- Ruairí Brugha
Ruairí Brugha (IPAga|ˈɾˠuərʲiː bˠɾˠuː; 15 February 1917 – 31 January 2006) was an Irish Republican and IRA volunteer who became a
Fianna Fáil politician , serving as aTeachta Dála (TD), senator andMember of the European Parliament (MEP).cite news |url=http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/obituaries/2006/0204/1137626824393.html |title=Ruairi Brugha: A political life devoted to reconciliation |work=The Irish Times |date=4 February 2006 |accessdate=2004-02-04]Family and early life
He was born in
Dublin , the son ofCathal Brugha , who was Minister for Defence in thefirst Dáil and was killed in 1922 during the Civil War; his mother Caitlin (née Kingston) was an anti-Treaty TD from 1923 to 1927. The family home, a refuge for republicans, was often raided by the successive authorities whom the Brughas opposed: first theRoyal Irish Constabulary , then British soldiers and Auxiliaries, followed by the forces of theIrish Free State .Brugha was educated at
Rockwell College and inColáiste Mhuire , and joined the IRA at the age of 16. When IRA members were interned at the outbreak ofWorld War II , he went on the run, but was although he was arrested in 1940, and interned at theCurragh for the duration of The Emergency.cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/the-quiet-man-who-united-two-famous-patriot-families-111300.html |title=The quiet man who united two famous patriot families |author=Senan Molony |work=The Irish Independent |date=4 February 2006 |accessdate=2004-02-04] While on parole for health reasons he met Máire MacSwiney, the only child ofLord Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney who died while onhunger strike in 1920, and they married in 1945.Brugha then joined the business which his mother had established, the
menswear shop Kingstons Ltd, eventually becoming managing director.Political career
Released from detention, he began to rethink his relationship with republicanism. Talking in 1968 to
Tim Pat Coogan for his book "The IRA", Brugha described his eventual rejection from the IRA's doctrine of the continued legitimacy of the second Dáil, saying: "We became the victims of an illusion that could never become a reality" and that "it was obvious to me that the 26 counties were politically free and that the sort of activity in which the IRA had been engaged had not helped to end Partition."Ruairi and Máire both joined
Clann na Poblachta shortly after its foundation in 1946, and at the 1948 general election he stood in the Waterford constituency which his mother had represented in the 1920s. However, the election was a disappointment for the new party, which won only ten seats, and with less than 5% of the first-preference votes, Brugha did not win a seat.cite web |url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=2371 |title=Ruairi Brugha |work=Elections Ireland.org |accessdate=2008-02-04] Despite differences with Clann na Poblachta leaderSeán MacBride — particularly over MacBride's antagonism toFianna Fáil — he remained on the party executive during the 1950s.In 1962, he joined Fianna Fáil, and at the 1969 general election, Brugha stood unsuccessfully as as Fianna Fáil candidate in Dublin County South. He was then elected to the
12th Seanad on theIndustrial and Commercial Panel , and at the 1973 general election, he won the seat, replacing former Fianna Fáil running mateKevin Boland , who stood for his newAontacht Éireann party. After that election,Fine Gael and Labour formed theNational Coalition government, and Fianna Fáil went into opposition for the first time in 16 years. In 1974Jack Lynch appointed Brugha as Fianna Fáil spokesman onNorthern Ireland , where he helped reshape the party's policy and supported the Cosgrave government over the Sunningdale power-sharing agreement.After boundary changes, he lost his Dáil seat at the 1977 general election, to his party colleague,
Niall Andrews . However, he was elected instead to the14th Seanad , again on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. On the recommendation ofJohn Hume , he was also appointed as an MEP, serving until the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979 when he stood unsuccessfully in the Dublin constituency. He was also active in theEuropean Movement Ireland into his late eighties, serving as an honorary president of the organisation.Brugha did not contest the 1981 or February 1982 general elections, but at the November 1982 election he stood in Dublin South, where he polled less than 3% of the first-preference votes, and did not stand for election again.
Death
He died in
Dublin on 31 January 2006, at the age of 88. On his death the IrishTaoiseach Bertie Ahern said Ruairi Brugha was "a man of firm convictions who was passionate about politics and had a deep patriotic concern for the welfare of this country". He was survived by his wife and four children; Deirdre, Cathal, Traolach and Ruairi.References
* [http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0131/brughar.html Former Fianna Fáil TD dies aged 88] (RTÉ)
*oireachtas-databaseee also
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Families in the Oireachtas Navboxes
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