Cumman na nGaedheal Meeting
At this meeting,
McGrath states that mutiny was a faction fight between the Old IRA and the
IRB. He said he tried to be a bridge between the two groups but
failed. He goes onto say that the government had misinterpreted the March
6th letter from Tobin and Dalton saying that all they wanted was a
meeting “to discuss what they considered a departure from the real Treaty
position”. Valiulis points out that McGrath
ignored that a number of meetings had taken place between the Old IRA and
government ministers since the previous summer and she
goes on to say that “More importantly, it glossed over the fact that the
mutineers were demanding power within the army and threatening armed rebellion
if the government did not acquiesce”. In the letter of the 6th
March, the Old IRA were seeking power within the army but there is no explicit
threat of armed rebellion. There is rather the ominous threat to “take such action that will make clear to the Irish
people that we are not renegades or traitors to the ideals that induced them to
accept the Treaty”. It does go on to say that “Our Organisation fully
realises the seriousness of the action that we may be compelled to take, but we
can no longer be party to the treachery that threatens to destroy the
aspirations of the Nation.” By any measure this is serious
insubordination. McGrath tries to justify their action by saying that
“the rebellious officers were old friends, former comrades … and hence could
not be expected to adhere to a strict disciplinary code”. Mulcahy did not intervene extensively in the party
debate. Valiulis suggests that this may have
been because (1) he did not want to discuss army affairs at a party meeting;
(2) he did not want to reveal the extent of discussions with the mutineers
since last summer or (3) there were current discussions with the mutineers
which he did not wish to jeopardise. McGrath later said that that it was
agreed at this meeting that “That the men concerned
in the recent trouble in the Army undertake to undo, so far as they can, the
mischief created by their action, and on their so doing the incident will be
regarded as closed.” However, this was disputed by others present, in
particular O’Higgins. One effect of the mutiny was to strengthen
the hand of those within the cabinet (such as O’Higgins and Hogan) who wanted
changes to the army, particularly to route out the
influence of the IRB, especially among GHQ staff.