Ise an chead ghnó eile ná Uachtarán na h-Ard-Chomhairle do thogha.
The next business is the election of the President of the Executive Council.
Election of President of the Executive Council.
I have much pleasure in proposing Eamon de Valera as President of the Executive Council. The people, by their votes, have endorsed the policy put before them by Eamon de Valera and the Fianna Fáil Party.
Oh, oh!
It only remains for us to implement the decision of the people. The people have set their feet firmly on the road towards a free and united Ireland. They have decided to go forward under the trusted leadership of Eamon de Valera. I pray that God may spare him to put into effect the policy of the Fianna Fáil Party and give him health and strength to achieve the object that he has always worked and fought for; that is, a free, united Ireland.
I have great pleasure in seconding the proposal that Eamon de Valera be elected as President of the Executive Council and in doing so I feel that I am voicing the wishes of the majority of the Irish people.
Is there no voice to shout "Up the Republic"?
We cannot possibly give our assent to this proposal. We do not believe that President de Valera and a Government led by him are prepared to face, much less to solve, the urgent problems that confront this country. This belief is confirmed by the policy of the Government and its conduct of affairs during recent years and by the speeches made by the President and by his Ministers during the election campaign. Our decision is strengthened by the conviction that the determination of the Government Party to shirk the most vital issues runs counter to the will of the people as expressed in the election.
I single out three main issues, on which, judging by the appeals made by Party leaders and candidates, the majority of the votes of the country were decidedly cast against the Government's policy. If, under the conditions of a modern election, we can speak at all of a mandate from the people on any definite questions, surely we can do so on these three matters. I refer to the high cost of living, the necessity for a settlement of the matters in dispute between this country and Great Britain, and to the existence of certain highly objectionable provisions in the Draft Constitution. Probably, the issue that in the election campaign was most stressed by all those who were not members of the Fianna Fáil Party, was the alarmingly high cost of living. The excessively high and exorbitant cost of everything, and especially of the necessities of life, is rapidly putting an intolerable strain on an ever larger number of our people, especially the poorer sections. Throughout the campaign it was stressed and rightly stressed that the situation was being made increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for those who have to rely on their solid and hard work for a livelihood. The severe character of this strain put upon the people was dwelt upon right through the campaign. I cannot find that there were any except Government spokesmen who had a word to offer in excuse of this state of affairs. From the Ministers and their followers the answer we got when they were asked to deal with this most urgent problem was a frank confession of their inability to do so. From some Ministers we had light-hearted prophecies that prices would rise still higher and that the rise would benefit everybody. Confronted by such a determined refusal on the part of the Fianna Fáil Party even to face these problems, how can any man or any Party who stressed this great evil adopt any other course than to oppose this motion?
The next matter to which I would direct attention is the necessity for a settlement of the matters in dispute between the Irish and British Governments. On the evils that have come upon this country as a result of that dispute I do not intend to dwell. They are unfortunately too manifest. They are gradually undermining the welfare, not only of the agriculturists, but of every section of the community, for they corrode the very foundations of our national economy. On this also the opinion of the electorate was clear and decisive. Again, as on the issue of the cost of living, I am not aware that anyone, other than members of the Fianna Fáil Party, stood for a prolongation of the present dispute. I know that in addition to our own Party other leaders and many other candidates dwelt on the necessity for a settlement. Even if the Government obstinately refuse to come to a settlement with Great Britain, I do not see how the alarming problems raised by the cost of living can with safety be any longer avoided. But it is really impossible to divorce these two questions. No attempt to solve the cost of living problem can stand any chance of reaching success which ignores the grave consequences for our whole economic life of the dispute with Great Britain and the measures taken to meet it. Our economy is much too complicated to allow of a separation of that kind. Every day has made it clearer that the brunt of this fight falls not merely on the farmer but on the working class as well. When I speak of the working class, I do not confine myself to the agricultural labourers, for the consequences are equally serious for the workers in the towns. Nor need those engaged in industry, whether as promoters or as operatives, think they can escape. The continuance of the economic war and of the high cost of living constitutes a threat to the industrial edifice which has been built up, not only in the last five years, but over the last 15 years. This Party is anxious to see prosperity and continuity in our manufacturing industry, and that continuity cannot be assured unless the problems of agriculture are faced and solved. The ultimate success of any movement for the creation or increase of home industries must depend on the purchasing power of the home community. We are confident that industrialists and their employees have grasped this fundamental truth. Any attempt, therefore, to deal with the cost of living can be nothing but a partial and temporary palliative unless the other great evil poisoning our whole economic life is removed. The electorate surely decided that an immediate change of policy is necessary in these matters.
