POLITICAL LEADERS of today can learn much from the founding fathers of the State in terms of recognising the importance of flexibility and willingness to change, according to Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, who has written a study of the period.
Entitled Freedom to Choose: Cork and Party Politics in Ireland 1918-32, the study draws heavily on Mr Martin’s thesis for an MA in history at University College Cork in 1987, which was supervised by Prof Dermot Keogh. The book, published by the Collins Press, was launched last night at UCC by Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil John O’Donoghue, who paid tribute to his colleague’s study of political transformation.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Martin pointed out that the politicians of the period 1918-1932 went through enormous turmoil, including an epoch-changing election in 1918, a freedom struggle, a bitter civil war and the establishment of a stable political system.
“It was a particularly turbulent time, especially in Cork, with the murder of one lord mayor and the death of another on hunger strike – it was a maelstrom during the War of Independence and very bitter during the civil war,” Mr Martin said.
“And yet from that trauma, politicians managed to emerge and create a stable State and what the period shows is the degree to which people were flexible and adaptable and able to move to meet changing circumstances, and that’s the key in politics still,” he said.
Mr Martin said he did much of the work updating his thesis in 2000 while he was minister for education. While he admitted that it proved difficult trying to juggle work and research, he found some solace in the subject he studied.
“One of my areas of interest has been the role of brokerage and the clientelist nature of Irish politics and it was fascinating to discover that even during the height of national and constitutional issues, political leaders still had look after constituents’ needs.
“Liam de Roiste, who was one of the leading Sinn Féin politicians of the time in Cork, talks about getting fed up about fellows calling to him looking to get them jobs in Fords so even when constitutional issues were uppermost, politicians still had to look after the house.”