipping on their behalf woman in anearby cottage. They all part.” pect that the situationwould end”, he told Noconstitutionalissues House of Commons of Northern Ireland so they set about putting together an had their petrol rationswithdrawn Thishistoric visit,which had beenar- Ryan. Therewas no talk during his meeting with until 1924, having won six seats in the Irish fleet in the middle of the war. andtheir carstaken awayfor aperiod. ranged by two of the most senior civil serv- The South had given little consideration O’Neill of anyconstitutional or political is- general election of 1921. Thereafter, it They scoured Europe for vessels “A lot of thesewere some of the ants from both jurisdictions, KenWhitak- tothereality ofpartition, Lemassbelieved, sues. It was followed by areciprocal meet- again engaged in long periods of absten- and boughtaGreek shipthat was in most prominentand well-known doc- er and Jim Malley, was the first time since andthe ideaofcompelling theunionistma- ing the following month in Dublin, but Le- tion, to protest against the “illegal” such an advanced state of decrepitude torsinDublin. Eventually, they got partition that leaders from both sides of jorityto acceptaunitedIrelandwas“anun- mass said that meeting was not of much partition of Ireland. In 1965, it agreed to that its crew could not even sink her theirrations back,but it was the ap- the Border met. realistic approach that would never suc- consequenceas itwas moreacourtesy visit become the official opposition party in the for insurance purposes. It became the pearance of enforcing this impartially Backed by constitutional imperatives ceed”. and no issues of consequencewere dis- House of Commons IrishPoplar.Theysourced other ships that mattered.”

The IRA, which carried out aseries of out of self-interest. De Valera, Lemass kind.Italways seemed to become active Lemasssaid the 1940 approach by the IRA infiltrated bombingattacksinEngland before the maintained, developed a“tremendous re- whenever it suited this ultra-conservative British in relation to the issue of partition openingofthe second World War,had spect” for Chamberlain and believed element in GreatBritain that it should be- was not sincere. The British offered an end beeninfiltratedby“ultra-conservative sec- muchofthe criticismdirectedatChamber- come active, or did the very thingsthat to partition if the Irish joined in the British by British tionsof theBritish secret service”, SeánLe- lainoverhispolicyofappeasement wasun- were going to destroy whateverhopes war effort, but the Irish government insist- mass believed. fair. Lemasssaid the IRA bombing cam- were emerging from ourpolitical activi- ed on an end to partition first. secret service, Lemass accusedthe IRA of scuppering paign, which began in Britain in January ties.” Lemass advances no evidence in his Lemass conceded that the attitudes of attempts by the Irishgov