Ireland 1932

According to WesleyJohnston.com, in the 1932 General Election, Fianna Fail swept to power in the Irish Free State and Eamonn de Valera, the leader of Fianna Fail, became Prime Minister. Despite gloomy predictions, the country did not erupt into civil war and Cosgrave gave up power without a fight. de Valera immediately adopted policies designed to cut all ties with the UK. He abolished the "land annuities" in 1932 and the Dail's Oath to the King of England in 1933. Also in 1933, he reduced the powers of the British governmental representative in Ireland (and in fact abolished the post in 1937).

The "land annuities" caused the most contention in Britain. The annuties were money that the British government had loaned to Irish farmers before the Government of Ireland Act of 1921 and which the farmers had agreed to repay. Part of the Anglo-Irish treaty was that the Free State government would collect these debts and return the money to Britain. Britain was so furious with the Irish for keeping the money, that they imposed a 20% tariff on trade with the Free State. The Irish found that they could no longer sell their beef to Britain or Northern Ireland and so they retaliated by imposing a tariff in the opposite direction. This prevented Britain selling coal to Ireland. However, Britain did not depend on Ireland as much as Ireland did on Britain, and this seriously crippled the Irish economy.

After 5 years, in 1938, the two countries signed an agreement to end the trade war. Under this settlement the Free State give Britian £10,000,000 to pay off the annuities and in return Britian pulled out of her naval bases in Ireland. Adolf Hitler had come to power in Germany in 1933 and, since then, British relations with Germany had deteriorated. Therefore pulling out of the naval bases was a hard choice for Britain, considering that war was looking increasingly possible.

Members of the Seventh Dáil - Francis Gormley

Francis Gormley was an Irish soldier and politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency at the 1932 general election. He lost his seat at the 1933 general election. He served as Secretary of Dáil Courts before the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Francis Gormley was born at Esker, Killoe, County Longford in 1899.

Members of the Seventh Dáil - Thomas Dowdall

Thomas Dowdall (1870 – 7 April 1942) was an Irish politician and company director. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork Borough constituency at the 1932 general election. He was re-elected at the 1933, 1937 and 1938 general elections. He died in 1942 during the 10th Dáil, no by-election was held for his seat.

Members of the Seventh Dáil - Patrick Burke

Patrick Burke (16 April 1879 – 7 February 1945) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal and Fine Gael politician. He represented the Clare constituency from the 1932 general election until his death in 1945.

Members of the Seventh Dáil - William Browne

William Frazer Browne was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Leitrim–Sligo constituency at the 1932 general election. He was re-elected at the 1933 general election but lost his seat at the 1937 general election.

Members of the Seventh Dáil - William Broderick

William Joseph Broderick (20 May 1877 – 1 June 1957) was an Irish politician and farmer. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork East constituency at the 1932 general election. He was re-elected at the 1933 general election but lost his seat at the 1937 general election. At the 1938 general election, he was elected as a Fine Gael TD for the Waterford constituency. At the 1943 general election, he moved to the Cork South East constituency, and was re-elected for this constituency at the 1944 general election. He did not contest the 1948 general election.

Members of the Seventh Dáil - Gerald Bartley

Gerald Bartley (12 June 1898 – 10 May 1974) was an Irish politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1932 as a Fianna Fáil TD for Galway. Bartley served in the Irish Cabinet on two occasions, both under the Taoiseach, Seán Lemass. He was elected at every election until 1965 when he retired from politics.

The Seventh Dáil

This is a list of the members who were elected to the 7th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State. These TDs (Members of Parliament) were elected at the 1932 general election on 16 February 1932 and met on 9 March 1932. The 7th Dáil was dissolved by Governor-General Domhnall Ua Buachalla, at the request of the President of the Executive Council Éamon de Valera on 2 January 1933. The 7th Dáil lasted 343 days. There were no by-elections during the 7th Dáil.