As regards the Constitution, I say that it was absurd to fling a document of that kind before the people, who were already perturbed by an election campaign, and to expect a considered verdict from them. I wonder will it be seriously contended that more than one in 100 of our citizens read the Draft Constitution. I say nothing of giving it the careful study that any such document should get. There were some provisions in that Constitution which would appeal to many. But there were others, such as the dangerous powers conferred on the President; the opening of the road which leads to the cutting down of our liberties and the control of the Press; the degradation of the status of women, and ultimate destruction of Parliamentary democracy which caused and must continue to cause grave perturbation. These provisions of the Constitution came in for the serious criticism of almost every one elected to the Dáil except the members of the Fianna Fáil Party. I take it for granted that all these criticisms were seriously meant. Such serious and well-founded criticisms cannot and must not be allowed to be ignored, and in our view no nomination for the position of President of the Executive Council should be supported unless explicit and public assurances have been given that these objectionable provisions in the Constitution will be removed.
In the course of my observations I have referred to the votes cast by the people. I cannot allow this occasion to pass without calling attention to the manner in which the rearrangement of constituencies by the Redistribution Act has so operated that a Party that polled 125,000 votes less than their opponents have managed to secure one half of the seats in this House. When that Act was passing through the Parliament we pointed out that such an unfair result was likely to follow. Now that our contentions have been justified by the event, we say that the Party which relies on such clever rearrangement of constituencies—I use no harsher word—in order to secure a majority, does not deserve the confidence of this House and is not worthy of being empowered to form a Government.
I oppose this motion therefore for the following reasons:—(1) Disregard by the Government of the hardships inflicted on the people by the high cost of living and especially by the taxation of foodstuffs and other necessaries of life. (2) The Government's obstinate refusal to heal the running sore of the miscalled economic war. (3) The dangers inherent in the Draft Constitution, made more menacing by the explanations of the President and of some of his Ministers here in this House. (4) And on account of the fact that their Party and policy are represented in this House out of all proportion to their support in the country.
We think that the settlement of the problems to which I have very briefly adverted brooks no delay. We are convinced that until an enduring and satisfactory solution is found for these problems there can be neither stability nor security in our political and economic life. Any Government formed from any Party or Parties in this State would, if pledged to such a solution, receive our whole-hearted support and co-operation. From a Government formed by the Party led by the present President of the Executive Council, we have no indication that the Dáil can secure such a pledge. We therefore ask the House to reject the motion and forthwith to bend itself with goodwill and zealous regard solely for the best interests of the country to the task of electing a Government pledged to securing a solution for the urgent and vital problems to which I have referred.
Sir, the Labour Party propose to support the motion that Deputy de Valera be elected President, and it may be desirable at this stage if I were to re-state, briefly, the Party's position in general. One notices, from reading the Press—Irish as well as English—that there has been a kind of mischievous glee expressed by many organs of the Press that the recent election has resulted in a weakening of the nation's resistance to the economic aggression which has been launched against this country by its next-door neighbour. I want to say, on behalf of the Party, that we interpret the result in no such light. In so far as this Party is concerned, in the face of that economic aggression, its position to-day, in the year 1937, is no different from its position in 1932.
We have said before, and it may be desirable to repeat the statement, that we would welcome a just and an honourable settlement of the economic war, but we are opposed to a dictated settlement of the economic war: to a settlement imposed on our people by force, a settlement which will shackle upon the necks of our people a millstone which, in existing circumstances, our people are utterly unable to bear. In this Dáil, therefore, the Labour Party, while it will support any proposal leading to an honourable settlement of the economic dispute with Great Britain, so as to enable the two countries to live in peace and concord one with the other, will oppose any settlement which is not a fair and an honourable settlement from the standpoint of the Irish nation.
In social and economic matters there are many problems to be dealt with. Statements of policies, which were made during the recent election, disclosed that there is a wide gap in policy and a wide gap in outlook between the Labour Party and other Parties in this House. In these matters the Labour Party will urge the acceptance of its policy in this House and in the country, realising that these serious economic and social problems must be grappled with if the nation is ever to be placed on the high road of prosperity.
There are many problems before the country to-day, such as unemployment, such as the low rates of unemployment assistance which unemployed people are compelled to exist upon, such as the low wage standards which are paid, particularly on the rotational schemes which have been resorted to by the past Government in an attempt to deal with the unemployment situation, such as the low standard of wages paid in the agricultural industry, such as the necessity for arbitration in the Civil Service, such as the necessity for the protection of workers not already covered by the Conditions of Employment Act. These are matters which, in the view of the Labour Party, must be dealt with as matters calling for an immediate and speedy solution; and it will be the aim of the Labour Party to use its position here to strive for the enactment of legislation on these matters in the hope that legislation may do something substantial to raise the standard of living of our people here.
