The Just Society
| Date: | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Organisation: | Fine Gael |
| View: | View Document |
| Discuss: | Comments on this document |
| Subjects: |
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Commentary From The Cedar Lounge Revolution
11th July 2011
Some time back the CLR sent out an appeal for a copy of this document to scan because it wasn't available on the internet, as far as could be judged. We're therefore indebted to two people for forwarding documents relating to the above. Firstly PM who forwarded the response in the Irish Times to the program as published. Some of the information from that will be posted up in the near future. Secondly Conor McCabe who last week sent the document above to the Archive.
There is a question as to whether this should be in the archive at all. Fine Gael is not a left wing party as the term is generally understood, and their position - for example in respect of their membership of international political associations - is with European Christian Democracy. And yet this document written by Declan Costello and …. Has taken on a rhetorical life as a strongly progressive, even left wing artifact . However it is true that there was a strand within Fine Gael which self-identified with the term 'social democrat' and in doing so pointed to the Just Society as the foundation stone of their political approach. So in that sense it seems useful to include it even as and indication of what they considered social democracy to be.
Whether this identification is accurate is left to readers to decide. Conor McCabe makes the following point:
After 16 pages of chest-beating about fairness and equality - a game that is still played today - Fine Gael finally produces its solution regarding social investment: "We propose to establish, as part of the machinery of planning, a social commission representative of the government, local authorities, voluntary charitable organisations, educational and health authorities whose functions will be to assess the social investment needs for the whole country, and to draw up and integrate plans to meet them." (p.17) Voluntary charitable organisations? Educational and health authorities? This is 1965. What Fine Gael is talking about here is the Catholic Church. The plan put forward was one which involved government sitting down with the Catholic church and working out the social investment needs of the State.
There is some further information here on the genesis of the document.
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By: Paraffinalia Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:39:48
@Mick Ahern: no names (my name isn’t Bagenalstown anyway), since it’s a small town, but me ma remembers your house being raided. I’m sure the site can pass on a message from you and we can deal with this elsewhere.
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By: Mick Ahern Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:09:10
In reply to Paraffinalia.
I don’t understand the point of your anonymous post!
My point re remembering Keenan’s Strike is that very few people now know of the strike.It is great that people remember the strike, and the hardships endured by the strikers and their families and also the remarkable community spirit that grew from that strike but that genaration is sadly dying out.. The danger is that the strikers and their families will be written out of history
Most young people in the town today don’t even know where Keenans’s foundry was – let alone the history of the strike. Perhaps a pamphlet on the strike featuring the recollections of the few surviving strikers and supporters would be of benefit before they are lost. I myself regret not taping interviews over the years with people who had so much to contribute to history. I just assumed that someone else would do it or that I’d get a chance to do it later. But that seldom happens. So much oral history has been lost that way. And only the history of the bosses and the rulers remains.
Re Raids:Well I also remember some of the raids. Socialists, Republicans, Communists, and other political Dissenters have always been subject to political harrassment. I can make no special claim to fame on that, as I’m sure many of the readers/ contributers to this site can attest.
My family has always been a proud republican/socialist family. . The house I currently-live in has been raided over the years by the Black & Tans, the Heavy Gang and the Special Branch. I am proud of that history. I am also proud of our political involvement.
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By: Paraffinalia Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:28:13
In reply to Mick Ahern.
The main point was that the strike is remembered. My mother had left the country around the start of it but remembers the bitterness and some of the details from her family. Wasn’t the mill closed down around the same time?
The anonymous bit is because people in small towns don’t always like having their names thrown about and it’s not for me to do the throwing.
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By: Mick Ahern Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:24:31
Fair enough!
The Mill (Browne & Crostwaithe) was closed around that time. Again it would make a good subject for local/labour history. I was only a garsún at the time but I remember the devastation on peoples faces when the mill closed.
The mill men were renowned for their strength. They were all big men who spent their days hauling and hoisting sacks of wheat and flour. Paddy Roche, a local publican told me that they were great workers and great drinkers. He loved to see them coming. With the chaff and dust from the mill they needed a few pints to clear their throats. It was tough work.!
Browne & Crostwaithe were a patriarchal outfit. Their men were encouraged to enlist to fight in the Great War. The company also ran a Cricket Club a sport at which many of the workers excelled. They could safely beat the bosses without any fear of retaliation. The late CLR James has chronicled similar happenings in the West Indies.
For us children in the early 60’s Browne’s was the place to go on Christmas Eve when we’d all queue for sixpence each. Yes, I admit I took the half-shilling from Eric Browne.
In the end the Sean Lemass’s Fianna Fail Government set about rationalising flour production and as a result many smaller mills were closed. Needless to say Browne & Crostwaithe got adequate compensation.
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By: Mick Ahern Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:26:38
In reply to Mick Ahern.
Sorry about the hiccup but see reply at 8 below.
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By: Nick Byrne Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:20:13
@T re: 50th Anniversary of Keenan’s Strike.
With the intent of preserving labour history, it is planned that a pamphlet will be published in time for the 50th anniversary and lodged to the Irish Left Archive and the Irish Labour History Society.
Those interested in contributing to this pamphlet, can contact me at nickb@dublin.ie
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By: From 1973 A letter from Fine Gael TD Eddie Collins in reply to someone looking for a seat on the RTE Authority | Irish Election Literature Tue, 08 Oct 2013 22:26:01
[…] found this in a copy of Fine Gaels ‘Just Society’ that I had at the bottom of a drawer. Its a letter from Fine Gael Waterford TD Eddie Collins to , […]
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