Micheál Ó Móráin

Micheál Ó Moráin
Minister for Justice
In office 27 March 1968 – 5 May 1970
Preceded by	Brian Lenihan
Succeeded by	Desmond O'Malley
Minister for the Gaeltacht
In office 11 October 1961 – 26 March 1968
Preceded by	Gerald Bartley
Succeeded by	Pádraig Faulkner
In office 26 June 1957 – 23 July 1959
Preceded by	Jack Lynch
Succeeded by	Gerald Bartley
Minister for Lands
In office 23 July 1959 – 26 March 1968
Preceded by	Erskine Childers
Succeeded by	Pádraig Faulkner
Personal details
Born	25 December 1912(1912-12-25) Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland
Died	6 May 1983(1983-05-06) (aged 70) Dublin, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Alma mater	University College Dublin
Occupation	Solicitor
Religion	Roman Catholic

Micheál Ó Móráin (25 December 1912 – 6 May 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, who served in a wide number of Cabinet minister from 1957 until 1970, most notably as Minister for Justice and Minister for the Gaeltacht.^[1]

Ó Móráin was born in County Mayo, hailing from a strong Republican family and family members had fought in the Irish War of Independence and in the Irish Civil War on the pro-Treaty side. A solicitor by profession, Ó Móráin was first elected to Dáil Éireann for the Mayo South constituency on his second attempt at the 1938 general election.^[2] He remained on the backbenches for a number of years until he was appointed to the cabinet by Éamon de Valera in 1957 as Minister for the Gaeltacht. He was a native Irish speaker. He was appointed Minister for Lands by Taoiseach Seán Lemass, in 1959 and was re-appointed to the Gaeltacht portfolio in 1961. He remained in these two Departments until 1968.

Ó Móráin was a very outspoken deputy. He habitually referred to a constituency opponent in the Dáil chamber as "The Maggot Durkan".^{[citation needed]} He also branded the then Labour Party as "left wing queers from Trinity College and Teilifís Éireann".^{[citation needed]} On at least one occasion he appeared at a State function, visibly worse from drink, and proceeded to harangue the various dignitaries, in particular the British Ambassador.^{[citation needed]}

Ó Móráin was appointed Minister for Justice by Taoiseach Jack Lynch in 1968. It is in this role that he is most remembered. Ó Móráin continually suffered from ill health, which was accentuated by his alcoholism. In 1970, while in hospital, Lynch came to see him and asked for his resignation as a result of the outbreak of the Arms Crisis. Lynch had received information that a number of Ministers were allegedly complicit in the importation of arms for use in Northern Ireland. Some hours later the other Ministers in question, Neil Blaney and Charles Haughey were asked to resign but refused to do so and were thus sacked. Recent evidence, from papers released under the thirty year rule, suggest that the Minister for Defence Jim Gibbons, was also named on the documentation given to Lynch, but his resignation was not asked for.

Ó Móráin later spoke of his experiences at this time. He claimed that the whole business of the Arms Trial was badly handled. He claimed that it was he who had unearthed the whole business of the arms, through undercover Garda Síochána who were working for him in Northern Ireland and that he told Lynch the identity of the person involved. He also claimed that Blaney and Haughey were not implicated with the arms in question and that the wrong people had been sacked. Ó Móráin lost his Dáil seat at the 1973 general election and retired from politics.

Ó Móráin died in Castlebar, County Mayo, on 6 May 1983.

References

1. ^ "Mr. Michael Moran". Oireachtas Members Database. http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=19&MemberID=778&ConstID=147. Retrieved 18 January 2011. 
2. ^ "Michael Moran". ElectionsIreland.org. http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1927. Retrieved 18 January 2011. 

Political offices
Preceded by Jack Lynch	Minister for the Gaeltacht 1957–1959	Succeeded by Gerald Bartley
Preceded by Erskine H. Childers	Minister for Lands 1959–1968	Succeeded by Pádraig Faulkner
Preceded by Gerald Bartley	Minister for the Gaeltacht 1961–1968
Preceded by Brian Lenihan	Minister for Justice 1968–1970	Succeeded by Desmond O'Malley

Persondata
Name	Omorain, Micheal
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 December 1912
Place of birth	Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland
Date of death	6 May 1983
Place of death	Dublin, Ireland