DeepDyve eBooks - A Just Society for Ireland? 1964–1987

Chapter 1Introduction

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 1 –5

[The 1960s were a period of change in Ireland. Political, economic and social thought was revised as a result of Vatican II, the arrival of television and the potential of EEC (European Economic Community) membership. That decade also marked the passing of the revolutionary generation from...

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Chapter 2A New Ireland?

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 6 –19

[‘What was it all for? The whole thing was a cod’. Michael Moran — the principal male character of John McGahern’s Amongst Women — found himself questioning the merits of what the independence struggle (1919–1921) had produced: ‘some of our own jonnies in the top jobs instead of a few Englishmen....

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Chapter 3Winning the Party

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 20 –40

[John A. Costello expressed the fear in 1960 that the ‘label of conservatism or Toryism’ would be affixed to Fine Gael.1 An image of the party as one dominated by an older generation of politicians, who were either unwilling or unable to change, had emerged, prompting his concern. Languishing on...

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Chapter 41965: The First Failure

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 41 –62

[The 1965 general election was the first public test for the Just Society. In the year between Fine Gael’s adoption of the nine-point plan and the unveiling of the manifesto, Towards a Just Society, work had been on-going to develop Costello’s proposals. In the resulting document, the outlined...

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Chapter 51969: The Second Failure

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 63 –82

[In the aftermath of the 1965 general election, James Dillon announced that he was stepping down as leader of Fine Gael. There were two obvious contenders to succeed him: Liam Cosgrave and Declan Costello. Dillon was replaced by Cosgrave at the same meeting where he announced his resignation....

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Chapter 6From Leader in Crisis to Leader in Government

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 83 –104

[In 1969, Nusight seriously underestimated Garret FitzGerald. He was described as being ‘totally devoid of political savvy or “gut” [and] wouldn’t know how to go about becoming leader’.1 FitzGerald, however, had set himself that task. ‘For that to happen’, Conor Cruise O’Brien suggested, ‘the...

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Chapter 7National Coalition, 1973–77

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 105 –147

[1973 was the first time that Fine Gael found itself in government since the party adopted Declan Costello’s Just Society proposals as official policy in the 1960s. Costello himself had reversed his decision to retire and had successfully re-entered politics. It has already been argued that Fine...

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Chapter 81980s: New Leader, New Party

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 148 –161

[Garret FitzGerald and Charles Haughey were the defining political figures of the 1980s. There’s was ‘a titanic conflict that dominated the political landscape of late twentieth century Ireland, much as the struggle between Gladstone and Disraeli had dominated British politics a hundred years...

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Chapter 9The Constitutional Crusade

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 162 –193

[‘Will Garret FitzGerald radically alter the orientation of the party? While his reputation is liberal and progressive, an analysis of his political attitudes suggests that he is actually quite conservative’.1 Such were the musings of Vincent Browne in a Magill profile of the new Fine Gael leader...

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Chapter 10A Liberal Ireland?

Meehan, Ciara

Pages: 194 –197

[‘The Irish today are torn. Of course, they want to enjoy the fruits of modern material progress. And many of them also want the full personal rights of a modern liberal society; but many others are still warily conservative’.1 Such were the observations of John Ardagh, who travelled around...

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A Just Society for Ireland? 1964–1987

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A Just Society for Ireland? 1964–1987

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