Kevin O'Higgins
From Freepedia
Kevin Christopher O'Higgins (Irish name Caoimhín Críostóir Ó hUiginn; 7 June 1892-10 July 1927), Irish politician.
Kevin O'Higgins was born on 7 June 1892 in County Laois. He was educated at Clongowes Wood, St. Patrick's College Maynooth and University College Dublin. He joined Sinn Féin and was imprisoned in 1918. While he was imprisoned he became MP for Laois. In 1919 O'Higgins was appointed Assistant Minister for Local Government. He was strongly in favour of accepting the Treaty in 1921. In 1922 he was elected TD for Laois-Offaly. In the first government he became Minister for Justice and External Affairs, as well as Vice-President of the Executive Council (Deputy Prime Minister).
Sinn Féin split over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In the debate that took place in the Dáil on the Treaty, O'Higgins outlined the reasons for his support thus:
Last October the Minister of Local Government W.T. Cosgrave and myself came deliberately to the decision that we would not recommend any settlement involving allegiance to the king of England. That is true, but I am not ashamed to plead guilty to the fact that I consider political realities and the consequence of my vote... I would have gone back to war rather than recommend a settlement involving allegiance if the Treaty had not been signed. But I face the political situation and realise that some of the biggest personalities in our movement ... have considered this is the last ounce [that] could be got from England, and who, knowing the situation better than I do, attached their names to that document.
When running for election in 1922, he told a crowd:
I have not abandoned any political aspirations to which I have given expression in the past, but in the existing circumstances I advise the people to trust to evolution rather than revolution for their attainment.
When the Irish Civil War broke out he tried to restore law and order by introducing tough measures. He feared, as did many of his colleagues, that a prolonged civil conflict would give the British an excuse, in the eyes of the world, to reassert their control in the Free State. Between 1922 and 1923 seventy-seven Republican prisoners were executed by order of O'Higgins. He was given a nominal posting to the Irish Army during the early stages of the war, which he described as "very short, though very brilliant." General Richard Mulcahy was less impressed, recalling that "O'Higgins' personal presence in the Adjutant-General's office at that time (July-August 1922) was the personal presence of a person who didn't understand what was going on."
O'Higgins also set up An Garda Síochána (an unarmed police force). As Minister for External Affairs he successfully increased Ireland's autonomy within the Commonwealth. O'Higgins was seen very much as the "strong man" of the Cabinet. He once described himself as one of "the most conservative-minded revolutionaries that ever put through a successful revolution." Though many of his opponents characterised him as having fascist tendencies, O'Higgins was to the fore in resisting the small wing of Cumann na nGaedheal who looked to Italy for inspiration. He was not a strong proponent of gender equality and when asked by Labour leader Thomas Johnson in the Dáil whether he believed giving women the vote had been a success, O'Higgins replied, "I would not like to pronounce an opinion on it in public." He famously derided the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil as "mostly poetry". Before his death, he toyed with Arthur Griffith's idea of a dual monarchy in order to end partition.
On 10 July 1927 O'Higgins was assassinated in Dublin by three members of the Irish Republican Army, Timothy Coughlin, Bill Gannon and Archie Doyle.
Political Career
| Preceded by: Newly Created Office | Vice-President of the Executive Council 1922-1927 | Succeeded by: Ernest Blythe |
| Preceded by: Eamonn Duggan | Minister for Justice 1922–1927 | Succeeded by: W.T. Cosgrave |
| Preceded by: Desmond FitzGerald | Minister for External Affairs 1927 |
