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The Farmers' Party or Farmers' Union was an agrarian political party in the Irish Free State between 1922 and 1932. It was concerned almost exclusively with the interests of the agricultural community, and never sought to widen its scope beyond the countryside.
The party won seven seats in Dáil Éireann at the 1922 general election, the first in the Free State, and increased that total to fifteen in the 1923 election. These seats were concentrated in richer rural areas, an indicator that the party's support base was farmers with large holdings of land rather than the more numerous and poorer small farmers. At the 1925 Seanad election, the party won three seats.
During the 1920s, the Farmers' Party supported the Cumann na nGaedheal government. Support was strongest among the deputies who supported free trade. Among these members were the party leadership, particularly leader Denis Gorey, who proposed a merger of the Farmers' Party with Cumann na nGaedheal. Supporters of protectionism favoured continuation as an independent party, more criticism of the government, and from 1926 co-operation with the Fianna Fáil party, founded in 1926. This division, between the more conservative free-trading large farmers and the more radical protectionist small farmers, harmed the party and eventually led to the partitioning of its votes between the two main parties. The pro-independence side won the tactical debate, and Gorey joined Cumann na nGaedheal before for the June 1927 general election.
The party lost nine of its fifteen TDs during 1927 to defections and two election defeats. It continued to support the Cumann na Gaedheal government throughout the late 1920s, most importantly in the vote of no confidence that preceded the September 1927 election. After that election, Farmers' Party leader Michael Heffernan was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to ensure his party's support for the resulting minority government. Heffernan would himself join Cumann na nGaedheal before the subsequent election.
By the 1930s, the party had little representation and less hope for an independent future. The party's large farmer supporters had migrated to Cumann na nGaedheal, while it had never truly succeeded in becoming the dominant party among small farmers, whose affinity was with Fianna Fáil. After the 1932 general election, only a small core of intransigents unwilling to co-operate with either Cumann na nGaedheal or Fianna Fáil remained in Dáil Éireann. Later in 1932, the Farmers' Party disbanded and these three TDs joined the new National Centre Party, contesting the 1933 election under that banner.
In the late 1930s attempts were made to found a new farmers' party. A new party, the Irish Farmers' Federation, split over the issue of derating; many small farmers were opposed to such a measure, believing that the increase in indirect taxation which would be sure to result would harm their interests. These small farmers set up Clann na Talmhan, which was launched in 1938. It was much more radical and left-wing than the original Farmers' Party, and was supported mainly by small farmers.
Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2005). Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organisations. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN978-0-8264-5814-8.
Manning, Maurice (1972). Irish Political Parties: An Introduction. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN978-0-7171-0536-6.
farmers, party, ireland, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, c. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Farmers Party Ireland news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Farmers Party or Farmers Union was an agrarian political party in the Irish Free State between 1922 and 1932 It was concerned almost exclusively with the interests of the agricultural community and never sought to widen its scope beyond the countryside Farmers PartyLeaderDenis Gorey 1922 1927 Patrick Baxter 1927 Michael Heffernan 1927 1932 Founded1922Dissolved1932IdeologyAgrarianismPolitics of the Republic of IrelandPolitical partiesElectionsMichael Heffernan was the party s third and final leader Contents 1 History 2 General election results 3 References 3 1 Books 4 See alsoHistory editThe party won seven seats in Dail Eireann at the 1922 general election the first in the Free State and increased that total to fifteen in the 1923 election These seats were concentrated in richer rural areas an indicator that the party s support base was farmers with large holdings of land rather than the more numerous and poorer small farmers At the 1925 Seanad election the party won three seats During the 1920s the Farmers Party supported the Cumann na nGaedheal government Support was strongest among the deputies who supported free trade Among these members were the party leadership particularly leader Denis Gorey who proposed a merger of the Farmers Party with Cumann na nGaedheal Supporters of protectionism favoured continuation as an independent party more criticism of the government and from 1926 co operation with the Fianna Fail party founded in 1926 This division between the more conservative free trading large farmers and the more radical protectionist small farmers harmed the party and eventually led to the partitioning of its votes between the two main parties The pro independence side won the tactical debate and Gorey joined Cumann na nGaedheal before for the June 1927 general election The party lost nine of its fifteen TDs during 1927 to defections and two election defeats It continued to support the Cumann na Gaedheal government throughout the late 1920s most importantly in the vote of no confidence that preceded the September 1927 election After that election Farmers Party leader Michael Heffernan was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to ensure his party s support for the resulting minority government Heffernan would himself join Cumann na nGaedheal before the subsequent election By the 1930s the party had little representation and less hope for an independent future The party s large farmer supporters had migrated to Cumann na nGaedheal while it had never truly succeeded in becoming the dominant party among small farmers whose affinity was with Fianna Fail After the 1932 general election only a small core of intransigents unwilling to co operate with either Cumann na nGaedheal or Fianna Fail remained in Dail Eireann Later in 1932 the Farmers Party disbanded and these three TDs joined the new National Centre Party contesting the 1933 election under that banner In the late 1930s attempts were made to found a new farmers party A new party the Irish Farmers Federation split over the issue of derating many small farmers were opposed to such a measure believing that the increase in indirect taxation which would be sure to result would harm their interests These small farmers set up Clann na Talmhan which was launched in 1938 It was much more radical and left wing than the original Farmers Party and was supported mainly by small farmers General election results editElection Seats won Position First Pref votes Government Leader1922 7 128 nbsp 7 nbsp 4th 48 718 7 8 Opposition Denis Gorey1923 15 153 nbsp 8 nbsp 3rd 127 184 12 1 Opposition Denis Gorey1927 Jun 11 153 nbsp 4 nbsp 4th 101 955 8 9 Opposition supported CnG Minority Gov t Michael Heffernan1927 Sep 6 153 nbsp 5 nbsp 4th 74 626 6 4 Arrangement with CnG Minority Gov t Michael Heffernan1932 3 153 nbsp 3 nbsp 4th 22 899 1 8 OppositionReferences editBooks edit Barberis Peter McHugh John Tyldesley Mike 2005 Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organisations London Continuum International Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 8264 5814 8 Manning Maurice 1972 Irish Political Parties An Introduction Dublin Gill and Macmillan ISBN 978 0 7171 0536 6 See also editCategory Farmers Party Ireland politicians Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Farmers 27 Party Ireland amp oldid 1173935248, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
