Thread: Quite a few people refer to Fine Gael as ‘Blueshirts’ given that part of their origin is derived from a Fascist movement. Let’s look at how this Irish conservative party was formed & the politics of the 1930s #GE2020 
The Blueshirts began in 1932. At first the focus was on sports in local chapters. Many saw it as a social community & not a political one & this was its initial strategy. It had three newspapers: The Blue Shirt, the Blue Flag & United Ireland
New chapters & social events were initiated by activists cycling around the country in mobile units. At the time in Ireland social activities were community based & the High Nelly the chief means of transport. It sometimes mirrored the approach of the British Union of Fascists
The key leader of the Blueshirts was General Eoin O’Duffy. He had been Commissioner of the Gardaí, 1922-33 (police). He was a sports fanatic & had managed the Irish Olympic team in 1932 & the Tailteann Games in 1924. By 1934 he had 48k members.
Members would attend social events in uniform. The enemy of the Blueshirts was the IRA. As a result social events began to turn violent. The General saw Fianna Fáil as the political wing of the IRA & so criticised the FF govt & it’s role in the GAA (the natl sports association)
The Blueshirts organised many dances & this brought them into conflict with the Catholic Church. The state was a de facto theocracy & the Church ruled all. In particular the idea of the Blueshirts having cars & what they might do in those passion wagons upset the bishops.
Whilst many attended the events & wore the uniform they did not see it as a political entity & did not subscribe to its politics. At a time when entertainment was meagre & social life sparse the Blue Shirt events were seen as just a fun night out or social event.
O’Duffy, himself, had been Chief of Staff of the IRA. He then became a general in the Free State army. As a result one of the first names used for the Blueshirts was the Army Comrades Association. In 1932 the Cumann na nGaedheal government fell & the anti-treaty Fianna Fáil won.
The defeated party was horrified at the idea of FF taking power. They saw it as the IRA taking over government. This would inevitably lead to Communism they believed. CnG represented the big farmers & they feared their land & wealth being redistributed.
O’Duffy was sacked by FF in 1933 as Garda Commissioner. This led to his running the Blueshirts, their adoption of uniforms & the Fascist salute. In the Winter of 1933-34 violence escalated. By 1934 O’Duffy was appointed president of the new Fine Gael party.
John A Costello, a future Fine Gael Taoiseach, would say in the Dáil ‘the Blackshirts were victorious in Italy & that the Hitler shirts were victorious in Germany, as, assuredly... ...the Blueshirts will be victorious in the Irish Free State’.
In 1933 the Blueshirts planned a parade in Dublin. With the memory of Mussolini’s march on Rome & coup the FF govt banned it. The event attracted international attention. O’Duffy accepted their ban but local marches took place. FF’s DeValera declared the organisation illegal.
With the ban, CnG & the Blueshirts merged to form Fine Gael (1933) with O’Duffy as president. By now the Blueshirts had been rechristened the National Guard. Fine Gael wanted a United Ireland within the British Commonwealth & this aligned the groups along with their fear of FF
The role of the Blueshirts would be to protect FG & to be a force in opposition to the IRA & their connection with Fianna Fáil. FF were anti-treaty & FG pro-treaty. The Treaty was with the UK & defined the separation of Ireland.
In June 1934 Fine Gael did badly in the local elections. This led to O’Duffy being sacking by Fine Gael & they sought to distance themselves from him whilst keeping his membership as voters. The Blueshirts began to break up.
O’Duffy escalated his Anti-Semitism, Anti-Communism & pro-Fascism. In this he was echoing the Irish Catholic Church who blamed the Jews for the French & Russian revolutions! When Franco led a coup in Spain in 1936 O’Duffy formed the Irish Brigade to fight for him.
Some 700 of the Brigade went to Spain where their efforts & O’Duffy’s command were notoriously bad. Indeed some have likened their efforts to being catastrophic. By 1937 they were back in Ireland. Later O’Duffy offered the Brigade to fight for Hitler.
Here’s a biography of O’Duffy; after his death rumours abounded that he was gay. This could mean that two of the key pro-treaty activists, O’Duffy & Michael Collins were homosexual. This is ironic given that homosexuality would be illegal until 1997 peoplepill.com/people/eoin-od…
Heres an article on the origins of the Blueshirts historyireland.com/20th-century-c…
Here’s a Blueshirts uniform
And here’s a video:
