Kieran Allen

This is a fine book. Allen, not necessarily a friend of Fianna Fáil, documents the changing relationship between Fianna Fáil and the Irish labour movement since the party's foundation. It was Seán Lemass who said that Fianna Fáil were the real Labour party and as Fianna Fáil developed as a catch all party it neutered the Labour party's appeal in urban areas. This book is an excellent history of how the relationship developed and how it was sustained (between the Labour party and the trade union movement) by somewhat progressive housing policy, economic protectionism and social legislation in the 1930s and early 1940s. He also highlights how conflicts which gave rise to Clann na Poblachta and challenged Fianna Fáil for its progressive base challenged its hegemony.… (plus d'informations)