Members of the 7th Dáil

Constituency Name Party

Carlow–Kilkenny
Desmond FitzGerald Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán Gibbons Fianna Fáil
Denis Gorey Cumann na nGaedheal
Francis Humphreys Fianna Fáil
Thomas Derrig Fianna Fáil

Cavan
John O'Hanlon Independent
John Joe O'Reilly Cumann na nGaedheal
Michael Sheridan Fianna Fáil
Paddy Smith Fianna Fáil

Clare
Patrick Burke Cumann na nGaedheal
Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil
Patrick Hogan Labour Party
Seán O'Grady Fianna Fáil
Martin Sexton Fianna Fáil

Cork Borough
Richard Anthony Independent
W. T. Cosgrave Cumann na nGaedheal
William Desmond Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Dowdall Fianna Fáil
Hugo Flinn Fianna Fáil

Cork East
Brook Brasier Independent
William Broderick Cumann na nGaedheal
Martin Corry Fianna Fáil
John Daly Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick Murphy Fianna Fáil

Cork North
Seán Moylan Fianna Fáil
Daniel O'Leary Cumann na nGaedheal
Daniel Vaughan Farmers' Party

Cork West
Raphael Keyes Fianna Fáil
Timothy J. Murphy Labour Party
Timothy O'Donovan Farmers' Party
Eamonn O'Neill Cumann na nGaedheal
Jasper Wolfe Independent

Donegal
Neal Blaney Fianna Fáil
Brian Brady Fianna Fáil
Frank Carney Fianna Fáil
James Dillon Independent
Eugene Doherty Cumann na nGaedheal
Daniel McMenamin Cumann na nGaedheal
James Myles Independent
John White Cumann na nGaedheal

Dublin County
Seán Brady Fianna Fáil
Patrick Curran Labour Party
Henry Dockrell Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Finlay Cumann na nGaedheal
John Good Independent
Seán MacEntee Fianna Fáil
Batt O'Connor Cumann na nGaedheal
Gearóid O'Sullivan Cumann na nGaedheal

Dublin North
Cormac Breathnach Fianna Fáil
Alfred Byrne Independent
John Byrne Cumann na nGaedheal
Eamonn Cooney Fianna Fáil
Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll Cumann na nGaedheal
Richard Mulcahy Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán T. O'Kelly Fianna Fáil
Oscar Traynor Fianna Fáil

Dublin South
James Beckett Cumann na nGaedheal
Robert Briscoe Fianna Fáil
Peadar Doyle Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Hennessy Cumann na nGaedheal
Myles Keogh Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil
James Lynch Fianna Fáil

Dublin University
Ernest Alton Independent
James Craig Independent
William Thrift Independent

Galway
Gerald Bartley Fianna Fáil
Patrick Beegan Fianna Fáil
Seán Broderick Cumann na nGaedheal
Frank Fahy Fianna Fáil
Patrick Hogan Cumann na nGaedheal
Stephen Jordan Fianna Fáil
Martin McDonogh Cumann na nGaedheal
Joseph Mongan Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Powell Fianna Fáil

Kerry
Frederick Crowley Fianna Fáil
John Flynn Fianna Fáil
Eamonn Kissane Fianna Fáil
Fionán Lynch Cumann na nGaedheal
Tom McEllistrim Fianna Fáil
Thomas O'Reilly Fianna Fáil
John O'Sullivan Cumann na nGaedheal

Kildare
Thomas Harris Fianna Fáil
Sydney Minch Cumann na nGaedheal
William Norton Labour Party

Leitrim–Sligo
William Browne Fianna Fáil
Frank Carty Fianna Fáil
Stephen Flynn Fianna Fáil
John Hennigan Cumann na nGaedheal
Bernard Maguire Fianna Fáil
Martin Roddy Cumann na nGaedheal
Mary Reynolds Cumann na nGaedheal

Leix–Offaly
Patrick Boland Fianna Fáil
William Davin Labour Party
Patrick Gorry Fianna Fáil
Eugene O'Brien Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas F. O'Higgins Cumann na nGaedheal

Limerick
George C. Bennett Cumann na nGaedheal
Daniel Bourke Fianna Fáil
James Colbert Fianna Fáil
Tadhg Crowley Fianna Fáil
John O'Shaughnessy Farmers' Party
James Reidy Cumann na nGaedheal
Robert Ryan Fianna Fáil

