Threats to the new Free State

Threats to the new Free State

The Army Mutiny 1924

Background

1. June 1923 - Government wanted to reduce the size of the army from 49,000 to about 20,000

2. Nov. 1923 - commanding officers didn’t trust the Minister Richard Mulcahy feeling he would force many IRA men to retire.

3. The also complained about being force to take a pay cut.

4. They didn’t want british officers training Irish soldiers

5. They felt the governemnt had done little to push for a 32 country republic.

Crisis

6. Jan. 1924 – Mulcahy receives reports that IRA members in the army were about to seize barracks around the country.

7. On 6 March three officers, March, Dalton and Tobin, send a letter to Cosgrave demanding (a) an end to demobilisation (b) removal of the Army Council (c) a guarantee that the government would push for a 32 country republic.

8. On 10 March about 100 soldiers and officers take weapons from their barracks.

Government’s Response

9. Government appoints Eoin O’Duffy as General Officer of the army over the head of the Minister Richard Mulcahy.

10. Cosgrave favours negotiations and promises to set up an inquiry into the complaints of the mutineers.

11. Mulcahy orders the arrest of the leading mutineers meeting in a Dublin hotel.

12. Vice President Kevin O’Higgins orders Mulcahy to resign as Defence Minister.

Compromise

13. Agreement (a) inquiry into the running of the army (b) review of who would be force to retire (c) return of all officers to their previous positions (d) introduction of army pension.

Consequences

14. Up to crisis the army was semi-independent. After crisis the government was firmly in control of the army. Army reduced to 15,000.

Boundary Commission 1925

1. The Anglo-Irish Treaty provided for the establishment of the Boundary Commission to re-examine the border between North and South. The Boundary Commission was set up in Nov. 1924.

2. The Boundary Commission had three members – Feetham, MacNeill, Fisher.

3. Work of the Boundary Commission was kept secret.

4. Nov. 1925 – findings of the Boundary Commission leaked to Morning Post newspaper.

5. The leaks proved a major embarrassment for Irish Government.

6. The Boundary Commission recommended only minor changes in the border.

7. Government decided to leave the border as fixed by the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

8. Became a major political crisis for the government. Minister Eoin McNeill forced to resign.

Industrial and Social Unrest

1. Major Post office Strike in September 1922

2. In 1924 Government cuts the old age pension by 10% and restricts unemployment payments.

3. Government cuts wages for Civil Servants, Teachers and Gardai.

3. Major strike against wage cuts in Limerick during the construction of Ardnacrusha Power station in 1925-26.

4. The IRA got involved in strikes – notably the Irish Omnibus Company strike in 1930.

1927 - The Assassination of

Kevin O’Higgins

1. On 10 July 1927, Minister for Home Affairs, Kevin o’Higgins was assassinated by two IRA men on his way to mass in Booterstown, Co. Dublin.

2. The attack was not planned – the men spotted O’Higgins while on their way to a football match and decided to shoot him.

3. The assassination brought back memories of the civil war.

4. The government responded by introducing three new Bills in the Dail

5. The Public Safety Bill made the IRA illegal.

6. The Constitutional Amendment Bill removed the provision for referendum. A petition signed by 75,000 people could force a referendum on a constitutional amendment.

7. The Electoral Amendment Bill stated that all elected TD’s must take their seats in the Dail or resign. A by-election would then be called to fill the vacancy.

The ‘Red Scare’ 1929-1932

1. In 1929 left-wing IRA members (Peadar O’Donnell, Sean MacBride) began organising  radical left-wing groups.

2. By 1931 Saor Eire became the most prominent left-wing group.

3. Sporadic violence breaks out between members of Saor Eire and Cumann na nGaedheal. In March 1931 Saor Eire are accused of murdering a Garda in Tipperary.

4. The Government fear that soar Eire want to launch a ‘Communist’ takeover.

5. Cosgrave convinces the Catholic bishops that a Communist takeover is on the cards. Priests condemn Saor Eire from the pulpit.

6. The government arrests the leaders of Saor Eire and ten other socialist groups and closes down their newspapers.

7. Within weeks most of those arrested are released.

8. The actions of the government against left-wing activists proves unpopular and contributes to the government’s defeat in the 1932 election.