Stephen Kelly (3)

This is an interesting book given that it was the first such academic study of Fianna Fáil attitudes towards partition. Each chapter deals with a different period of the party’s history and attempts to critically assess how successful each was or if significant deviations were detected. There is interesting new information provided by the author particularly during the Lemass years and illuminating Colley-Haughey correspondence from their cumann. I think while the de Valera years can be criticised for not advancing this issue further I think to label the policy as wholly a failure is harsh. This is especially as the author justifiably recognises the merit of the then government’s stance during WW2. It was interesting to see the views recorded of ordinary party members to party HQ on the partition issue and also views from local newspapers. However, I felt there was a bit of imbalance regarding the newspapers in that not all border counties were recorded and I felt a focus should have been on views from border constituencies before looking elsewhere. Those within the party, at all levels, who are viewed as being persistently against partition are labelled “anti-partitionists” with the implication that those who hold the opposite view favour the maintenance of partition. This labels MacEntee, Aiken, Lemass, even de Valera and the vast majority of Ministers as pro-partition. Is this because they don’t favour physical force? I don’t agree with this use of terminology. I think that as regards the Arms Trial, an area lacking detail, the author rather simplistically accepts the Lynch line that Haughey must have been guilty.… (mehr)