Longford–Westmeath
James Geoghegan Fianna Fáil
Francis Gormley Fianna Fáil
Michael Kennedy Fianna Fáil
Seán Mac Eoin Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick Shaw Cumann na nGaedheal

Louth
Frank Aiken Fianna Fáil
James Coburn Independent
James Murphy Cumann na nGaedheal

Mayo North
Micheál Clery Fianna Fáil
Michael Davis Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick O'Hara Cumann na nGaedheal
P. J. Ruttledge Fianna Fáil

Mayo South
James FitzGerald-Kenney Cumann na nGaedheal
Michael Kilroy Fianna Fáil
Edward Moane Fianna Fáil
Martin Nally Cumann na nGaedheal
Richard Walsh Fianna Fáil

Meath
Eamonn Duggan Cumann na nGaedheal
James Kelly Fianna Fáil
Matthew O'Reilly Fianna Fáil

Monaghan
Ernest Blythe Cumann na nGaedheal
Eamon Rice Fianna Fáil
Conn Ward Fianna Fáil

National University of Ireland
Michael Hayes Ceann Comhairle
Conor Maguire Fianna Fáil
Patrick McGilligan Cumann na nGaedheal

Roscommon
Gerald Boland Fianna Fáil
Martin Conlon Cumann na nGaedheal
Frank MacDermot Independent
Daniel O'Rourke Fianna Fáil

Tipperary
Dan Breen Fianna Fáil
Séamus Burke Cumann na nGaedheal
Andrew Fogarty Fianna Fáil
John Hassett Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán Hayes Fianna Fáil
Daniel Morrissey Independent
Timothy Sheehy Fianna Fáil

Waterford
Seán Goulding Fianna Fáil
John Kiersey Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick Little Fianna Fáil
William Redmond Cumann na nGaedheal

Wexford
Denis Allen Finna Fáil
Richard Corish Lbour Party
Osmond Esonde Cumann na nGaedheal
John Keating Cumann na nGaedheal
James Ryan Fianna Fáil

Wicklow
James Everett Labour Party
Séamus Moore Fianna Fáil
Dermot O'Mahony Cumann na nGaedheal

1932 General Election

The Irish general election of 1932 was held on 16 February 1932, just over two weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 29 January. The newly elected 153 members of the 7th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 9 March 1932 when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State were appointed by Governor-General James McNeill on the nomination of Dáil Éireann.

The general election took place in 30 parliamentary constituencies throughout the Irish Free State for 153 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. The 1932 general election was one of the most important general elections held in Ireland in the 20th Century.

Cumann na nGaedheal fought the general election on its record of providing ten years of stable government. The party brought stability following the chaos of the Irish Civil War, and provided honest government. However, by 1932 this provision of solid government was wearing thin, particularly since the party had no solution to the collapse in trade which followed the depression of the early 1930s. Instead of offering new policies the party believed that its record in government would be enough to retain power. Cumann na nGaedheal also played the "red card" tactic, describing Fianna Fáil as communists and likening Éamon de Valera to Joseph Stalin.

In comparison to Cumann na nGaedheal, Fianna Fáil had an elaborate election programme, designed to appeal to a wide section of the electorate. It played down its republicanism to avoid alarm, but provided very popular social and economic policies. The party promised to free IRA prisoners, abolish the Oath of allegiance and reduce the powers of the Governor-General and the Senate. It also promised the introduction of protectionist policies, industrial development, self-sufficiency and improvements in housing and social security benefits.

The election campaign was reasonably peaceful between the two ideologically opposed parties. However, during the campaign the government prosecuted de Valera's newly established newspaper, "The Irish Press". The editor was also brought before a military tribunal. This was seen by many as a major blunder and a serious infringement on the belief of freedom of speech. The "red scare" tactics also seemed to backfire on the government, who seemed to have little else to offer the electorate.

