Packs & Politics

Welcome to the History of Ireland As we saw last episode, the anti-treaty IRA were ready to fight for a republic And as 1922 continued, it was becoming increasingly clear that a civil war was going to be extremely difficult to avoid Fighting was breaking out all over the country And up north, things were especially gruesome We’ll be returning to the north later, but for now, I want to look at some of the last ditch efforts to avoid a civil war And dive back into the political arena of 1922

You see, regardless of the objections from the IRA and the anti-treaty side, the treaty demanded an election And as violence in the north and the prospects of a civil war increased, the British started pressuring the provincial Irish government to get on with said election Now if things were to have happened properly and democratically, a pro-treaty and an anti-treaty party would have competed against each other Makes sense right? The results of this would have provided a clear cut indication of where the country stood in terms of the treaty What did the actual population think of it all? It would be a chance for the public to discuss the merits of the treaty and let their voices be heard But when have things in revolutionary Ireland ever been that straightforward?

Instead, the Collins-De Valera Pact, as it became known, went and muddied the waters Sorry, sorry, the what? The Collins-De Valera Pact? Hadn’t the two of them just stormed off and were now angrily shaking their fists at each other from across the political divide? Wasn’t Dev calling for people to wade through blood and that kind of thing? It’s not really language conducive to an agreement is it?

Well, despite Dev’s violent and unhelpful public rhetoric, in private there were attempts being made to maintain some kind of unity Over March and through May, the pro- and anti-treaty politicians met on multiple occasions But the talks never really went anywhere and this pact was the closest thing they got to an agreement It was signed on May 20th after a string of failed talks

Basically, and this is mad, Collins and Dev agreed that both pro- and anti-sides of Sinn Féin would stand in the election as one party Yep, despite disagreeing on the biggest issue facing the country, an issue that had people literally pointing guns at each other Sinn Féin decided to ignore those differences and run under the same banner Each wing of Sinn Féin would field no more TDs than they currently had in the second Dáil And after the election they would form a coalition government In fact, the anti-treaty side were even guaranteed 4 of the 9 seats in the cabinet Oh, and they agreed there would be no mention of the treaty on the campaign trail at all Which is nuts

So yeah, it sounds kind of crazy, but if you think of Sinn Féin less as a party and more as THE nationalist movement This was a bid to stop further fractures and it starts making a little bit more sense Collins saw it as a means to appease the anti-treaty side, while keeping them within the political system Or as he described it, a last ditch effort to avoid strife to prevent the use of force by Irishmen against Irishmen While Dev saw it as a chance to retain some kind of power and signed the pact to quote Re-establish the position of Sinn Féin and his own leadership position within the nationalist movement

Not everyone was a fan though The whole thing was incredibly undemocratic It would hurt smaller parties, it sought to remove the treaty as an issue And it ensured that one party, Sinn Féin, would pretty much stay in power regardless of the results Griffith was particularly annoyed by it He wanted to give people the chance to vote on the treaty But he trusted Collins enough not to get in the way But he definitely wasn’t happy

Meanwhile, neither were the British They were very worried by the undemocratic nature of this whole thing And what it might mean for the future of Irish democracy There’s a great political cartoon from the time that has Dev and Collins bowing towards an Irish voter The caption reads Messrs. Collins and De Valere say together You belong to the greatest and most intelligent nation on earth And you are therefore entitled to choose your own representation The southern Irish elector replies Thank you so much Messrs. C and D.V. choose your own representation Who we have already selected for you Classic early 20th century political cartoon humour right there

But luckily for, I don’t know, democracy The pact didn’t really work A big reason for this was the Labour Party and the Farmers Party Labour was led by Tom Johnson Born in Liverpool, Johnson had worked with James Larkin Helped fund the 1913 lockout And was a firm believer in Irish nationalism In both 1918 and 1921 Johnson had recommended that Labour step aside So as not to get in the way of Sinn Féin But with the war over and some kind of Irish independence now gained He decided it was important for Labour to throw their hat in the ring As one historian puts it The party sought in effect to cash in the credit accumulated By standing aside from the 1918 and 1921 elections

The other party that I mentioned was the newly established Farmers Party Who stated pretty simply It did not regard the issue as being one concerned with the treaty But it approaches the election with a desire solely to advance agricultural interests So Labour ran 18 candidates The Farmers Party ran 13 And then you had 21 independents Who all were quote broadly supportive of the treaty

Generally Sinn Féin closed ranks quite well A joint election fund was created And in most cases the treaty was avoided as a topic of debate by Sinn Féin politicians Though Griffith, always the agitator Kind of disregarded the pact and just argued for the benefits of the treaty anyway But for the most part both pro and anti-treaty members argued for national unity Which is kind of ironic if you ask me So Sinn Féin generally sang from the same hymn sheet And instead reserved its ire for the other three groups Labour, the Farmers Party and the independents Who all faced intimidation

Dennis Gorey, a Farmers Party candidate Had the IRA rock up at his house armed to the gills He charged out wielding an unloaded shotgun And managed to scare them off Only for them to return later And shoot at his house for a full 20 minutes Until a group of armed neighbours came to his rescue He still ran though

Similarly Daryl Figgis, an independent in Dublin And an old friend of Griffiths Had his quote beloved red beard half shaven off But he too remained in the race Beard or no beard

Then you had Daniel Morrissey, a Labour candidate in Tipperary He had Owen O’Malley, the anti-treaty IRA leader Point a gun at him as he submitted his papers Only to have Dan Breen, also anti-treaty Defend Morrissey It was a literal case of I don’t like what you have to say But I’ll defend your right to say it Kind of thing

