Eamon de Valera

Eamon de Valera{{ref|Name}} (born Edward George de Valera, sometimes Gaelicised Éamonn de Bhailéara; October 14, 1882 – August 29, 1975), was an Irish politician, best known as a leader of Ireland's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom in the early 20th Century, and the Republican anti-Treaty opposition in the ensuing Irish Civil War.

President of the Republic

In January 1919, at his first Dáil meeting after his return to a country gripped by the Anglo-Irish War, de Valera introduced a motion calling on the IRA to desist from ambushes and other tactics that were allowing the British to successfully portray it as a terrorist group, and to take on the British forces with convenional military methods. This was immediately shot down, and he was forced to issue a statement expressing support for the IRA, and claimed it was fully under the control of the Dáil. This was seen as evidence of how out of touch de Valera was with the realities of the struggle for independence on the ground by his critics. He then, along with Cathal Brugha and Austin Stack, brought pressure to bear on Michael Collins to undertake a journey to the U.S. himself, on the pretext that only he could take up where de Valera had left off. In reality, these three felt that Collins was overeaching his authority. Collins successfully resisted this move, and stayed in Ireland. In August 1921 de Valera had Dáil Éireann change the 1919 Dáil Constitution to upgrade his office from prime minister or chairman of the cabinet to a full President of the Republic. Declaring himself now the Irish equivalent of King George V, he argued that as Irish head of state, in the absence of the British head of state from the negotiations, he too should not attend the peace conference called the Treaty Negotiations (October-December 1921) at which British and Irish government leaders agreed to the effective independence of 26 of Ireland's 32 counties as the Irish Free State, with the other six in the north remaining under British sovereignty as Protestant-dominated Northern Ireland (Technically, Northern Ireland was originally part of the Free State, but with the option of opting out immediately, which they did straight away. Having done so, a boundary commission came into place to redraw the Irish border. Nationalists expected its report to recommend that largely nationalist areas become part of the Free State, and many hoped this would make Northern Ireland so small it would not be economically viable. A Council of Ireland was also provided in the Treaty as a model for an eventual all-Irish parliament. Hence neither the pro- nor anti-treaty sides made much complaint about partition in the Treaty debates. They all expected it would prove shortlived).

Related Topics:
Anglo-Irish War - Terrorist - Austin Stack - 1921 - Constitution - President of the Republic - George V - Treaty Negotiations - 32 counties - Irish Free State - Protestant - Northern Ireland - Boundary commission - Nationalists - Council of Ireland - Partition - Treaty debates

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