Шон Лемасс: Ирландияның экс-премьер-министрі және саяхатшысы

4th Taoiseach from 1959 to 1966

Seán Francis Lemass (born John Francis Lemass; 15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1959 to 1966. He also served as Tánaiste from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954 and 1945 to 1948, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1957 to 1959, 1951 to 1954, 1945 to 1949 and 1932 to 1939 and Minister for Supplies from 1939 to 1945. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1924 to 1969. A veteran of the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War, Lemass was first elected as a Sinn Féin TD for the Dublin South constituency in a by election on 18 November 1924. Lemass was returned at each election until the constituency was abolished in 1948 when he was re elected for Dublin South Central until his retirement in 1969. He was a founder member of Fianna Fáil in 1926 and served as Minister for Industry and Commerce, Minister for Supplies and Tánaiste in successive Fianna Fáil governments. Lemass's legacy is tied to his efforts in facilitating industrial growth, bringing foreign direct investment into the country, and forging permanent links between Ireland and the European community. One of the most important modernizing reforms during Lemass's tenure was the introduction of free secondary education, an initiative that took effect shortly after Lemass retired as Taoiseach.

Lemass was born at Norwood Lodge, Ballybrack, Dublin on 15 July 1899, the second of seven children born to John T. Lemass and his wife Frances ( Phelan) Lemass. He was baptised at Ss. Alphonsus and Columba Roman Catholic Church, Killiney, six days later, on 21 July 1899. The family operated a hatter and outfitter business and lived at the premises in Capel Street (in Dublin city centre) where Lemass grew up. He was of distant French Huguenot descent. Within the family his name soon changed to Jack and eventually, after 1916, he himself preferred to be called Seán. He was educated at O'Connell School, where he was described as studious. He won a first class honours exhibition in mathematics in 1915. His older brother, Noel, an anti Treaty officer, was abducted in June 1923 and murdered the following October, when he was 25; the Lemass family believed he was killed by pro treaty soldier, Emmet Dalton. of those who carried out Collins' orders on the morning of 21 November 1920 were not disclosed until author Tim Pat Coogan mentioned them in his book on the history of the IRA, published in 1970. Coogan identified Lemass as taking part in the killing of a British agent as a member of the "Apostles" assassin squad which killed thirteen (and wounded five other) British agents of the Cairo Gang. That day, 21 November 1920, became known as Bloody Sunday.

In December 1921, after the signing of Anglo Irish Treaty, Lemass was released. He became a training officer for a period in Beggars Bush Barracks before the IRA split and was involved in the Belfast Boycott operations. During the debates of the Anglo Irish Treaty in 1921, Lemass was one of the minority who opposed it along with de Valera. As a protest, all the anti Treaty side withdrew from the Dáil. In the Irish Civil War which followed Lemass was adjutant to Rory O'Connor, when the group seized the Four Courts, the home of the High Court of Ireland. The occupation of the Four Courts eventually resulted in the outbreak of the Civil War, when, under British pressure, the Free State side shelled the building on 28 June 1922. As a result, fighting broke out in Dublin between pro and anti Treaty factions. The Four Courts surrendered after two days bombardment, however, Lemass escaped with Ernie O'Malley and some others to Blessington. Their Flying Column operated in Enniscorthy, Tullow, Ferns, Baltinglass and Borris before the Column was broken up. Lemass and O'Malley returned to Dublin along with Thomas Derrig as a member of the IRA Eastern Command Headquarters but was later captured in December 1922 and interned in the Curragh Camp. He was held in secret until October when his mutilated body was found in the Dublin Mountains, (see also Executions during the Irish Civil War). Seán Lemass was released from prison on compassionate grounds following his brother's death. On 18 November 1924, Lemass was elected for the first time as a Sinn Féin TD.