When the results were known Fianna Fáil was still 5 seats short of an overall majority, but it still looked like the only party capable of forming a government. Discussions got underway immediately after the election and an agreement was reached in which the Labour Party would support Fianna Fáil. The party now had the necessary votes to form a minority government.

On 9 March 1932, the first change of government in the Irish Free State took place. Many in the country and abroad wondered if the true test of democracy would be passed, whether it would be possible for the men who won a civil war only ten years before to hand over power to their opponents. Similar to when the party first entered the Dáil in 1927, a number of Fianna Fáil TDs had guns in their pockets. However, the feared coup d'état did not take place. W. T. Cosgrave was determined to adhere to the principles of democracy that he had practised while in government. Likewise, the army, Garda Síochána and the civil service all accepted the change of government, despite the fact that they would now be taking orders from men who had been their enemies less than ten years previously.

After a brief and uneventful meeting in the Dáil chamber, Éamon de Valera was appointed President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State by the Governor-General, James McNeill, who had come to Leinster House to make the appointment rather than require de Valera travel to the Viceregal Lodge, formerly a symbol of British rule. Fianna Fáil, the party most closely identified with opposing the existence of the state ten years earlier, were now the party of government. Not only that but the 1932 general election was the beginning of a sixteen year period in government for Fianna Fáil.

First time TDs

Gerald Bartley
William Broderick
William Browne
Patrick Burke
Thomas Dowdall
Francis Gormley
James Kelly
Raphael Keyes
John Kiersey
Conor Maguire
Sydney Minch
Edward Moane
Patrick Murphy
Eugene O'Brien
Patrick O'Hara
James Reidy
Robert Ryan

Outgoing TDs

William Aird (Deceased)
Edmond Carey (Lost seat)
Michael Connolly (Lost seat)
Peter de Loughry (Retired)
William Kent (Lost seat)
Michael Óg McFadden (Lost seat)
Arthur Matthews (Lost seat)
Thomas Mullins (Retired)
Thomas J. O'Connell (Lost seat)

Belfast 1932

Working class Protestants have not always been found wanting in joining in class solidarity against the Orange state. The Belfast Outdoor Relief Strike of 1932 saw Protestant & Catholic workers rebel against the Stormont regime's crippling measures that were used to deal with unemployment. In fact the Unionist ruling class had retained the most draconian legislation from the Victorian Poor Laws to assault the poor.

In the wake of the global economic depression of the 1930's following the Wall Street crash, the usual emmigration safety valve was no longer a viable option for the Stormont regime to promote. Lead by Big House Unionism the Stormont regime decided to hammer unemployed workers into the ground with strict & prohibitive 'means tests' introduced. The hierarchy of Orangeism were prepared to let their 'lesser' co-religionists starve alongside the 'undeserving' Catholic poor!

Class solidarity spread with strikes & marches to the Board of Workhouse Guardians. The following is an account of the situation in Belfast in 1932:

" That night rioting broke out in several places. A tram was hijacked and dozens of shops were looted in the main Catholic and Protestant areas. The RUC baton charged the crowds as soon as they formed. The rioting continued for the rest of the week.The local ruling class and Unionist establishment suddenly realised the seriousness of what was happening. They had nothing against rioting, they had organised many anti-Catholic pogroms themselves. What was occurring on the streets was very different, it was the one thing they feared - working class unity "

Although that class solidarity did not last, it is one example of economic necessity breaking the Orange state's hegomonic grip on the Protestant working class. 'Orangeism' was the means by which the ruling Stormont monolithic Unionist (& Conservative Party) divided the proletariat in the North of Ireland for their own longterm political interests. They regularly played the 'Orange Card' to prevent unrest from 'below' & to divert Protestant working class discontent. It was a card trick that their Imperialist overlords had perfected & handed down over the years.
The most fundamental leap of faith that Loyalists need to make is that they were workingclass people used by the ruling class as 'contras' in Brit counter-insurgency strategy. If they accept that then they must know that they were totally expendable & in return they got only marginal privledges.

