BACK PAGES June 12th 1939:GENERAL EOIN O'Duffy was one of the most controversial figures in Irish politics in the 1930s. Having begun as a member of the IRA during the War of Independence, he became a general in the Free State Army and Garda Commissioner before being fired by Fianna Fáil when it came into power in 1932.
He subsequently organised the Army Comrades Association which modelled itself on continental fascists and was popularly known as the Blueshirts; became leader of Fine Gael (but not its Dáil leader) briefly; formed the fascist National Corporate Party; and led the Irish Brigade fighting for Franco in the Spanish Civil War. It did not cover itself in glory but O’Duffy remained a central political figure on his return, as two reports in The Irish Times in 1939 testify:
New Party in Irish Politics
Former Blue Shirts Will be Members
A NEW political party is about to be launched in this country, it is learned from a reliable source.
Prominently associated with the new party will be General Eoin O’Duffy, former Chief Commissioner of the Civic Guards, subsequently director of the Blue Shirt organisation, and later leader of the Irish Brigade venture in the Spanish Civil War.
General O’Duffy, who, since his return from Spain with the volunteers, has been writing the story of the Brigade, and an autobiography (not yet finished), has been keeping in close touch with the men he led.
Conferences, in which he is understood to have taken a major part, have been held in Dublin recently, and circulars have been sent to many of his former colleagues seeking their further co-operation.
Plans for the new party are still more or less in the initial stages, but a statement is expected from the leaders in about a week’s time. It is stated, however, that the party will not be launched for about six months.
A member of the former Blue Shirt organisation, who has been associated with the general for some years, remarked to an Irish Times reporter last night: “O’Duffy is not finished yet.” He made this statement when asked to confirm the news that the general was the leader of a new political movement about to be launched. Asked if the Blue Shirt organisation was about to be resurrected, he said: “You cannot resurrect in that way something that no longer exists. But you can have an organisation consisting of the old personnel and certain other new elements. I cannot give any information about that.”
Pressed for further details, our informant repeated: “General O’Duffy is not finished, from the point of view of public service. Certain things have been happening in this country, and the general will take part in them. In the new organisation that is arising you will have an alignment of parties, in the course of the next six months or so. The general is playing a prominent part in that, and there are things happening behind the scenes at the moment. That is all I will say.” The new party will have no connection with the United Ireland Party .
Nothing came of the new O’Duffy party and he died in 1944. Meanwhile, General Franco thanked O’Duffy for his messages of support “on the victory of the Spanish Army in defence of Christianity, occidental civilisation and humanity, over the forces of destruction and disorder”. In a similar message to O’Duffy, both reported in today’s paper in 1939, the Archbishop of Toledo expressed his “admiration for noble and Catholic Ireland, from whom Spain received encouragement and sympathy during the hardest moments of her struggle for the faith.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1939/0612/Pg007.html#Ar00702