In 1926, de Valera, supported by Lemass, sought to convince Sinn Féin to abandon its refusal to accept the existence of the Irish Free State, the legitimacy of the Dáil, and its abstentionist policy of refusing to sit in the Dáil, if elected. However, the effort was unsuccessful and in March 1926, however, de Valera, along with Lemass, resigned from the party. Lemass travelled around the country trying to raise support for Fianna Fáil. The vast majority of Sinn Féin TDs were persuaded to join. The new party was strongly opposed to partition but accepted the de facto existence of the Free State, seeking to republicanise it from within. It opposed the controversial Oath of Allegiance and campaigned for its removal. This enabled the new party to make a strong showing at the June 1927 election, taking 44 seats while reducing its parent party to only five. More importantly, this was only three seats behind the governing party, Cumann na nGaedheal. Pending the removal of the Oath of Allegiance, the party announced that it would not take up its Dáil seats. A court case was begun in the name of Lemass and others. However, the assassination by the IRA of Kevin O'Higgins, the Vice President of the Executive Council (deputy prime minister), led to the passing of a new Act requiring all prospective Dáil candidates to take an oath that, if elected, they would swear the Oath of Allegiance; a refusal to do so would prohibit anyone from candidacy in a general or by election. was now leading the Free State, a state that de Valera and Lemass had fought a civil war to destroy a decade earlier. De Valera appointed Lemass as Minister for Industry and Commerce, one of the more senior cabinet positions in the Executive Council, which he would occupy, with only one short break, in all three of de Valera's governments.

Lemass became Minister for Supplies in 1939, following the outbreak of World War II (known in Ireland as The Emergency). It was a crucial role for Ireland, which maintained official neutrality. The state had to achieve an unprecedented degree of self sufficiency and it was Lemass's role to ensure this; he had the difficult task of organising what little resources existed. In 1941, the Irish Shipping Company was set up to keep a vital trickle of supplies coming into the country. However, petrol, gas, and some foodstuffs remained in short supply. When Seán T. O'Kelly was elected president of Ireland in 1945, de Valera chose Lemass over older cabinet colleagues to succeed him as Tánaiste. However, factors other than the leadership of Lemass had a role to play in the change in Ireland at the time – a generation of young politicians born after the Civil War, the presence of T. K. Whitaker in the Department of Finance and the arrival of television all had a role. Following the introduction of this programme the policy of protection was eventually ended and the Control of Manufacturers Act, which had been in place since 1932 and had been introduced by Lemass himself, was also abolished. The implementation of the programme coincided with favourable trading conditions, which contributed to the initiative's popularity. However, the government's introduction of a 2.5% turnover tax in 1963, badly damaged the political position, with a by election of that year reducing the government's majority to one seat. But by the beginning of 1964, another round of by elections saw a rebound in the government's popularity: in the preceding five years, unemployment had fallen by a third; emigration had reduced considerably and the population grew for the first time since the famine. Agriculture was the only sector which failed to respond to the programme. Professor Tom Garvin has found that the protectionist policies were first suggested to de Valera by Lemass in a paper written in 1929–30, and then adopted following the change of government in 1932. He considers the proposition that Lemass moved the economy away from free trade in the 1930s, and back into it in the 1960s; a costly mistake that affected many thousands of (non voting) emigrants. The programme paved the way for free trade. In 1960, Ireland signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a worldwide agreement to reduce tariffs. In 1961, Ireland applied unsuccessfully for membership of the European Economic Community. Ireland's failure to join was said to be Lemass's biggest regret and disappointment as Taoiseach. Ireland eventually joined in 1973, two years after Lemass's death. The 1965 Merger Treaties paved the way for the signing of the Anglo Irish Trade Agreement between Lemass's government and Harold Wilson's Labour government.

A Second Programme was launched in 1963, with even more ambitious targets. In particular, the policy focused on expenditures for education, with a doubling of expenditures planned, and high production goals for the dairy industry. Agriculture, which had disappointing results in the First Programme, was understated in the second – a clear break in the Lemass policies from de Valera's longstanding courting of rural voters. The Second Programme was discontinued in 1967 after Lemass had left office and the programme's goals proved far from completion.

