Clann Éireann
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clann Éireann [kˠłan̪ˠ eːɼən̪ˠ] ("Children of Ireland"), also known as the People's Party, was a minor political party in the Irish Free State. The party was founded on 25 January 1926, when a statement was issued.
The party chairman was Professor William Magennis, Teachta Dála (TD) for National University of Ireland. The secretaries included another TD Pádraic Ó Máille.
The party demanded for Ireland "one and indivisible as of right the full status of a sovereign State. We aim at restoring the unity of her territory and the union of all her people under one central supreme government". The party advocated the abolition of the oath of allegiance to the King. It also called for lower taxes and less legislation.
An attempt was made to attract Éamon de Valera and his followers into the party, on the basis that they agreed that the oath of allegiance should be abolished. It did not work.
The party attracted little support and it failed to win any seats in Dáil Éireann at the June 1927 general election. Its eight candidates only attracted a few thousand first preference votes. Seven of them were last in their constituencies and forfeited their deposits.
On 28 August 1927 the party issued another statement throwing its support to Fianna Fáil now that the latter had "at last" adopted the policy of Clann Éireann.
[edit] References
- The Times (of London), editions of 27 January 1926, 12 April 1926, 14 June 1927, 17 June 1927 and 30 August 1927.
