Mulcahy Memo of 18th March and
Executive Response
Introduction from
Chronology
Mulcahy sends memo to GHQ saying that all members of the army who
removed material from barracks or who were absent from duty had until March 20th
to return the material. Afterwards, they were to be allowed out under
open arrest.
Gearoid O’Sullivan, Adjutant General, sent the detailed orders to
the officers commanding. In particular, he said that the men were allowed out
under open arrest (parole) until the time fixed for the investigation of the
charges against such persons.
More Detail
Mulcahy was against the lenient
treatment of the Old IRA officers. There was ambiguity which was
interpreted differently by Executive Council; GHQ; McGrath and the Old
IRA.
Mulcahy and GHQ understood the
Executive Council orders applied only to mutinous officers who handed
themselves over and did not cancel previous orders to arrest Tobin and
Dalton.
McGrath said that he told the
mutineers that “they would have to surrender their arms and go through whatever
machinery was necessary to maintain discipline in the Army and to get back to
their positions and to do what they could in restoring the status quo”.
Cabinet wanted the mutineers to
turn themselves in as quickly as possible so as to avoid precipitous actions
while the Old IRA probably thought that at a minimum they would get status
quo ante with an investigation into their grievances. These
ambiguities were to cause difficulties.
The situation was even more
ambiguous because the cabinet has decided to appoint O’Duffy as General
Officer Commanding Defence Forces but his exact powers were not
clarified. On March 14th, cabinet also appointed O’Duffy as
Inspector General of the Defence Forces. They charged him with inquiring into
the organisation and administration of the Forces and that the exact powers
should be prepared by the Attorney General in consultation with the Minister of
Defence.
However, O’Duffy questioned
whether he was to have full authority and control over the Army. On March
18th, the cabinet decided that the powers of the Inspector General
were agreed and were to be gazetted immediately and that the Attorney General
and the Minister of Defence should prepare a formal statement of the powers and
functions of the General Officer Commanding of the Defence Forces and it should
be submitted to the Executive Council (cabinet) the following day.