Plenipotentiaries & The Players Left Off The Pitch

Welcome to the History of Ireland. In the last episode, we had finally reached a point where the British and Irish were ready to sit down and begin proper negotiations aimed at hashing out some kind of treaty. No small task by any stretch of the imagination, but also very exciting. On September 9th, the Dáil cabinet met and formally agreed to the negotiations. Basically just reiterating Lloyd George’s language, saying they would, quote, enter a conference to ascertain how the association of Ireland with a community of nations known as the British Empire can best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations. It was then decided to send five plenipotentiaries over to Britain to negotiate on behalf of the Irish.

A plenipo-what? I hear some of you asking. Plenipotentiaries is a word I spent my entire fifth year in secondary school stressing over how to spell. And I can confirm after having written this episode, I still struggle with it. But I feel like outside of Leaving Cert History, you actually don’t hear the term used all that often. So let’s give a quick definition. A plenipotentiary is defined as a person who has full power to make decisions or take action on behalf of their government, especially in a foreign country. In fact, the word comes from two Latin words, plenis, meaning full, and potens, meaning powerful. Basically, in theory, it would allow the five men to make decisions independently of anyone back home in Ireland. Though, whether this was how the term was understood, that’s to become unclear as we go on further.

But let’s stick to that definition for now and introduce the five plenipotentiaries themselves. The men put forward for this job were Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Robert Barton, Eamon Duggan, and George Gavin Duffy. Now, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, we know them pretty well, but let’s briefly introduce the others.

Born to a rich Irish Protestant family, Robert Barton was Minister for Economic Affairs. As a younger man, he had actually joined the British Army. It’s said that he won Michael Collins and others over by treating prisoners very kindly. And then, as the British became more brutal towards those involved in the Rising, Barton resigned and switched sides, eventually becoming a hardline Republican. He won election to the Dáil as a TD for Kildare in 1920, and that’s when Dev made him Minister for Economic Affairs.

Next, you’d Eamon Duggan. Born in Meath, Duggan studied to become a solicitor, though this was rudely interrupted when he was arrested for taking part in the 1916 Rising. He spent 14 months in prison with De Valera, eventually getting out in 1917 and becoming a fully-fledged solicitor. A member of the IRB, Duggan acted as the IRA’s Director of Intelligence between 1918 and 1920, when he was again arrested. This time, he was locked up with Arthur Griffith. Duggan was eventually released in the summer of 1921 and helped Richard Barton negotiate the final arrangements for the truce. He went on to travel with Dev on his trips to London to meet Lord George. So it makes a lot of sense that he was chosen for the delegation.

Finally, you had George Gavin Duffy. Duffy had a pretty interesting life. His father, Sir Charles Gavin Duffy, was Premier of Victoria, Australia, but Duffy Jr. was born in England and then raised in France. So as well as English, he spoke fluent French and Italian. He first came to prominence defending Sir Roger Casement during Casement’s treason trial in 1916. It seems the Casement trial deeply affected Duffy and he moved to Ireland and became very involved in Sinn Féin politics. Thanks to being such a polygot, he spent most of the Irish War of Independence working as an envoy for the Dáil throughout Europe. By 1921, he was living in Rome and acting as an envoy to the Pope.

Finally, we should mention Erskine Childers, who along with four others was sent to provide secretarial assistance. Keen-eared listeners will remember Childers from way back in episode 22 on the Irish Bulletin. Childers was a famous author, propagandist, hardline Republican and the cousin of Robert Barton. Though just a secretarial assistant and not a real delegate, his inclusion is an important point that I’ll come back to later.

Now, there is one huge whopping omission from this list of names. You know, the guy who’s been in contact with Lloyd George for months. The master politician, the leader of the whole Irish movement. What’s his name again? Oh yeah, Eamon de Valera. Why the hell was Eamon de Valera not going back to London? Why was he not a delegate? Both Collins and Griffith argued in the cabinet meeting that he just had to go. Our old friend historian Charles Townsend writes that Dev’s decision not to go still strikes many as inexplicable. While Ronan Fanning, one of de Valera’s most prominent biographers, goes even further saying Eamon de Valera’s refusal to lead the delegation was the most controversial decision of his political career. And I’m not going to lie, even that feels like a bit of an understatement.

The cabinet was split on the issue. Griffith, Collins and the Minister for Local Government, William T Cosgrave, all voted for Dev to be part of the delegation. While Cahill Brewer, Robert Barton and Austin Stack all backed Dev’s decision not to go. This gave Dev the casting vote and he decided he didn’t want to attend. It’s said that Griffith, the next most senior man in the room, didn’t really push too hard, deciding to trust Dev’s decision. As he had explained to a friend of his, Dev seems to know by instinct what it has taken me years of thought and political experience to discover.

Cosgrave, on the other hand, didn’t give up so easily. Five days later, on September 14th, when the cabinet brought its delegates in front of the wider Dáil, Cosgrave objected. Side note, all of these Dáil debates are up online and they make for great reading. Cosgrave put it like this. I maintain that the president should be one of the delegation. He has an extraordinary experience in negotiations. He also has the advantage of being in touch already. The head of state in England was Mr Lloyd George and he would be expected on the side of England. Another TD exclaimed that Cosgrave was out of order as all of this had already been debated in the cabinet meeting. It should be said that the cabinet and the Dáil kind of usually went along with most of Dev’s recommendations and it was rare for someone to speak out against him like this.

