The First Inter-party Government 1948-1951

1. The First Inter-Party
Government
• Leaving Cert History
• Government, Economy and
Society in the Republic of
Ireland 1949-1989

2. • Clann na Poblachta & The 1948 General
Election
• The Formation of the Government
• Agricultural Policy and Industrial Policy
• Declaration of a Republic
• Sean MacBride and the Dept of External Affairs
• Dr. Noel Browne and the TB Crisis
• The Mother and Child Scheme
• Archbishop John Charles McQuaid
The First Inter-Party
Government

3. Clann na Poblachta
• Clann na Poblachta was
founded by Sean
MacBride in 1946
• MacBride was the
former IRA Chief-of-
Staff
• He left the IRA in 1936
when the IRA decided
to embark on a bombing
campaign in England

4. Clann na Poblachta
• Clann na Poblachta was seen as
a radical party and appealed to
disillusioned urban young workers
and unemployed and republicans
disenchanted by Fianna Fail
• The party grew rapidly advocating
social reform, and improvements
in health, education and housing
• In 1947 Clann na Poblachta won
two Dail by-elections in Dublin
County and Tipperary
• Clann na Poblachta was poised
for significant gains in the 1948
General Election

5. Clann na Poblachta
• During the election Clann na Poblachta were
accused of being communists

6. • In an attempt to cut across the growth of
Clann na Poblachta, Eamon DeValera
calls a snap election for 4th
February 1948
• Fianna Fail altered the constituency
boundaries in an attempt to win extra
seats
• Fianna Fail was expected to win the
election
• A desire for anyone but Fianna Fail
The 1948 General Election

7. • Issues
- continuing rationing since WW2
- massive inflation in the economy
- wage caps for workers
- ongoing teachers strike against
low pay
- bad weather, a poor harvest and
low income for farmers
• There were also allegations of bribery
and corruption against public officials
The 1948 General Election

8. • Result
Fianna Fail 68 seats (-8)
Fine Gael 31 seats (+1)
Labour 14 seats (+6)
Clann na Poblachta 10 seats (+10)
Clann na Talmhan 7 seats (-2)
National Labour 5 seats (+1)
Monetary Reform Party 1 seat (NC)
Independents 11 seats (+1)
The 1948 General Election

9. • Clann na Poblachta receive 14% of
the vote but only get 7% of the seats
• The party ran 93 candidates – running
2-3 candidates in every constituency
• This was a mistake as it spread the vote
around too many candidates and
resulted in Clann na Poblachta losing
seats it should have won
http://electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=
The 1948 General Election

10. • Fianna Fail – 68 seats
• Everyone else – 79 seats
• Negotiations began between all the
parties excluding Fianna Fail
• Leader of Fine Gael, Richard Mulcahy
agreed to stand aside as Taoiseach to
facilitate an agreement
• The first Inter-Party Government is
formed
The Formation of the
Government

11. • Taoiseach – John A Costello (FG)
• Tánaiste – William Norton (LP)
• Finance – Patrick McGilligan (FG)
• Education – Richard Mulcahy (FG)
• External Affairs – Sean MacBride (C na P)
• Agriculture – James Dillon (Ind)
• Health – Noel Browne (C na P)
• Land & Fisheries – Joseph Blowick
(CnaT)
• Posts & Telegraphs – Jim Everett
(NatLab)
Main Government Ministers

12. • Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement with Britain
• Improved prices and increased volumes of
Irish agricultural produce
• The Land Rehabilitation Project was
established to bring uncultivated land into
production. Despite large amounts of
government money the numbers working
on the land continued to drop
• Continued dominance of pasture farming
led to small farms being uneconomical
Agriculture

13. • Raw materials were again available after
WW2
• Irish manufacturing expanded by 50%
between 1946-1949
• Increased consumer spending from
wartime savings was spent on foreign
imports
• Belief that government should invest in
the economy to create more jobs
Industry

14. • Sean MacBride drafted an application for
funds from the Marshall Plan
• A condition was the drawing up of a long
term economic plan
• ‘Ireland’s Long-Term Recovery Programme’
• Between 1949-1951 Ireland received
$125million – mostly as loans
• The government set up –
- The Central Statistics Office
- Córás Tráchtála
- The Industrial Development Authority
• Modest industrial expansion
The Marshall Plan

15. • During the 1948 Election some members of
Fine Gael campaigned in favour of remaining
in the British Commonwealth
• John A Costello felt that if the South was
declared a republic the IRA would not have
any excuse to be active in the South
• During a visit to Canada in Sept 1948
Costello made public an intention of
declaring a republic
• The Republic of Ireland became official at
Easter 1949
• The change had little impact – Britain still
needed Irish workers for its economy
Declaring a Republic

16. • In 1948 Ireland became a founding member
of the Council of Europe
• In 1949 Ireland rejected an invitation to join
NATO. MacBride declared that Ireland could
not join as long as Britain continued to rule
the North
• Ireland joined the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a
condition for receiving money from the
Marshall Plan
External Affairs

