Tuesday, September 20, 2016

"O'Duffys Men"-Irish Blueshirts Documentary


Maurice Manning traces the history of the Blueshirts in Ireland, an organization formed out of a wing of the Pro-Treaty side of the Irish Civil War and led by Free State General Eoin O'Duffy.Grounded more so in civil war politics rather than ideology the Blueshirts played a significant role in the formation of one of Ireland's major parties (Fine Gael) and had in its ethos elements of Catholic corporatism and European Fascism.

The Blueshirts

The Blueshirts were a quasi-fascist organization founded in 1932 following de Valera's first election victory. They adopted the style and some of the substance of European fascist movements. Although relatively short-lived, they were one of the founding strands in what became the Fine Gael party. Maurice Manning's definitive history chronicles the rise and fall of the Blueshirts against the social and political background of Ireland in the late 1920s and 1930s. ""In many ways this book is a model. [The author's] account is clear, detailed and fully documented, his analysis of the conflicting interests and emotions dispassionate and perceptive, his conclusions balanced and sound. This is the way Irish history should be written.""-The Irish Times. ""An admirably lucid and well documented book [that] describes the rise and fall of the Blueshirt movement which figured so dramatically on the public stage during the turbulent thirties.""-Irish Independent. ""Manning's book is a worthy and welcome addition to a small but growing body of serious work on personalities, issues and institutions in the modern Irish state.""-Journal of Modern History.

Know any corporatist Irishmen? Of course you do.



This history is interesting for voters trying to make sense of Catholic-in-name-only politicians like Patrick Brown and Dalton McGuinty who answer only to Bay Street and hold their grassroots constituencies in contempt. Ontario is essentially run like Ireland, which is totally in the pocket of Apple Corporation and serves as its private money-launderer and tax haven. Queen's Park, Bay Street, and Dublin dance to the same tune.

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