Jack Lynch: Encyclopedia II - Jack Lynch - Political Life

Jack Lynch - Political Life

Jack Lynch - Early Career

In 1946 Lynch had his first brush with politics when he was asked by his local Fianna Fáil cumann to stand for the Dáil in a by-election. He declined on this occasion, due to his lack of political experience, but indicated that he would be interested in standing in the next general election. In 1947 Lynch refused a similar offer to stand by the new political party Clann na Poblachta. A general election was eventually called for February 1948, Lynch topped the poll in his constituency and became a Fianna Fáil TD in the 13th Dáil. Although Fianna Fáil lost the election and were out of power for the first time in sixteen years, Lynch bcame speechwriter and research assistant for the party leader, Eamon de Valera.

In 1951 Fianna Fáil were back in power and Lynch was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Government, with special responsibility for Gaeltacht areas. The party was out of power again between 1954 and 1957. During this period Lynch served as Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on the Gaeltacht. In 1957 Fianna Fáil returned to power and de Valera headed his last government. Lynch, at 39, became the youngest member to join the government, as Minister for Education, as well as holding the Gaeltacht portfolio for a short while. Lynch introduced new and much needed legislation, such as raising the school leaving age, reducing class sizes and lifting a 20-year ban on married women continuing as teachers.

Jack Lynch - Minister for Industry & Commerce

In 1959 de Valera was elected President of Ireland and Seán F. Lemass became the new Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. Lynch was promoted to Lemass' old portfolio as Minister for Industry & Commerce. Here he inherited the most dynamic department in the government, however, having replaced such a political giant Lynch felt that his own scope for change was severely limited. Lynch was described as not being the most innovative of ministers but was particularly attentive when it came to legislation and detail. It was in this Department where Lynch worked closely with Lemass and T.K. Whitaker in generating economic growth and implementing the Programme for Economic Expansion. He was also noted for his astuteness in solving several industrial disputes during his tenure at the Department.

Jack Lynch - Minister for Finance

In 1965 Lemass was once again re-elected Taoiseach. The big change was the retirement of such political heavyweights as James Ryan and Seán MacEntee, with Lynch taking over from the former as Minister for Finance. This appointment was particularly significant because Lemass was coming to the end of his premiership and wanted to prepare a successor. As a result Lynch took charge of the second most important position in the Government, gaining widespread experience in a number of affairs, and accompanying Lemass to London to sign one of the most important trade agreements between the Republic and the United Kingdom. One occasion in which Lynch's authority was seen to be undermined as Minister for Finance was when the Minister for Education, Donagh O'Malley, announced that the government would provide free secondary school education for all. This proposal had not been discussed at Cabinet level and certainly hadn't been discussed with Lynch, the man who had to provide the funds for such a service. As it subsequently transpired, Lemass had approved the announcement in advance, however, not to inform Lynch seemed to undermine his authority somewhat.

Jack Lynch - Lemass Resignation

Lemass eventually retired in 1966 and a leadership race (the first contested race in the history of the party) threatened to tear Fianna Fáil apart. Lynch, and another favourite of Lemass's, Patrick Hillery, ruled themselves out of the leadership election from the very beginning, however, other candidates such as Charles Haughey, George Colley and Neil Blaney threw their hats into the ring immediately. None of the candidates that were being offered to the party seemed particularly appealing and Lemass' made one last attempt to coax either Hillery or Lynch to join the race as a compromise candidate. Hillery remained adamant that he didn't want the leadership and eventually Lynch allowed his name to go forward. Upon hearing this Haughey and Blaney, the latter having never really entered the race in the first place, withdrew and announced their support for Lynch. Colley refused to withdraw and when it was put to a ballot Lynch comfortably defeated him by 52 votes to 19. Lynch was thus elected Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil on 10 November 1966.

The Lynch succession however, was not a smooth one. As we have seen three men openly expressed ambitions to do the job that Lynch was now in - Haughey, Blaney and Colley. Three other independent-minded Cabinet Ministers had also contemplated running - Brian Lenihan, Kevin Boland and Donagh O'Malley. All in all, Lynch inherited a deeply divided cabinet.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Political Life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki