The Clann: The Story of Clann Na Poblachta

Clann na Poblachta was formed in 1946 to offer an alternative to De Valera's Fianna Fail. With the other opposition parties divided, the Clann offered the electorate a mix of radical economic and traditional Republican policies. The party sought to appeal to those associated with the struggle for Independence and a younger generation for whom those years were a distant memory. In the 1948 election, the Clann won ten seats and entered the country's first coalition government. This Inter-Party Government was to break up over the recriminations of the Mother and Child Affair, but not before it established the IDA, eradicated TB and began the process of economic planning. A very divided Clann fought on. It supported the second Inter-Party Government from the Opposition benches. In 1957, MacBride lost his Dail seat and the party went into terminal decline. There were merger talks with Labour, but eventually with MacBride leaving Ireland, Clann na Poblachta was wound up in 1965.