CONTESTINGCONTESTING HISTORYHISTORYOPPOSINGOPPOSING VOICESVOICES

14: Lemass: Economic Liberator or 14: Lemass: Economic Liberator or Defender of the Status Quo?Defender of the Status Quo?

Lemass: Economic Liberator or Lemass: Economic Liberator or Defender of the Status Quo?Defender of the Status Quo?

1948: Feb: General election – first inter-party government formed under John A. Costello

1948: Dec.: Republic of Ireland Act passed by the Dáil 1949: April: Ireland became a Republic & left the

commonwealth 1950: foundation of the Industrial Development Authority

(IDA) 1951: May: General election - Fianna Fail victory 1952: Establishment of Bord Fáilte 1954: General election – second inter-party government

formed 1955: Republic admitted to the United Nations

Lemass: Economic Liberator or Lemass: Economic Liberator or Defender of the Status Quo?Defender of the Status Quo?

1956: T. K. Whitaker appointed as Secretary to the Department of Finance

1957: General election – FF returned to power 1958: May: first draft of Whitaker’s Economic

Development presented to the government 1958: July: Industrial Development (Encouragement of

External Investment) Act passed 1958: Nov.: Programme for Economic Expansion

presented to the Dáil 1959: June: De Valera elected President 1959: June: Seán Lemass succeeded as Taoiseach 1961: Oct.: General election – FF victory 1961: Dec.: RTE began transmissions

Lemass: Economic Liberator or Lemass: Economic Liberator or Defender of the Status Quo?Defender of the Status Quo?

1963: March: Terence O’Neill appointed prime minister of Northern Ireland

1963: June: John F Kennedy visited Ireland 1963: Aug.: Publication of the Second Programme for

Economic Expansion 1965: Jan.: Lemass and O’Neill met in Stormont 1965: Feb.: Lemass and O’Neill met in Dublin 1965: April: General election – FF victory 1965: Dec.: Anglo-Irish Free Trade Agreement signed by

Lemass and Harold Wilson 1966: Nov.: Lemass resigned and was replaced by Jack

Lynch as Taoiseach

Lemass: Economic Liberator or Lemass: Economic Liberator or Defender of the Status Quo?Defender of the Status Quo?

Further Reading: Bew, Paul, & Patterson, Henry, Bew, Paul, & Patterson, Henry, SeSeán Lemass and

the Making of Modern Ireland, 1945-1969 (1982).. Farrell, Brian, Farrell, Brian, SeSeán Lemass (1983).. MurphMurphy, Gary,& Girvin, Brian (eds), The Lemass

Era: Politics and Society in the Ireland of Sean Lemass (2005)..

Savage, R., Savage, R., SeSeán Lemass (1999)..