The 14th government of Ireland (14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977) was the

government of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...

formed after the 1973 general election to the 20th Dáil held on 28 February 1973. It was a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

and the Labour Party, known as the National Coalition, led by

Liam Cosgrave Liam Cosgrave (13 April 1920 – 4 October 2017) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977, Leader of Fine Gael from 1965 to 1977, Leader of the Opposition from 1965 to 1973, Minister for External Affairs fro ...

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

with

Brendan Corish Brendan Corish (19 November 1918 – 17 February 1990) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Minister for Health from 1973 to 1977, Leader of the Labour Party, Minister for Social Welfare from 1954 to 1957 and from ...

Tánaiste The Tánaiste ( , ) is the second-ranking member of the government of Ireland and the holder of its second-most senior office. It is the equivalent of the deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. The Tánaiste is appointed by the P ...

. It was the first time either of the parties had been in government since the

second inter-party government The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

(1954–1957), when they were in coalition with

Clann na Talmhan Clann na Talmhan (, "Family/Children of the land"; formally known as the ''National Agricultural Party'') was an Irish agrarian political party active between 1939 and 1965. Formation and growth Clann na Talmhan was founded on 29 June 1939 in ...

. It lasted for . The government was widely referred to as the "cabinet of all the talents".

Nomination of Taoiseach

The 20th Dáil first met on 14 March 1973. In the debate on the nomination of Taoiseach, Fianna Fáil leader and outgoing Taoiseach

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, ...

, and Fine Gael leader

were both proposed. The nomination of Lynch was defeated with 69 votes in favour to 73 against, while the nomination of Cosgrave was carried with 72 in favour and 70 against. Cosgrave was appointed as Taoiseach by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

Members of the government

After his appointment as Taoiseach by the president, Liam Cosgrave proposed the members of the government and they were approved by the Dáil. They were appointed by the president on the same day. ;Changes to departments

Attorney General

On 14 March 1973, Declan Costello SC was appointed by the president as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

on the nomination of the Taoiseach. On 19 May 1977, Costello resigned as Attorney General on his nomination by the government for appointment as a judge of the High Court and John M. Kelly SC was appointed as Attorney General.

Parliamentary Secretaries

On 14 March 1973, the government appointed parliamentary secretaries on the nomination of the Taoiseach.

Actions of the government

The National Coalition restricted the power of the National Council for Educational Awards. This forced the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick and Thomond College of Education, Limerick to apply to the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

for the conferring of degrees and diplomas. It removed the requirement that Irish be passed to obtain a

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

; it also reformed the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

by removing the requirement of knowledge in Irish and the mandatory retirement on marriage that many women faced during their civil service careers. A free travel scheme was also introduced covering bus and rail services for all blind persons over the age of 21. In response to the assassination of the British Ambassador to Ireland

Christopher Ewart-Biggs Christopher Thomas Ewart Ewart-Biggs, (5 August 1921 – 21 July 1976) was the British ambassador to Republic of Ireland, Ireland, an author and senior Foreign Office liaison officer with MI6. He was killed in 1976 by the Provisional Irish Rep ...

by the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

on 21 July, Cosgrave introduced a motion to declare a

national emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

under Article 28.3.3° of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...

created by an armed conflict. This was approved by the Dáil on 1 September by a vote of 70 to 65. This was followed by the introduction of the Emergency Powers Bill 1976.

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (; 12 February 1911 – 21 March 1978) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, judge and barrister who served as the president of Ireland from December 1974 to October 1976. His birth name was registered in English as ' ...

referred the Emergency Powers Bill to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. Minister of Defence

Paddy Donegan Patrick Sarsfield Donegan (29 October 1923 – 26 November 2000) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a government of Ireland, government minister from 1973 to 1977. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1954 to 1957 and 1961 to 1981 ...

described the president as a "thundering disgrace" for this decision. The Minister apologised and privately offered to resign. Cosgrave refused to accept his resignation. On 21 October, Fianna Fáil proposed a motion in the Dáil calling on the minister to resign, which was defeated. Ó Dálaigh viewed the refusal to remove the minister as an affront to his office by the government and resigned on 22 October 1976. The following week, Fianna Fáil proposed a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

in the government. This was countered by a motion of confidence in the government proposed by Cosgrave, which was carried on a vote of 73 to 67.;

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Government of the 20th Dail Coalition governments of Ireland Governments of Ireland 1973 establishments in Ireland 1977 disestablishments in Ireland Cabinets established in 1973 Cabinets disestablished in 1977 20th Dáil