Executive Council Committee on Demobilisation

Introduction from Chronology

Executive Council (Cabinet) of the Free State government sets up a cabinet committee on demobilisation consisting of MacNeill, Blythe and McGrath. 

More Detail

Committee is empowered to hear the complaints of pre-Truce officers concerning dismissals; to evaluate complaints about the retention of ex-British Army officers and to investigate the circumstances around the arrest of the Curragh officers earlier in the month. 

The committee received applications from 60 men (most of whom had been involved in the Curragh affair) but none were re-instated.  Nevertheless, Valiulis thinks that setting-up the committee set a bad precedent.  “By refusing to uphold the decision of the leaders of the army vis-à-vis demobilisation, the Cabinet gave some credence to the contention of the old I.R.A. that the army authorities were acting unfairly.  … and made it more likely that the Tobin-Dalton group would cause further difficulties in the future.”

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