how do the political parties lay claim to the 1916 legacy?

Fine Gael

Fine Gael, which was founded in 1933, has a strong association with 1916, but the party has always claimed a wider ancestry. It is linked to 1916 through Michael Collins and WT Cosgrave, but is also has connections with the non-violent Sinn Féin of Arthur Griffith and the Irish Parliamentary Party of John Redmond and John Dillon.

Michael Collins, who is still an icon for many in Fine Gael, fought in the GPO. He went on to be minister for finance in the First Dáil and the driving force in the guerrilla war between 1919 and 1921. A republican, he signed the Treaty with Britain in December 1921, believing it to be the best compromise available, and he offered to accept the democratic verdict of the people. His co-signatory, Arthur Griffith, was a separatist but never a republican and had no problem with the oath of fidelity to the British crown, the main stumbling block for republicans.

The electorate voted to accept the Free State in June 1922, but Griffith and Collins died within days of each other two months later. WT Cosgrave took the helm and led the Free State for the first decade of its existence. A founder member of Sinn Féin and a prominent Dublin city councillor, he fought in 1916 and his step-brother was killed in action. His status as a figure in the 1916 Rising was vital to his authority during the first 10 year's of the State's existence.

Cosgrave's supporters banded together after the Civil War to found Cumann na nGaedheal in 1923. Over time, elements of the old Irish Party and the unionist traditions joined the party that now emerged victorious from the Civil War.

After losing power to Fianna Fáil in traumatic circumstances in 1932, Cumann na nGaedheal merged with the Centre Party and the Blueshirt movement in 1933 to form a new party, called Fine Gael.

For a short period after its foundation the Fine Gael leader was Eoin O'Duffy, who had been sacked as Garda commissioner by de Valera and had gone on to take over the leadership of the Blueshirts. O'Duffy had a republican record but was attracted by fascism in the 1930s. He was soon replaced by Cosgrave as Fine Gael leader and his role has often been a source of embarrassment in the party.

Cosgrave led Fine Gael for almost a decade as its fortunes steadily declined. After he retired in 1943 he was replaced by General Richard Mulcahy, a prominent figure from the War of Independence who took control of the Army in August 1922, after the death of Collins.

When Fine Gael gained office in 1948, Mulcahy did not become taoiseach, because of objections by other coalition parties to his Civil War record. John A Costello, who did not have a republican record, took the position instead.

From then on Fine Gael has had leaders reflecting the various strands that went to make up the party. James Dillon, the leader from 1959 to 1965, came from the old Irish Party tradition, as did John Bruton, who was taoiseach from 1995 to 1997. Liam Cosgrave and Garret FitzGerald were both sons of participants in the 1916 Rising. More recent leaders, Alan Dukes, Michael Noonan and Enda Kenny, have no direct links with 1916.