Morrissey, Gorey and Figgis All still ran despite the intimidation And all won Which is impressive Considering the opposition they were up against And probably tells you a little bit about the electorate

Others however caved to the pressure Patrick Hogan, another Labour candidate This time in Clare Was met by an angry mob When he went to the courthouse To submit his nomination papers They demanded that he withdraw And he wasn’t really left with much choice The farmers party candidate and an independent in Clare Also withdrew Leaving the constituency to Sinn Féin It seems with the two wings of Sinn Féin Unable to really go after each other They focused on everyone else

Now it should be said That though Sinn Féin coalesced rather nicely Some argue that Collins broke the pact Right at the last minute The night before the election He announced in a speech That voters should Vote for the candidates you think best of This pissed off anti-treaty candidates Who saw it as a betrayal Though it’s hard to argue with him When he’s basically calling for I don’t know Democracy? But it did kinda go against the pact So was it a clever Collins Outmanoeuvring the anti-treaty side Right at the last minute? Or was he trying to keep the British happy While still sticking vaguely to the pact? It’s hard to know And my take on it Is that it ended up Not making very much difference anyway

But before we go into the results For you political nerds out there This was the first contested Irish election Using proportional representation By means of a single transferable vote How exciting is that? We’d used it back in 1921, yeah But there’d been no contested seats So it didn’t really matter This was the first time The system was actually used by voters And it’s kind of a big deal Everyone seemed to get on board with it And though it’s a complicated enough system It was easy enough for everyone to use Even if they didn’t understand it And over the last century We’ve stuck with it Despite two votes On whether we should change it or not It still works quite well I won’t get into what it actually is But if you’re interested Radiolab does a great episode On Ireland’s electoral system Called Tweak the Vote And kinda makes an argument That the states should follow suit

Anyway The results of the 1922 election If the goal of the pact Was to stop the election From being a referendum on the treaty It well and truly failed The public made it clear They were pro-treaty Voting wholeheartedly against Any anti-treaty politician Pro-treaty candidates Received 39% of first preference votes While anti-treaty candidates Only got 22% Just over Labour’s 21%

When tallying seats It added up to the following Pro-treaty candidates 158 seats Anti-treaty Just 36 Labour had a great day Winning 17 of the 18 seats they ran for The farmers got 7 And the independents had 9

As one historian puts it This result allowed Collins to Quote Claim popular endorsement For his backing for the treaty As freedom to achieve freedom Meanwhile It put the anti-treaty side On precarious democratic grounds In contested consistencies The pro-treaty group won 31 seats While anti-treaty only got 17 On top of this Not a single anti-treaty candidate Topped the polls In any constituency It seems pretty hard to argue That the public were anti-treaty This is not to say that they were anti-republic It just seems that they wanted the fighting Over and done with And were happy with the compromise That had been made over in London By the plenipotentiaries

Another noteworthy point to be made About this election Was how much women TDs suffered Only two women Mary McSweeney and Cato Callaghan Were voted into the third Dáil As we’ve discussed This is mostly because All women who stood for election Were anti-treaty This lack of female representation In the third Dáil Would not help feminism In Ireland moving forward

Overall It’s hard to over stress How important the smaller parties Were in this election They gave people a choice And set the tone for Irish democracy Moving forward As historian Eoghan O’Halpin writes I hope I’m getting that name right As he writes A hundred years later We can see That it was those smaller parties And individuals Who made the 1922 general election A genuine contest They demonstrated The representative virtues Of proportional representation Single transferable votes And multi-seat constituencies And in doing so They laid the foundations For what remains An unusually reliant And long lived Electoral democracy

While Michael Gallagher Another historian writes The fact that the election took place And that power was wielded By those who had received A mandate from the people Testified to what was termed Ireland’s commitment To democratic values Without Labour especially There would have been No opposition party As the anti-treaty side Refused to enter into the third Dáil A strong opposition is vital To a functioning democracy And Tom Johnson knew this He was an impressive opposition leader And worked hard To hold the government of the third Dáil Accountable as time went on

I’ll sum up by quoting One more historian Anthony Wright writes this The 1922 general election Laid down a marker That the future development Of the Irish state Would be in the hands of the electorate Rather than military leaders This period in Irish history The civil war and all of that Doesn’t give us a lot To be proud of But this election should We stuck to democracy Even as the country was being Ripped apart And that’s no small thing

But unfortunately Despite all the democratic Values it represented The election did nothing To halt the descent Into civil war Dev argued That the result was proof That the Irish had been Intimidated by the British Saying By the threat of immediate renewal Of an infamous war Our people, harassed and weary And fearful of chaos Have in a majority voted As England wanted But their hearts and their aspirations Are unchanged And Ireland unfree Will never be at rest Or genuinely reconciled With England While Collins, Griffith And the pro-treaty side Believed the results Gave them a democratic mandate To lead Over the next few days This would become vital As some difficult decisions Would soon have to be made Within two weeks of the election The country would be plunged Into a civil war

Next episode We’ll look at how things Were finally tipped over the edge The History of Ireland dot com You can also get in touch Through the website or on Facebook And 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 Doyle With music by Liam Doyle And additional help from assistant producer Aoife Murphy The leaky bathroom tap Tomorrow The squeaky kitchen door, tomorrow Starting early morning yoga, tomorrow Some things are too important To leave until tomorrow At Irish Life, we believe it’s better to act today To take care of your health and finances To get started, search Irish Life Or speak to your financial broker Or financial advisor A better life, with Irish Life Irish Life Health Doc is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland Irish Life Assurance plc, trading as Irish Life Is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland