FROM THE ARCHIVES:Political skulduggery was alive and well in 1925 when Cumann na nGaedhael chose a candidate for Cavan after its incumbent, Seán Milroy, was among those led by Joe McGrath who resigned from the Dáil over the so-called army mutiny.
After two and a half hours’ wrangling, and the smoking of innumerable pipes of tobacco in a stuffy little room at the Town Hall, the Cumann na nGaedheal [stet] Constituency Convention of Cavan today selected Mr. Sean Milroy as a standard bearer at the forthcoming by-election.
The Convention’s selection of Mr. Milroy as the Government nominee was, frankly, a surprise, but it was not the only surprise which the proceedings yielded. At the close of the meeting one of the counters disclosed to Mr. J. J. Walsh, who presided, that, although Mr. Milroy had been selected by 43 votes to 41, there were only 73 accredited delegates present. In other words, the number of ticket holders present was 73, while the ballot disclosed that 84 present voted. When this revelation was made to the Minister for Post and Telegraphs [Walsh] almost half of the delegates had left the room, and it was too late to call a second poll. The majority of votes over ticket-holders will probably lead to exciting discussions, but, so far as this convention is concerned, the only thing that matters is that Mr. Milroy has been selected to stand again for the constituency.
It was a great evening at the Town Hall, and was reminiscent of the palmiest days of the old Irish Party conventions. The meeting was timed to begin at 4 p.m., but for a good while before that some of the delegates were deliberating in a local hotel as to the choice that ought to be made. This meeting, of course, was not attended by those favouring reconciliation with the McGrath group. Among those who were present were Mr. Kevin O’Higgins and Mr. J. J. Walsh.
Having come to some decision as to a candidate, this meeting broke up, and the convention proper began to assemble in the Town Hall. Tickets were subjected to a very casual sort of scrutiny as the delegates passed the doorway. Mr. Milroy was one of the first to secure a seat. Among the last were Mr. O’Higgins and Mr. Walsh.
The first business of the meeting was to exclude the Press. When this had been done, tongues wagged freely enough. The delegates then took out their pipes and cigarettes, and quickly succeeded in filling the stuffy little room with smoke. It was in this atmosphere that the Convention composed itself to listen to the impassioned oratory of Mr. Milroy and the quiet, sober tones of voice of the Minister of Justice [O’Higgins].
Those of us - and we numbered quite as many as those within - who had our ears flattened at intervals against the wooden partition which enclosed the meeting, heard Mr. Milroy’s views on national policy and his bitter complaints about the enormous defects of the Administration. Mr. O’Higgins talked quietly, and, at least, half of the Convention thought, convincingly.