Oliver J. Flanagan

Template:Short description Template:Use Hiberno-English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Oliver James Flanagan (22 May 1920 – 26 April 1987) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Defence from 1976 to 1977 and as a Parliamentary Secretary from 1954 to 1957 and from 1975 to 1976. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Laois-Offaly constituency from 1943 to 1987.

He was elected to the Dáil fourteen times between 1943 and 1982, topping the poll on almost every occasion.<ref name=elecs_irl/> He was Father of the Dáil from 1977 until his retirement in 1987,<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=Dail_debates1>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and remains one of the longest-serving members in the history of the Dáil.

Flanagan was a social conservative, who told Gay Byrne on the Late Late Show on March 12, 1971, that "there was no sex in Ireland before television".<ref name=Tovey>Template:Cite book</ref> An anti-semite and anti-Mason, he used his maiden speech in the Dáil, on 9 July 1943, to urge the government to emulate the Nazis and "rout the Jews out of this country" and called for the banning of the Freemasons.<ref name="Dáil speech">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Nonetheless, he was consistently popular in his own constituency, largely because of the attention he paid to individual voters' petitions and concerns. He has been described as "one of the cutest of cute hoors in the history of the Dáil".<ref name=kerrigan>Template:Cite book</ref>

Personal life

Flanagan was born in Mountmellick, County Laois, on 22 May 1920.<ref name=dib>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was educated at Mountmellick Boys National School and University College Dublin. He then worked as a carpenter and auctioneer. He was a member of the Catholic fraternal organisation the Knights of Saint Columbanus, and in 1978, was conferred a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul I, given in Rome on 20 September 1978.<ref>Leinster Express 1831-current, Saturday, 30 December 1978; Page: 19</ref>

Political career

Monetary Reform Association (1943–1952)

Flanagan first held political office in 1942, when he was elected as a member of Laois County Council, a position he would hold for almost forty-five years.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as an Independent TD for the Laois–Offaly constituency at the 1943 general election – the third youngest person ever to have been elected to the Dáil at that time. He stood for election on the Monetary Reform Association ticket, an anti-semitic and Social Credit party confined to his own constituency which proposed reducing the supposed Jewish stranglehold on the financial system.

During the campaign, Flanagan wrote to Fr Denis Fahey: "Just a line letting you know we are going ahead with the election campaign in Laois–Offaly against the Jew-Masonic System which is imposed on us. The people are coming to us – but it's hard to get the people to understand how they are held down by the Jews and Masons, who control their very lives."Template:Sfn

He used his maiden speech in the Dáil to urge the government to use the Emergency Powers Acts to "rout the Jews out of this country":

How is it that we do not see any of these Acts directed against the Jews, who crucified Our Saviour nineteen hundred years ago, and who are crucifying us every day in the week? How is it that we do not see them directed against the Masonic Order? How is it that the I.R.A. is considered an illegal organisation while the Masonic Order is not considered an illegal organisation? [...] There is one thing that Germany did, and that was to rout the Jews out of their country. Until we rout the Jews out of this country it does not matter a hair's breadth what orders you make. Where the bees are there is the honey, and where the Jews are there is the money.{{#if:|

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He was re-elected to the Dáil at the 1944 general election, with more than twice as many votes as he had won the previous year.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1947, he levelled accusations of corruption against members of the Fianna Fáil government, including Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, Minister for Justice Gerald Boland and Minister for Industry and Commerce Seán Lemass.<ref name=lee>Joseph Lee (1989). Ireland, 1912–1985: Politics and Society, pp. 296–297. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> A tribunal of inquiry comprising three judges investigated his allegations and found them to be untrue. Despite the judges' conclusion that Flanagan had lied to the tribunal,<ref name=lee/> his vote increased by 45% at the 1948 general election.<ref name=elecs_irl/>

During a 1952 Dáil debate, after John A. Costello had said "I made no reference to an Adoption of Children Bill", Flanagan quipped "Deputy Flynn would be more qualified to do that".<ref>Dáil debates, Vol.129, col.273 Template:Webarchive</ref> John Flynn, who was not in the chamber at the time, interpreted this as an insulting innuendo, and later punched Flanagan in the Dáil restaurant.<ref name="cpp1952">Report – Assault Committed by a Member on another Member in the Oireachtas Restaurant on 31 January 1952 Template:Webarchive Committee on Procedure and Privilege, 28 February 1952</ref> The Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privilege condemned the conduct of both TDs.<ref name="cpp1952"/>

Fine Gael (1952–1987)

Flanagan joined Fine Gael on 12 May 1952.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He served in government as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture from 1954 to 1957.<ref name=oireachtas_db/><ref name=FG>Fine Gael (23 October 2005). Kenny to pay tribute to Oliver J Flanagan Template:Webarchive. Retrieved on 24 January 2008.</ref> In 1957, Fine Gael returned to opposition and Flanagan became front bench Spokesperson for Lands. In 1975, he was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government.<ref name=oireachtas_db/>

In a reshuffle in Liam Cosgrave's government in December 1976, Paddy Donegan was moved as Minister for Defence following the "thundering disgrace" controversy, and Flanagan was appointed to the position later that month. He served as minister for six months, until Fine Gael lost office following the 1977 general election.<ref name=oireachtas_db/> He was a representative on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1977 to 1987.<ref name=FG/> Due to ill health, Flanagan did not contest the 1987 general election. His son, Charles Flanagan, succeeded him in the constituency of Laois–Offaly. Oliver Flanagan died two months after the election.

Electoral results

Elections to the Dáil
Party		Election		Template:Abbr	Template:Abbr	Result
rowspan="4" style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Template:Nowrap	Leix–Offaly	1943	4,377	9.2	Elected on count 11/11
Leix–Offaly		1944	9,856	22.0	Elected on count 1/8
Leix–Offaly		1948	14,369	30.3	Elected on count 1/14
Leix–Offaly		1951	11,034	23.6	Elected on count 1/8
rowspan="10" style="background:Template:Party color;" |	Template:Nowrap	Leix–Offaly	1954	13,545	28.6	Elected on count 1/3
Leix–Offaly		1957	9,747	21.8	Elected on count 1/7
Laoighis–Offaly		1961	11,200	26.6	Elected on count 1/7
Laoighis–Offaly		1965	12,204	28.0	Elected on count 1/4
Laoighis–Offaly		1969	9,485	21.3	Elected on count 1/10
Laoighis–Offaly		1973	7,415	18.3	Elected on count 1/11
Laoighis–Offaly		1977	8,205	14.1	Elected on count 5/9
Laoighis–Offaly		1981	9,177	16.4	Elected on count 3/7
Laoighis–Offaly		February 1982	7,252	13.5	Elected on count 8/8
Laoighis–Offaly		November 1982	8,428	15.3	Elected on count 4/7

See also

• Families in the Oireachtas
• History of the Jews in Ireland