But Dev was happy to answer Cosgrave’s concerns and this is where we start to see a little bit of his thinking for not wanting to go. He said this. While we recognize ourselves as a republic, no one else does. I really believe it is vital at this stage that the symbol of the republic should be kept untouched and that it should not be compromised in any sense by any arrangements which it might be necessary for our delegates to make. I am sure the Dáil realizes the task they were giving to the delegates. To win for them what a mighty army and navy might not be able to win. It is not a shirking of duty, but I realize the position and how necessary it is to keep the head of state and the symbol untouched. And that is why I ask to be left out.

Dev’s thinking was that as president he was kind of above Lloyd George in the pecking order. Lloyd George only being prime minister and not a head of state. And despite Dev’s view that external association was the best they could hope for, he still seemed to believe that maintaining the symbolism of an Irish republic was important for negotiations. You can also see here that it’s clear Dev knew that compromises would be needed. And he didn’t want the president, the symbol, the man at the head of the Irish republic to be seen to be making those compromises.

But Cosgrave was having none of this symbolic stuff and he shot back at Dev. This is a team we are sending over and we are leaving our ableist player in reserve. Now it was not usual to leave the ableist player in reserve. The reserve would have to be used some time or other. And it strikes me that now is the time that they are required. I formally move that the president be chairman of the delegations. Two TDs, Lorcan Robbins and Countess Magnus, both jumped in to back Dev up. But George Gavin Duffy, one of the plenipotentiaries, agreed with Cosgrave and he seconded his motion.

Duffy went even further though and questioned the very idea of plenipotentiaries. Stating that, in Mr Lloyd George’s last letter he did not refer to the delegates as plenipotentiaries. And therefore if we send him plenipotentiaries they would be making him a president of plenipotentiaries with full powers. I strongly urge the president to consider should he give the delegation this name.

Dev responded with a slightly warped view of what a plenipotentiary actually was. Remember now, a plenipotentiary is literally defined as someone with full powers to make decisions on behalf of their country. But Dev had this to say. I understand plenipotentiaries are people who had power to deal with a question subject to ratification. That’s very different from full powers. He continued. They would go first with a cabinet policy and on the understanding that any big questions should be referred home before being decided by them. We want plenipotentiaries to give the world the impression that they are sent over with full powers. To do the best they could to reconcile the Irish position with the British position. They should have full powers because if they go over they needed to have the moral feeling of support of the position to do the best they could for Ireland.

Is anyone else confused by that? Because I find it confusing as all hell. Dev mentions that the delegates would have to come back to the Dáil to ratify anything. But they should have full power to make decisions. Ronan Fanning describes this as quote the fatal flaw in the delegation’s terms of reference. And it would prove a huge flaw. They had full powers but shouldn’t take any quote big decisions. It’s super confusing and was a dangerous position. In fact before negotiations had even started one of Lloyd George’s advisors told him to remember they are plenipotentiaries and they must not take advantage of De Valera’s absence to delay and refer back to him. Basically Duffy was bang on the money when he said they would be giving a present of plenipotentiaries to the British.

Despite the clear contradictions in terms the Dáil backed Dev’s approach. They ignored Cosgrove’s pleas for Dev to lead the delegation and they ignored Duffy’s argument against plenipotentiaries. They simply continued on ratifying the delegates. Griffith stayed quiet having made his case in a cabinet meeting but the matter wasn’t quite closed. Michael Collins was up next to be ratified and as soon as his name was submitted, unlike Griffith, he joined Cosgrove in speaking up. Saying I believe the president should be part of the delegation. I do not want to go myself and I would very much prefer not to be chosen.

Cantus Markovits then asked what were his reasons. But here De Valera interjected, explaining again. If I was not the symbol I would go. I feel that it is absolutely necessary that the Minister for Finance, i.e. Collins, should be a member. It is from the personal touch and contact I have with his mind that I feel I know the Minister for Finance is a man for that team. He is absolutely vital to the delegation. And that argument by Collins, that he should stay and De Valera should go, was pretty much the last major pushback against Dev’s plan. And in the end Dev got his way. Each plenipotentiary was ratified and it was agreed De Valera would stay at home.

I wonder did the people in the Dhal that day realise the huge ramifications of these decisions. It really can’t be understated the impact these decisions would have, both on the negotiations themselves and the tragic aftermath. Next episode we’re going to explore the details of where each plenipotentiary stood politically and why they were chosen. As well as try and continue to untangle the orders they were given by De Valera.

Get in touch all through our website thehistoryofireland.com Or you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter. It’s always great hearing from you guys. And if I’ve made a mistake, please do let me know. The History of Ireland was written and produced by me, Kevin Dole. Additional research and fact checking by Robert Babington. Music by Liam Doyle. And additional help from assistant producer Aoife Murphy. This podcast was recorded in the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Sovereignty was never ceded.