John A. Costello Papers P190 Researchers wishing to consult the John A. Costello Papers must obtain permission from the depositor. Details of the procedure may be had from the Duty Archivist. UCD Archives School of History and Archives archives @ucd.ie www.ucd.ie/archives T + 353 1 716 7555 F + 353 1 716 1146 © 2005 University College Dublin. All rights reserved ii Introduction viii Bibliography xvii Chronology xviii The John A. Costello Papers Summary Contents and Structure A LEGAL CAREER iv B POLITICAL CAREER v C PERSONAL vii D COSTELLO BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL vii E DEATH vii iii A LEGAL CAREER I Education and Appointment to the Bar 1 (1914 & 1925) II Cases as SC (1915 – 1968) 1 III Assistant to Law Officer, Irish Free State (1922) 9 IV Personal Assistant to the Attorney-General 10 (1921 – 1925) V Attorney-General (i) Appointment (1926 – 1930) 15 (ii) Constitution (1922 – 1932) 15 (iii) Land Purchase Annuities (1922 – 1933) 19 (iv) Lough Foyle Fishery Rights (1923 – 1930) 20 (v) Cases (1927) 26 (vi) Legislation and Bills (1928 – 1932) 26 (vii) Imperial Conferences a. Privy Council (1923 – 1941) 28 b. 1926 Conference 33 c. Committee on the Operation of Dominion 36 Legislation (1923; 1926 – 1929) d. 1930 Conference 42 e. Ottawa Conference (1932) 48 (viii) League of Nations a. Permanent Court of International 49 Justice (1922; 1926 – 1930) b. Codification of International Law 52 (1926 – 1930) c. Proceedings ([1926] – 1930) 53 d. Official Publications (1928 – 1930) 58 e. Irish delegation (1928 – 1929) 62 VI Dissociated Material (1907 – 1937) 65 iv B POLITICAL CAREER I Fine Gael (i) Party Material (1923 – [ca. 1959]) 68 (ii) Commemorative Material (1928; 1944; 1946; 1972) 70 (iii) General Elections (1932 – 1957) 71 (iv) Árd Fheiseanna (1934 – 1959) 77 (v) Blueshirts (1934) 78 (vi) Speeches by Costello and Others 78 (1935 – 1940; 1958 – 1972) II Teachta Dála (i) Election to Dáil (1933) 79 (ii) Dáil Matters (1933 – 1942) 79 (iii) Correspondence (1934 – 1946) 81 (iv) Backbenches (1959 – 1968) 83 (v) Retirement (1968 – 1969) 87 III First Inter-Party Government (i) Election as Taoiseach (1948; 1973) 88 (ii) Taoiseach’s Correspondence (1946 – 1960) 92 (iii) Clann na Poblachta (1947 – 1953) 104 (iv) Ministerial Speeches (1948 – 1950) 105 (v) Speeches, Addresses, Broadcasts 106 (1948 – 1951) (vi) Official Visits in Ireland (1948 – 1950) 120 (vii) Official Visit to the USA and Canada (1948) 121 (viii) Repeal of the External Relations Act 125 (1948 – 1949; 1962; 1985) (ix) Policy (1948 – 1954) 127 v IV Opposition (i) Policy (1951 – 1955) 133 (ii) Speeches (1951 – 1953) 137 (iii) Correspondence (1951 – 1954) 141 V Second Inter-Party Government (i) Election as Taoiseach (1954) 145 (ii) Speeches, Addresses, Broadcasts (1954 – 1957) 146 (iii) Departmental Files (1954 – 1957) 155 (iv) Policy (1950; 1954 – 1957) 162 (v) Taoiseach’s Private Papers 168 (1950; 1954 – 1957; 1958 – 1972) (vi) Correspondence (1954 – 1957) 197 (vii) Ministers (1955 – 1957; 1973) 214 (viii) Official Visit to the USA (1955 – 1956) 216 (ix) Dissociated Material (1956) 229 VI Opposition (i) Policy (1957 – 1960) 230 (ii) Correspondence (1957 – 1972) 231 (iii) Budget (1957 – 1958) 237 (iv) Speeches (1957 – 1959) 238 (v) Proportional Representation (1956 – 1959) 240 (vi) Resignation as Leader of the Opposition (1959) 241 vi C PERSONAL (1919 – 1972) 242 D COSTELLO BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL (1950 – 1976) 245 E DEATH (1976) 249 vii Introduction Provenance The John A. Costello Papers were deposited in the Archives Department, University College Dublin in September 2002 by his children Declan, John and Eavan. Background On 27th February 1948 John A. Costello was appointed Taoiseach of an Inter-Party Government, the first of its kind in the Irish State. This first Inter-Party Government was made up of Fine Gael, Labour, Clann na Talmhan, Clann na Poblachta, National Labour and Independents. Although reluctant to take on this role at first, Costello was pressed by both his friends and political colleagues and on Sunday 15th February he finally agreed to accept office. Costello was born in Dublin on 20th June 1891 to John Costello and Rose Callaghan. He was educated in O’Connell Schools, Richmond Street by the Christian Brothers. He was clearly a gifted student and was the first recipient of a scholarship awarded under the “Fanning Trust” to the sons of permanent civil servants obtaining the highest marks in the leaving certificate (see 190/918). He attended University College Dublin where he studied history, languages and literature, obtaining his BA degree in 1911. Costello subsequently obtained his LLB degree in 1914. In 1925 he was called to the inner bar, and in 1926 was elected a Senior Bencher of the Honourable Society of Kings Inns. On 31st July 1919 Costello married Ida Mary O’Malley and they had five children, three sons, Wilfred, Declan and John, and two daughters, Grace and Eavan. Costello’s legal career began in 1914 