Somewhere within Loyalism I believe that theres the realisation that the old adage that the "rich always betray the poor' is true. Whether they develop that into something resembling class-consciousness is still up in the air. During the various 'Drumcree crises', some elements within Loyalism were reluctant to be led by the nose by the Grand Old Duke of York Paisley & Orangeism like they were in the past as I believe there was the flicker of a realisation that they would be used as totally expendable 'shock troops' yet again. Although there's also the variable that their actions were/are directed by Brit overall security strategy.

They have a long way to go thats for sure but I think we all have to some extent...

“If you remove the English Army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle., unless you set about the organization of the Socialist Republic your efforts will be in vain. England will still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs!” (James Connolly, from Socialism and Nationalism in the Shan Van Vocht, 1897)

"To subvert the tyranny of our execrable government, to break the connection with England, the never-failing source of all our political evils and to assert the independence of my country- these were my objectives. To unite the whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissensions, and to substitute the common name of Irishman in place of the denominations of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter - these were my means." (Theobald Wolfe Tone - Founding father of Irish Republicanism)

“Our freedom must be had at all hazards. If the men of property will not help us they must fall; we will free ourselves by the aid of that large and respectable class of the community - the men of no property.” ( Theobald Wolfe Tone)

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Thomas Harris

Thomas Harris (1895 – 18 February 1974) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A native of Clane, County Kildare, Harris fought with the Maynooth contingent in 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin.

A farmer, he represented the constituencies of Kildare from 1927 to 1937, Carlow–Kildare from 1937 to 1948, and Kildare again from 1948 to 1957.

Harris was related to Matthew Harris, MP for Galway East from 1885 to 1890.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Thomas Aloysius Finlay

Thomas Aloysius Finlay (11 October 1893 – 22 November 1932) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal politician and Senior Counsel. In his short but varied career he had also been a District Justice and a senior official in the Department of Justice. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin County constituency at the 1930 by-election caused by the death of Bryan Cooper of Cumann na nGaedheal. He was re-elected at the 1932 general election but died of typhoid the following November aged 39. Two of his children were: William (1921–2010) who was Governor of the Bank of Ireland while Thomas Finlay is a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - James Geoghegan

James Geoghegan (8 December 1886 – 27 March 1951) was an Irish politician, and later a justice of the Supreme Court.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in a by-election on 13 June 1930 as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Longford–Westmeath constituency. He served in Éamon de Valera's first cabinet in 1932–33 as Minister for Justice. In 1936 he became Attorney-General of Ireland, serving for less than two months before being appointed to the Supreme Court on 22 December 1936. He retained his Dáil seat until 1937 when he retired from politics. He remained on the Supreme Court until his retirement, due to ill health, in 1949. His son, Hugh Geoghegan enjoyed the distinction in 2000 of being the first appointee to Ireland's Supreme Court to follow in his father's footsteps.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Thomas Francis O'Higgins, Sr.

Thomas F. O'Higgins (1890 – 1 November 1953) was an Irish politician.He grew up in Stradbally, County Laois, one of sixteen children of Dr. Thomas Higgins and Anne Sullivan. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in a 14 March 1929 by-election for Dublin North as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD), and in the 1932 general election for Laois–Offaly as a Fine Gael deputy. From the 1948 general election, he represented Cork Borough.

He was the founder of the Army Comrades Association, commonly referred to as the Blueshirts, Ireland's quasi-fascist organisation. He became parliamentary leader of Fine Gael in 1944, while the former leader, Richard Mulcahy, was attempting to get elected to Seanad Éireann and retain his position.

In 1948, he joined the Cabinet of John A. Costello as Minister for Defence. His sons, Tom O'Higgins and Michael O'Higgins, were also members of the Dáil, the former serving in government and a candidate for President of Ireland, and as Chief Justice of Ireland 1974-85. He was a brother of Kevin O'Higgins, the government minister assassinated in 1927.

O'Higgins died while still in office in 1953.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan was an Irish politician and farmer. He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1922, 1923 and June 1927 general elections. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the September 1927 general election as a Farmers' Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency. He stood as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate at the 1932 general election but was not re-elected.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Denis Allen

Denis Allen (2 January 1896 – 29 March 1961) was an Irish Fianna Fáil party and long-serving Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency.

