14

Seán Lemass

1899–1971

 

Now seen as the architect of modern industrialized Ireland, Seán Lemass had for much of his life been the follower of EAMON DE VALERA [2], whose vision of Ireland was based on the rural nation he had grown up in.  But Lemass was a city man, and realized that in large part the future of Ireland would lie in its cities.  Even by 1959 the contrast between the two cultures of Ireland had become an extreme one.

      A Dubliner, Seán Francis Lemass was born on 15th July 1899.  He was educated by the Christian Brothers at the O'Connell's Schools, where a special brand of Catholic nationalism was imparted to all the boys.  He was a clever student, winning the Junior Grade Scholarship in the state exams.  For a whole year after he left school he attended a practical business college.

      In January 1915, at age fifteen, he joined the Irish Volunteers, serving at first in de Valera's own company.  He and his elder brother Noel took part in the Easter Rising in 1916, but because Seán was so young he was not deported.  A Dublin policeman who knew the family recognized him and drew to 'the nipper' the attention of a British officer.  'But he's old enough to handle a rifle,' said the officer.  He was released nevertheless.  To his annoyance, his parents sent him back to his studies.

      Lemass began his working life in the family hat shop and drapery business in Capel Street in the heart of the city, but he also continued his activities with the reorganized volunteers (by then a republican movement), and was soon a full-time officer.  He was arrested in December 1920, and this time was sent to Ballykinlar concentration camp to join other leading figures in the movement.

      In the summer, after the truce came into force, he was released, but was among those who rejected the treaty settlement, again following the lead of de Valera.  During the civil war he fought with the republicans in the Four Courts, an important city centre building, which had been occupied by Rory O'Connor, in imitation of the Easter Rising of 1916.  When the garrison fell he was arrested, but managed to escape and rejoin the republicans in the field.  But he was captured again in December 1922, and this time was interned in the Curragh in Kildare until the end of 1923.  His brother Noel was captured and murdered by free-state agents, and his body dumped in the Dublin Mountains - one of the grimmest events of that war of comrades.

      Lemass was released in December 1923, but by then he had read every book on economics and history he could find on the camp bookshelves.  He was elected to the Dáil (the Irish assembly) in 1924, and sat for the same constituency until he retired from politics in 1968.  He was already a leading figure in the new party, Fianna Fáil, which de Valera formed to escape from the dead end of the civil war.

      In 1932, at the early age of thirty-two, he became the minister of industry and commerce in de Valera's first government.  He began to reverse the sorry state of Irish industry through a protectionist policy.  The war years, with materials of all kinds in very short supply, were a major challenge to the country, which he largely dealt with.  He founded Irish Shipping to create an independent Irish merchant fleet.  He also set up the Tourist Board, which created a major new industry in Ireland.  Lemass held the same office until he was elected Taoiseach (first minister) in June 1959.  He had been de Valera's deputy since 1945.

      He achieved a cover story in Time magazine, which featured a traditional leprechaun drawing aside a green curtain to reveal a spanking new factory.  This coverage was typical of a change in the international media's interest in Ireland.  From the mid-1960s onward a new economic and social situation emerged, leaving the old, traditional Ireland behind.  In this new scheme of things he was ably assisted by a new professional class, among whom T.K. WHITAKER [98] was outstanding.

      From now on the dark shadow of emigration and a falling population, coupled with high unemployment, began to pass from Ireland.  Indeed, in 1965 it had reverse migration - more people entered than left - and the country at last began to retain many of its young people, especially those with higher educations.  Everyone knew that Ireland had a past; now it seemed that it might also have a future.

      In January 1965 he also began a serious rapprochement with Ulster when he visited the new prime minister, Captain Terence O'Neill in Belfast - a visit brought about by earlier discussions between O'Neill and T,K. Whitaker at the United Nations in New York.  Lemass hoped to promote a federal solution to the problem of the island's partition, though this did not appeal to Belfast.  The visit had important results, but may also have generated a rising tide of expectation that in 1969 exploded into a quarter of a century of bloody warfare.  The new policy represented another break with the past policy of his party and of other Irish governments.

      Lemass resigned as first minister in November 1966, just after the celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising.  In retirement he left his successors to run the country without having to look over their shoulder all the time.  This, too, was a sign of a new maturity in the country.  He died in Dublin on 11th May 1971.

      In time, the shy schoolboy who had taken part in the uprising grew into an accomplished, if reserved and enigmatic, man of affairs.  By far and away, Seán Lemass was the key man in the making of Ireland as it is today.  He had presided over what came to be called the managerial revolution in contrast to the earlier political revolution.  The generation which has followed since he left public life owes him a debt which it has not fully realized.