and from the very start his name was associated with some significant cases. One of the most famous being Egan v General McCready, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ireland. Egan’s legal team, including Costello as Junior Counsel, submitted an order of habeas corpus, the judge granted this and when the prosecution failed to produce the body the judge issued an order for General McCready’s arrest. viii In 1922 Costello was appointed as Assistant to the Law Officer of the Provisional Government and between 1922 and 1926 he was Assistant to the first Attorney- General of the Free State, Hugh Kennedy and Kennedy’s successor, John O’Byrne. In 1926 Costello was appointed Attorney-General, a position he held until 1932. During this time he attended the Imperial Conferences as legal adviser to the Irish delegation. One of the most significant achievements for the self-governing members of the British Empire occurred at the conference of 1926, ultimately resulting in the ‘Statute of Westminster’, 1931. In an interview with Michael McInerney, political correspondent in the Irish Times, Costello remarked of the Statute—“It is the Charter of Equality. Anything that the British can do we can do and we are free to pass our own legislation. The Privy Council did not exist anymore in effect…The Statute justified all the arguments that Griffith and Collins had put forward in the Treaty Debate.” (see P190/975) As Attorney-General Costello also attended the General Assemblies of the League of Nations. In 1933 Costello was first elected to Dáil Éireann for the constituency of county Dublin, he subsequently sat for Dublin Townships and later represented the Dublin South-East constituency. During these years, before the general election of 1948, Costello continued with his law practice, involved himself in the work of a backbench politician, attended to his constituency and worked to further the aims and objectives of the Fine Gael Party. When Fianna Fáil failed to achieve a majority after the general election of 1948 Costello agreed to lead the coalition government and was elected Taoiseach of the first Inter-Party Government. The coalition remained in power from 1948 to 1951 and is best remembered for the Repeal of the External Relations Act and the formal declaration of the Republic on Easter Monday 1949. Following defeat in the general election of 1951, Costello was asked again, in 1954, to lead the second Inter-Party Government. This second coalition government remained in power until 1957. In 1959, following General Richard Mulcahy’s resignation as leader of the Fine Gael Party, Costello decided not to offer himself as leader and retired to the backbenches. In a letter to Mulcahy, Costello remarked of his decision “As a back-bencher I hope to look after the interests of my Constituents, and to support progressive social and economic measures with as much energy and conviction as I have employed in such causes since first I entered politics.” (see P190/953) In addition to serving the needs of his constituents Costello returned to his ix legal profession and continued to practise at the Bar up to a short time before his death on 5th January 1976. Costello received honorary degrees from Canadian and American universities, he was elected a member of the RIA in 1948 and was made a freeman of Dublin City, along with Éamon de Valera, in March 1975. Arrangement The Costello papers have been arranged chronologically, according to his career. The papers contained in Section A deal mainly with his time as Attorney-General from 1926 to 1932 and more specifically with the Imperial Conferences and League of Nations General Assemblies, both of which he attended as Ireland’s senior legal representative. The papers relating to the Imperial Conferences follow the broad themes of the Conferences from 1926 – 1930 and include extensive files on issues such as Inter-Imperial relations, Dominion Status, Privy Council, Colonial Laws Validity Act and the Operation of Dominion Legislation. The two major issues which dominated Costello’s involvement in the League of Nations were the Permanent Court of International Justice and the Codification of International Law, both of which are well represented in the collection, along with series of official publications issued by the League. Although Costello had a long and prolific career as a Senior Counsel there are very few papers in the collection relating to this aspect of his legal profession. However, some of his more celebrated case are represented including his first jury action in the case John Parkinson v John Sheridan. Other cases represented in the collection include the habeas corpus order in the case of Egan v McCready. In an interview Costello describes waiting for the decision of Judge Charles O’Connor, Master of the Rolls as the most “…exciting moment…” in his life.1 In 1934 Costello was part of the legal team that represented General Eoin O’Duffy following his arrest in Westport (see P190/15 – P190/16).