Allen was an unsuccessful candidate at the June 1927 general election, but later that year in the September 1927 general election he was elected to the 6th Dáil. He was re-elected at the 1932 general election, but lost his seat at the 1933 general election.

He returned to the 8th Dáil in a by-election on 17 August 1936, following the death of the Cumann na nGaedheal TD Osmond Esmonde, and returned at each successive election until he retired from politics in 1961.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Seán Goulding

Seán Goulding

Seán Goulding (1877 – 15 December 1959) was a Fianna Fáil politician from County Waterford in Ireland. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1927 to 1937, then a senator from 1938 to 1954, serving as Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann from 1943 to 1948.

Goulding was elected at the September 1927 general election to the 6th Dáil as a TD for the Waterford constituency. He was re-elected at two further general elections until his defeat at the 1937 election to the 9th Dáil. He stood again at the 1938, 1943 and 1944 general elections, but never returned to the Dáil.

After the loss of his Dáil seat in 1937, he stood in the subsequent elections to the 5th Seanad Éireann, winning a seat on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. He was re-elected in 1943, and in 1944 was returned on the Administrative Panel, serving as Cathaoirleach (chair) of the Seanad from 1948 to 1951. In 1951, he was nominated by the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, to the 7th Seanad, and elected as Leas-Cathaoirleach (deputy chair) on 2 June 1948. He did not contest the 1954 Seanad elections, and died on 15 December 1959, aged 82.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Conn Ward

Francis Constantine (Conn) Ward (12 February 1890 – 15 December 1966) was an Irish Fianna Fáil party politician and medical doctor. He was born in County Monaghan in 1890. He fought with the Irish Republican Army in his native county in the Irish War of Independence and on the Republican side in the Irish Civil War, having opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty. He was a founder member of Fianna Fáil.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the September 1927 general election for the Monaghan constituency and was re-elected at each subsequent general election until his retirement. After Fianna Fáil's victory at the 1932 general election he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government and Public Health. He retained this junior ministerial rank through the 1930s and into the 1940s. During this time he was effectively the Minister for Health.

In 1944, Ward banned tampons from the Irish market after fears were expressed from religious circles that they could result in female stimulation. In 1946 he was drawing up legislation for a bill that prefigured, and formed much of, Noel Browne's Mother and Child Scheme. This was not implemented by Fianna Fáil and Browne's efforts to do so led to the collapse of the First Inter-Party Government.

That same year he earned controversy for the government. He owned a bacon factory business in Monaghan. After the manager was dismissed, the manager's brother Patrick McCarvill, a former Teachta Dála (TD) for Monaghan, and a close friend of de Valera, sent a list of allegations about Ward to the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. He set up an inquiry and the Tribunal reported a month later. Ward was cleared of all charges except tax evasion on payments he received from the business. De Valera insisted he resign and he did so a week later. He did not seek re-election at the 1948 general election and retired from politics. He resumed his medical practice and died in 1966.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Arthur Patrick Matthews

Arthur Patrick Matthews (died 25 January 1942) was an Irish politician and farmer. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath constituency at the September 1927 general election. He lost his seat at the 1932 general election.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Richard Walsh

Richard Walsh (1889–1955) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Mayo South constituency at the September 1927 general election. He was re-elected at each subsequent election until he lost his Dáil seat at the 1943 general election, he was however elected to the 4th Seanad on the Administrative Panel in 1943 Seanad election. He regained his Dáil seat at the 1944 general election and remained a member of the lower house until his retirement in 1951.

Members of the Sixth Dáil - Micheál Clery

Micheál Clery was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, solicitor and teacher. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) at the September 1927 general election for the Mayo North constituency. He was re-elected at every subsequent general election up to 1944. He resigned in 1945 during the 12th Dáil following his appointment as County Registrar of Dublin. The subsequent by-election was held on 4 December 1945 and was won by Bernard Commons of Clann na Talmhan.