17. • In 1949 the British government responded to the
declaration of the Irish republic by passing the
Ireland Act.
• This act contained guarantees that Northern
Ireland would remain part of Britain unless the
Northern Ireland Parliament decided otherwise.
• The Irish government, especially MacBride,
were angered by this and launched a campaign
against partition.
• Meetings and rallies were held. The Irish
government helped nationalist candidates in the
North. Diplomats raised partition repeatedly.
• Little impact except further alienating Unionists.
Anti-Partition Campaign

18. • First ever Minister for Health
• More than half those who contracted TB died from
the illness and it was considered a source of
shame
• Browne studied in England to specialise in the
treatment of TB
Noel Browne - Health

19. • The government backed an eradication programme and
funded it from the Hospital Sweepstakes
• Special hospitals (sanatoria) were built
• By 1950 there were 5,500 hospital beds
• New drugs helped
Noel Browne - Health

20. • Deaths from TB
1947 – 124 per 100,000 population
1951 – 73 per 100,000 population
1957 – 24 per 100,000 population
• Having successfully initiated the campaign to
eradicate TB – Browne now turned to healthcare
for mothers and children
Noel Browne - Health

21. • In 1947 Fianna Fail established the Dept of Health
and introduced a Health Act
• More than 80 out of every 100,000 babies died
during their first year of life
• 100 women died in childbirth every year
• The Health Act proposed free medical care for
mothers and children up to 16 years of age
• The Catholic Church secretly told Fianna Fail that
they were opposed to the Act
• Fianna Fail left government before it could be
debated in the Dail
The Mother and Child Scheme

22. The Mother and Child Scheme

23. • When Noel Browne became minister he attempted
to implement the Health Act
• Most doctors opposed the Mother and Child
Scheme – they wanted ‘means testing’
• Doctors did not want to lose their fees from private
patients
• They did not want a British style free National
Health Service where they would be employed by
the state
• The doctors had powerful allies in the Catholic
bishops
The Mother and Child Scheme

24. • The Bishops supported means testing
• They regarded free health care for all mothers and
children as a form of socialism that would make
the state too powerful
• Browne argued that means testing would lead to
poor people being victimised – that people would
be stigmatised because they couldn’t afford
healthcare
• Browne refused to compromise
The Mother and Child Scheme

25. The Mother and Child Scheme

26. • The Catholic Bishops set out to stop the scheme
led by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid
• McQuaid met John A Costello and demanded the
scheme be scrapped
The Mother and Child Scheme

27. • Quotes
"...they [the Archbishops and bishops] feel bound by
their office to consider whether the proposals are in
accordance with Catholic moral teaching,“
"Doctors trained in institutions in which we have no
confidence may be appointed as medical officers ...
and may give gynaecological care not in accordance
with Catholic principles”
letter argued - health provision and physical education
for children were solely the "right" of parents and not
the State's concern
The Mother and Child Scheme

28. • Catholic Bishops felt it could lead to contraception
and abortion
• Church of Ireland also opposed the scheme on the
basis that it was ‘communist’ interference in the
family
• Some government ministers felt that Browne was
‘tactless’ in his dealings with the Bishops
• In April 1951 Clann na Poblachta TDs met and
demanded Browne resign as minister. Costello told
Browne he would sack him if he didn’t resign
The Mother and Child Scheme

29. • 11 April 1951 Noel Browne resigned as Minister for
Health
The Mother and Child Scheme

30. • A month after Browne’s resignation the government
called a general election
• Browne was very popular and his removal as
Minister for Health did serious damage to the
government
• Rising prices and a rising balance of payments
deficit caused problems for the government
• The government also lost the support of two
Farmers TDs over rising milk prices.
General Election 1951

31. General
Election 1951

32. • Result
Fianna Fail 69 seats (+1)
Fine Gael 40 seats (+9)
Labour 16 seats (-3)
Clann na Talmhan 6 seats (-1)
Clann na Poblachta 2 seats (-8)
Independents 14 seats (+3)
• The Independents included Noel Browne, another
former CnaP TD, Jack McQuillan and a former CnaP
councillor, Michael ffrench-O’Carroll, who resigned
from CnaP in support of Browne
• Independents, including Browne supported a minority
Fianna Fail government
General Election 1951

33. • Born in Co. Cavan in 1895
• Studies in Rome and then became Dean
of Blackrock College
• Appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 1940
• Keen interest in educational and social
matters
• Was head of the Catholic Headmasters
Association
• Promoted charity to alleviate social
problems
Archbishop John Charles
McQuaid

34. • Believed in segregating schools on
religious ground and encouraged nuns
and brothers to open schools
• He supported the ban on Catholics
attending Trinity without the permission of
their bishop
• He exercised strict control over the clergy
• In later years he was seen as a
reactionary figure
• In recent times he has been implicated in
the cover-up of paedophile priests
Archbishop John Charles
McQuaid

35. • Presentation prepared by:
• Dominic Haugh
• St. Particks Comprehensive School
• Shannon
• Co. Clare
• Presentation can be used for educational purposes only – all rights remain with author