There is the further question of the high cost of living and what may be described as the tidal wave of emigration from this country. These are problems in which the Labour Party is vitally concerned, and in this Dáil it will pursue its own policy on these matters, supporting every proposal calculated to remedy these problems, and opposing any proposal calculated to make these problems worse than they are to-day.
I should like to intervene at this stage, because I do not propose to take any active part in the election of the President of the Executive Council, and I should like to give my reasons to the House. I was elected to Dáil Eireann as an Independent member, and I intend to carry out the wishes of those who sent me here. When I say "Independent" I mean precisely what I say, and, therefore, I do not propose to hang on to the tail of either of the large groups. So long as I remain a member of this House I shall act as an Independent representative, and shall vote for or against legislation as I think it to be in the best interests, or against the best interests, of the farmers and the citizens of the Saorstát in general.
And now, having made this much clear, I wish to make a suggestion to the leaders of the two large Parties in this Dáil. It is more than a suggestion. It is an appeal—an appeal in all earnestness, which I am convinced will command the support of many thousands of Irish citizens of all creeds and classes. It is simply this: Speaking as an Irishman who has the good of the country at heart, I want to make an honest effort to try to persuade the two ex-Presidents —let me place them on an entirely equal footing — to consider their responsibilities to the people of Ireland, to forget past differences and past enmities, and to see if it is not possible to form a Coalition Government.
A Cole-Cosgrave pact.
It ought not to be so difficult as it may seem to be. After all, Hertzog and Smuts were able to do it in South Africa, and where they succeeded Deputies de Valera and Cosgrave ought not to fail. A Coalition also was formed in England, where the Conservatives and the Labour Party got together in a time of national emergency; so why should our people not follow these excellent examples? Is it not high time to get rid of the bickering and the mudslinging which have been interfering with our national progress ever since our State was established? Have we not all had more than enough of it? Time has been wasted, money has been wasted; and where have we got as a result of it all?
So far as those whom I represent are concerned—you can call them ex-Unionists, or, if you wish to be more precise, you can call them Protestants—they are sick and tired of all the feuds of the last 15 years, and are anxious to see their country getting on with the job, and getting rid of the prejudices and bitternesses of the past. What we need now is a fresh start. Can we not blot out the memories of the last 20 years or so and forget that they ever existed? I have heard a lot of speeches about bringing in the North and I have read a lot about it for the last ten years. I represent a Border county and know what I am talking about when I ask you to consider the excellent impression that a National Government here would make on our kinsfolk in the North. Think what advantages it would bring to us all in the Free State, and—what to my way of thinking is the most important of all— think of the opportunity that such a reunion would provide for the final absorption of the former ex-Unionist minority into the national life.
We all know how much you love your country. We all know how much you both have done to secure an Irish Parliament. We know how much you all have sacrificed and have suffered in the pursuit of your political ends. Surely the proposal that I am making now entails far less sacrifice and far less suffering? All that is needed is a little give and take, a little compromise of method rather than of principle—is it not possible for some outsider to come in and, as we say in the country, "to split the differ"? I suppose it is safer to say that most of you on both sides of the House have lost relatives or friends in the course of the fighting in this country. No matter to which side they gave their allegiance, I am sure that they would be the last to wish old animosities to be continued in this House.
I have no axe to grind; but I do love my country, and I feel it to be my duty as an Irishman, free from all Party ties, to make this suggestion. After all, we of the minority have some right to be heard. We, too, have made sacrifices. We, too, have suffered heavy losses; but we have thrown in our lot with the rest of you. We have been loyal, and will continue to be loyal to the State in which we live and which we consider to be as much ours as it is yours. We have been ready and eager to work with those who differ from us in outlook and belief, and if we can do it, why cannot you do the same thing among yourselves?
I know that both Deputy de Valera and Deputy Cosgrave are anxious to work unselfishly for the common good of our common country. The trouble is that the people have given neither of them a mandate at the election. Neither Party is in a position to form a really independent Government. Neither Party can be foolish enough to want another general election. Can you not come together now after all these barren years and make your peace? Can you not realise that Ireland is greater than any Party, that her welfare ought to take precedence over all Party advantage, and that the greatest patriotism consists in giving rather than in taking?
I am a plain Irishman, representing other plain Irishmen whose greatest desire is their country's happiness and ultimate unity. We are in a minority, I know; but that does not make us any the less sincere in our wish to see all this bitterness put an end to. We of that minority cannot force you to do what we ask. We can beseech you to do it; and in God's name I put it to you now—to you, Mr. President, and to you, Deputy Cosgrave— get together, bury the hatchet, and give us, the ordinary common people of Ireland, the peace and prosperity to which we are entitled.
Question—"That Deputy de Valera be elected President of the Executive Council"—put.
The Dáil divided: Tá, 82; Níl, 52.
Tá
- Aiken, Frank.
- Allen, Denis.
