National Party (Ireland, 1924)

Not to be confused with the National League Party, founded in 1926.

The National Party was a minor political party in the Irish Free State between 1924 and 1925. It was a splinter group of nine Cumann na nGaedheal TDs led by Joseph McGrath, who had been Minister for Industry and Commerce in the CnaG government.

McGrath founded the National Party in the aftermath of the Army Mutiny, the last military challenge to civilian authority in Ireland. The nine TDs protested the refusal of the government to reinstate mutineers among the officer corps in October 1924. They were also impatient with progress towards a united 32-county Republic.

The nine resigned their seats to run in simultaneous by-elections in March 1925, described as a "mini-general election"^[1], as a test of public opinion and sympathy with the mutiny. Seven of the polls were won by Cumann na nGaedheal; the other two were won by the abstentionist candidates of Sinn Féin, then led by Éamon de Valera.

Notes

1. ^ Manning (1972)

References

• Barberis, Peter, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, 2005. Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organisations. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0826458149, ISBN 978-0826458148
• Manning, Maurice, 1972. Irish Political Parties: An Introduction. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 978-0717105366