James Dillon (Fine Gael politician)

James Mathew Dillon (Irish Séamus Maitiú Diolún, born September 26, 1902 in Dublin, † February 10, 1986 in Ballaghadeerreen, County Mayo ) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and several times minister.

Biography

Dillon came from an Irish family of politicians, who had acquired services to the independence of Ireland. His grandfather, John Blake Dillon was a member in the 1840s of the Young Ireland movement. His father was John Dillon from 1880 to 1883 and then again from 1885 to 1918 Member of the House (House of Commons ). He is the brother of the scholars of Myles Dillon.

Dillon himself began his political career in 1932 when he was elected as a member of the National Centre Party for the first time to members of the lower house ( Dáil Éireann ), where he initially until 1937, the County Donegal represented. In September 1933, the National Centre Party merged with the Cumann na nGaedheal and the Army Comrades Association ( Blue Shirts) for Fine Gael. In 1933, he and William Thomas Cosgrave deputy Eoin O'Duffy, leader of the Fine Gael, and thus one of the main opposition politicians against the run of Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil.

In the general election of 1937 he was elected deputy for the County Monaghan and represented this until 1969. 1942 he joined, however, in protest against the supported by the Fine Gael policy of neutrality de Valera during the Second World War from the Fine Gael.

Nevertheless, he was appointed as an Independent of Taoiseach (Prime Minister ) John A. Costello in its Government in February 1948 to the Minister for Agriculture. He held until the end of Costello's term of office on June 13, 1951 this office. In 1951 he also joined the Fine Gael in again and belonged to the second government of Costello June 1954 to March 1957 again as Minister of Agriculture to.

In 1959, resigned both the Chairman of the Fine Gael, Richard Mulcahy, and Costello as their leader in the House, Dillon became successor in both positions, and combined these features for the first time since 1944. As party leader, he succeeded in particular the result of his party in the 1961 elections to improve, in which the Fine Gael rejected the plan of the Fianna Fáil the compulsory introduction of the Irish language in schools and in examinations for public service.

Although the Fine Gael could hold the elections in 1965 their result of 47 seats from 1961, Dillon resigned as Leader of the Fine Gael after the Fianna Fáil government under Prime Minister Seán Lemass achieved an absolute majority of just 50.0 percent. Successor as party chairman was William Cosgrave son Liam Cosgrave.

1966 renounced Dillon on the nomination for his party's candidates in the presidential elections in favor of the former health minister Thomas F. O'Higgins, who with only 1 percent difference extremely narrowly lost against President de Valera.