- Bartley, Gerald.
- Beegan, Patrick.
- Blaney, Neal.
- Boland, Gerald.
- Boland, Patrick.
- Bourke, Dan.
- Brady, Brian.
- Brady, Seán.
- Breathnach, Cormac.
- Breslin, Cormac.
- Briscoe, Robert.
- Carty, Frank.
- Cleary, Mícheál.
- Colbert, Michael.
- Corish, Richard.
- Corry, Martin John.
- Crowley, Fred. Hugh.
- Davin, William.
- Davis, Matt.
- Derrig, Thomas.
- De Valera, Eamon.
- Dowdall, Thomas Patrick.
- Everett, James.
- Flinn, Hugo Victor.
- Maguire, Ben.
- Meaney, Cornelius.
- Moane, Edward.
- Moore, Seamus.
- Morrissey, Michael.
- Moylan, John.
- Munnelly, John.
- Murphy, Timothy Joseph
- Norton, William.
- O Briain, Donnchadh.
- O'Brien, William.
- O Ceallaigh, Seán T.
- O'Grady, Seán.
- O'Reilly, Matthew.
- O'Rourke, Daniel.
- Flynn, John.
- Flynn, Stephen.
- Fogarty, Andrew.
- Fogarty, Patrick J.
- Friel, John.
- Fuller, Stephen.
- Gorry, Patrick J.
- Hannigan, Joseph.
- Harris, Thomas.
- Heron, Archie.
- Hogan, Patrick.
- Humphreys, Francis.
- Hurley, Jeremiah.
- Kelly, James Patrick.
- Kelly, Thomas.
- Kennedy, Michael J.
- Keyes, Michael.
- Killilea, Mark.
- Kissane, Eamon.
- Larkin, James.
- Lawlor, Thomas.
- Lemass, Seán F.
- Little, Patrick John.
- McEllistrim, Thomas.
- MacEntee, Seán.
- McGowan, Gerrard L.
- Pattison, James P.
- Rice, Eamon.
- Ruttledge, Patrick J.
- Ryan, James.
- Ryan, Martin.
- Ryan, Robert.
- Sheridan, Michael.
- Smith, Patrick.
- Sullivan, Timothy (Ted).
- Traynor, Oscar.
- Tubridy, Seán.
- Victory, James.
- Walsh, Laurence Joseph.
- Walsh, Richard.
- Ward, Conn.
Níl
- Anthony, Richard Sidney.
- Bennett, George Cecil.
- Benson, Ernest Edmondson.
- Bourke, Séamus.
- Brasier, Brooke.
- Brennan, Michael.
- Brodrick, Seán.
- Browne, Patrick.
- Burke, Patrick.
- Byrne, Alfred.
- Byrne, Alfred (Junior).
- Coburn, James.
- Cosgrave, William T.
- Costello, John Aloysius.
- Daly, Patrick.
- Dillon, James Mathew.
- Dockrell, Henry Morgan.
- Doyle, Peadar Seán.
- Esmonde, John Lymbrick.
- Fagan, Charles.
- Finlay, John.
- Fitzgerald-Kenney, James.
- Giles, Patrick.
- Gorey, Denis J.
- Keating, John.
- Keogh, Myles.
- Lavery, Cecil.
- Linehan, Timothy.
- Lynch, Finian.
- MacEoin, Seán.
- McFadden, Michael Og.
- McGilligan, Patrick.
- McGovern, Patrick.
- McMenamin, Daniel.
- Minch, Sydney B.
- Mongan, Joseph William.
- Morrissey, Daniel.
- Myles, James Sproule.
- Nally, Martin.
- O'Donovan, Timothy Joseph.
- O'Higgins, Thomas Francis
- O'Leary, Daniel.
- O'Mahony, The.
- O'Neill, Eamonn.
- O'Shaughnessy, John Joseph.
- O'Sullivan, John Marcus.
- Redmond, Bridget Mary.
- Reynolds, Mary.
- Roddy, Martin.
- Rogers, Patrick James.
- Ryan, Jeremiah.
- Wall, Nicholas.
Tellers:—Tá: Deputies Little and Smith; Níl: Deputies Doyle and Bennett.
Question declared carried.
Táim ana-bhuidheach de'n Dáil de bhárr mé do thoghadh mar Uachtarán na h-Árd-Chomhairle. Ní dóigh liom guarabé seo an ocáid ceart freagra do thabhairt ar an méid atá ráidhthe ag an dTeachta MacCosgair ach geallaim do'n Dáil go ndéanfad mo dhícheall mo dhualgaisí do cho-líonadh mar is ceart.
Molaim go ndéanfaí sos le h-obair na Dála go dtí leathuair tar éis a ceathair.
Sitting suspended at 3.50 p.m. and resumed at 4.30 p.m.