The Irish History Boys podcast is back this week with a new episode which sees comedian Tim McGarry and Dr Cormac Moore discuss the 1976 Irish presidential crisis.
They discuss what happened when President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh referred new emergency powers legislation to the Supreme Court following heightened IRA violence in Dublin, creating severe friction with Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave’s coalition government.
Mr McGarry and Dr Moore also examine how the crisis peaked when Defence Minister Patrick Donegan publicly insulted the President as a “thundering disgrace.” When the Taoiseach refused to discipline Donegan, Ó Dálaigh resigned to defend the dignity of his office, directly contributing to the government’s landslide defeat in 1977.
Finally, this episode covers how the government enforced Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act, banning RTÉ interviews with Provisional Sinn Féin and paramilitary groups, a controversial media prohibition that remained in place until 1994.
