Arms Crisis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Arms Crisis, also known as the Arms Trial was a political scandal in the Republic of Ireland in 1970, when two cabinet ministers - Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney were sacked for allegedly attempting to illegally import arms for use in Northern Ireland.
Contents |
[edit] Background
The events occurred during the Fianna Fáil government of Jack Lynch. In growing disturbances in Northern Ireland, which would lead to the The Troubles, nationalist civilians were being forced from their homes. The government established a cabinet subcommittee to organise emergency assistance and relief. Haughey, then Minister for Finance and the hardline Blaney, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries who was from the Donegal North East constituency bordering Northern Ireland were members of the subcommittee.
[edit] Attempted importation of arms
Ministers Haughey and Blaney disapproved of the cautious policies of Taoiseach Lynch on Northern Ireland and favoured a more robust approach. They were accused of conspiring to illegally import £100,000 worth of weapons for the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The actual shipment was called off at the last minute when it was determined that they could not be slipped past customs officials at Dublin Airport.
[edit] Revelation and sacking
The leader of the opposition, Liam Cosgrave became aware of the smuggling scheme and pressed the Taoiseach to take action. Haughey and Blaney were sacked by Lynch on May 6 when they refused to resign. Kevin Boland, the Minister for Social Welfare resigned from the government in protest at the sackings. The Minister for Justice, Micheál Ó Móráin who was in hospital at the time was asked to resign on May 4. He later claimed that he had in fact informed Lynch of the individuals involved.
[edit] Court trial
On 28 May 1970, Haughey and Blaney went on trial in Dublin, together with an Irish Army intelligence officer, Captain James Kelly, a Belfast republican named John Kelly and Belgian businessman Albert Luykx, who had agreed to use his contacts to acquire the weapons. Blaney was found not guilty on July 2 1970, before the main trial got underway under Justice Aindrias O'Caoimh. The trial collapsed a week later after allegations of bias. Following a second trial the other four defendants were cleared on October 23.
At the trial there was a direct contradiction of evidence regarding the sanctioning of the imports between Haughey and the chief prosecutorial witness, Jim Gibbons who was Minister for Defence at the time of the attempted imports. As Haughey was found not guilty, Gibbons was alleged to have been the dishonest one.
[edit] Impact
The resignations and sackings left four vacancies in cabinet. As a result there was a major cabinet reshuffle and some senior politicians of the future got their first step on the ministerial ladder such as Desmond O'Malley and Gerard Collins.
The negative impact of the scandal on Fianna Fáil, in addition to the perceived role of Fine Gael's Cosgrave in defending the institutions of the state, contributed to the change of government in the subsequent 1973 election.
The scandal led to bitter divisions in Fianna Fáil between supporters of the sacked ministers Haughey and Blaney and supporters of Jack Lynch. The same divisions affected government policy on Northern Ireland. Although the events led to Haughey being demoted to the back-benches, he remained a member of Fianna Fáil, while Boland was expelled in 1970 and Blaney in 1971. Blaney went on to found his own party, Independent Fianna Fáil, which re-joined Fianna Fáil in 2006. Haughey later returned to Ministerial office and succeeded Lynch as party leader in 1979. The divisions only intensified and in 1985 several opponents of Haughey, led by the-then expelled Fianna Fáil member Desmond O'Malley, formed the Progressive Democrats political party. Other opponents of Haughey, such as Charlie McCreevy, would have to wait on the Fianna Fáil backbenches until the end of Haughey's political career in 1992 before being appointed as ministers.
There was no rapprochement in the relationship between Gibbons and Haughey and when Haughey became Taoiseach, Gibbons was dropped from his Ministerial office. During a later leadership contest, Gibbons was assaulted in Dáil Éireann by Haughey supporters.
The events came to be one of the defining periods of Lynch's term as leader, during which there were several crises. Lynch supporters saw him as exhibiting strength in facing down the rebel ministers and his detractors saw it as an illustration of his weakness on the national question and procrastination in the face of difficult decisions.
The evidence during the trial did show that, although suspected by some, the government was not funding the Provisional IRA.
[edit] Further revelations
As state papers relating to the period were released after 1995 further light was shed on the events, questioning the outcome. Many debates remain about the truthfulness of the various personalities involved, and what exactly each knew, and when they came to know it. The diaries of Peter Berry, Secretary of the Department of Justice, published in Magill magazine, claimed that Taoiseach Lynch had not been forthright publicly.
[edit] External links
- CAIN - Chronology of the Conflict - 1970 — from the CAIN project at the University of Ulster.
- Dáil Éireann - Volume 246 - 07 May, 1970 — first part of Dáil debate on the day following the sacking of Haughey and Blaney.
- Dáil Éireann - Volume 246 - 07 May, 1970 — second part of Dáil debate on the day following the sacking of Haughey and Blaney.
