Moments In Irish Presidential History: Cearbhall O’ Dalaigh And
The “Thundering Disgrace”  Cearbhall O Dalaigh was a compromise
choice between the various parties to succeed the late Erskine
Childers. A Fianna Fail man with an extensive legal background
(A multi-time Attorney General and former Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court), his time in office was not expected to provide
any major problems.  Naturally, it ended up providing one of the
most unpleasant incidents of the office’s history.  The 1970’s
were a critical time for the island of Ireland, with “the
Troubles” in full swing in the north, the death toll rising all
the time.  The sitting Fine Gael government, led by Liam
Cosgrave, introduced many laws and initiatives to try and
curtail paramilitary activity and potential support for the IRA
in the south. In this, they clashed with O’ Dalaigh, who was a
major critic of things like “Section 31” of the Broadcasting
Act, which forbade the voices of Sinn Fein members being heard
on air. The relationship bet