As a result of the economic expansion, there was an increase in industrialisation and urbanisation. An increase in prosperity also led to a move away from insularity and conservatism in Irish life. This was facilitated in no small part by the establishment of the state television service, Raidió Teilifís Éireann on 31 December 1961. Television programmes, such as The Late Late Show and imported American and British ones, had a profound effect on a change in attitude. Subjects such as contraception, the Catholic Church and divorce were being discussed openly in a way which previous generations would never have imagined. The pontificate of Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council also had a profound effect on the changing attitudes of Irish Catholics. In 1963, Ireland saw the first visit of a sitting US President to Ireland, President John F. Kennedy, the great grandson of an Irish emigrant, came on an official visit. His visit seemed to symbolise a new age for the post Famine Irish. During his visit Kennedy visited distant relatives in County Wexford, as well as visiting Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. Kennedy later said that his four day visit to Ireland was one of his most enjoyable. Kennedy later personally invited Lemass back to Washington in October of the same year. One month later the young President Kennedy would be assassinated. In 1965, a report titled "Investment in Education" was published. After over forty years of independence, the report painted a depressing picture of a system where no changes had taken place. Lemass appointed several young and intelligent men to the post of Minister for Education, including Patrick Hillery and George Colley. Under these people, a slow process of change eventually began to take place. The most innovative change in education came in 1966 when Donogh O'Malley was appointed Minister. Shortly after taking over O'Malley announced that from 1969 all schools up to Intermediate level would be free and free buses would provide transport for the students. This plan had the backing of Lemass; O'Malley, however, never discussed this hugely innovative and expensive plan with any other cabinet ministers, least of all the Minister for Finance Jack Lynch. However, the plan was not expensive in the long term and has continued ever since. O'Malley had died by the time his brainchild came to maturity. Various improvements in welfare provision were also carried out during the Lemass era. In 1960, old age pension insurance was introduced for all manual workers and for salaried employees under a certain earnings ceiling, and in 1963, child allowances were extended to the first child. A National Manpower Agency was also established.

The failure of the IRA border campaign in the 1950s and the accession of Lemass as Taoiseach heralded a new policy towards Northern Ireland. Although he was of the staunch republican tradition that rejected partition, he saw clearly that it was unlikely to end in the foreseeable future and that consequently the Republic was better served by disposing of the matter. A friendship had developed between O'Neill's secretary, Jim Malley, and the Irish civil servant, T. K. Whitaker. A series of behind the scenes negotiations resulted in O'Neill issuing an invitation to Lemass to visit him at Stormont in Belfast. On 14 January 1965, Lemass travelled to Belfast in the utmost secrecy. The media and even his own cabinet had not been informed until the very last minute. The meeting got a mixed reaction in the North. In the Republic, however, it was seen as a clear indication that the "Irish Cold War" had ended, or at least that a thaw had set in. Lemass returned the invitation on 9 February of the same year by inviting O'Neill to Dublin, but he did not want to be seen to be anti British. The Irish government encouraged overseas developments with the United States, so that they could share in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Easter Rising. The two leaders discussed cooperation between the two states on general economic matters; local services such as road systems and sewage facilities; agriculture, including exempting Northern Ireland from Britain's quota on butter imports from the Republic; customs; and all Ireland representation in international sporting events.

On 24 August 1924, Lemass married Kathleen Hughes, much to the disapproval of the bride's parents. The wedding took place in the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Name, Ranelagh, Dublin. Jimmy O'Dea, the well known comedian, acted as Lemass's best man. He was afforded a state funeral and was buried in Deansgrange Cemetery. as the best holder of the office, and the man whose cabinet leadership style they wished to follow. Some historians have questioned whether Lemass came to the premiership too late, arguing that had he replaced de Valera as Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach in 1951 he could have begun the process of reform of Irish society and the industrialisation of Ireland a decade earlier than 1959 when he eventually achieved the top governmental job. Others speculate whether he had been able to achieve some of his policy reforms he did initiate in the 1950s precisely because de Valera was still the leader, his opponents being unwilling to challenge him given that he appeared to have de Valera's backing. What is not in doubt is that Éamon de Valera and Seán Lemass held diametrically different visions of Ireland; de Valera's was of a pastoral rural based society "given to frugal living", while Lemass had a vision of a modern industrialised society, a member of the European Community. Lemass's coolness towards the revival of the Irish language and intellectual agnosticism also contrasted with de Valera's passionate Gaelicism and commitment to traditional Catholicism.

'Fianna Fáil is a slightly constitutional party but before anything we are a republican party.' (1928)
'A rising tide lifts all boats.' (1964, attributed to John F. Kennedy). 'The historical task of this generation, as I see it, is to consolidate the economic foundations of our political independence.' (1959)
'First and foremost we wish to see the re unification of Ireland restored. By every test Ireland is one nation with a fundamental right to have its essential unity expressed in its political institutions.' (1960)
'The country is, I think, like an aeroplane at the take off stage. It has become airborne; that is the stage of maximum risk and any failure of power could lead to a crash. It will be a long time before we can throttle back to level flight.' (1961)
'A defeatist attitude now would surely lead to defeat We can't opt out of the future.' (1965)
'I regret that time would not stand still for me so that I could go on indefinitely.' (1966)
'RTE was set up by legislation as an instrument of public policy, and, as such is responsible to the government.' (1966)