Second Dáil facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Second Dáil
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Overview
Legislative body	Dáil Éireann
Jurisdiction	Irish Republic
Meeting place	Mansion House, Dublin
Term	16 August 1921 – 16 June 1922
Election	1921 Irish elections
Government	Government of the 2nd Dáil
Members	180 (128+52)
Ceann Comhairle	Eoin MacNeill
President of Dáil Éireann / President of the Irish Republic	Éamon de Valera (1921–22) Arthur Griffith (1922)
Sessions
1st 16 August 1921 – 8 June 1922

The Second Dáil (which means An Dara Dáil in Irish) was a very important meeting of the Irish parliament called Dáil Éireann. It met from August 16, 1921, to June 8, 1922. From 1919 to 1922, Dáil Éireann was the parliament of the self-declared Irish Republic.

The Second Dáil was made up of members chosen in the 1921 Irish elections. Only members from the Sinn Féin political party took their seats. On January 7, 1922, this Dáil approved the Anglo-Irish Treaty. This treaty was approved by 64 votes to 57. It brought an end to the War of Independence. The treaty also led to the creation of the Irish Free State on December 6, 1922.

How the 1921 Election Worked

Since 1919, members of Sinn Féin who were elected in the 1918 Irish general election had refused to sit in the British Parliament. Instead, they created their own Irish parliament, Dáil Éireann. They called themselves Teachtaí Dála, or TDs for short.

In December 1920, during the War of Independence, the British Government passed a law. This law, called the Government of Ireland Act 1920, planned to divide Ireland into two parts. Each part would have its own local parliament.

In May 1921, the first elections for these new parliaments were held. These were for the parliament in Northern Ireland and the parliament in Southern Ireland. On May 10, 1921, the Dáil decided that these elections would also count as elections for Dáil Éireann.

Election Results and TDs

In the elections for Southern Ireland, almost all seats were won without anyone running against them. Sinn Féin won 124 out of 128 seats. Four seats were won by Independent Unionists from Dublin University.

In the election for Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionist Party won 40 out of 52 seats. Sinn Féin and the Nationalist Party each won 6 seats. Five of the six Sinn Féin members who won in Northern Ireland also won seats in Southern Ireland. So, when the Second Dáil met, there were 125 Sinn Féin TDs.

The Second Dáil welcomed a suggestion from King George V on June 22, 1921. This suggestion was for a Truce, which is a stop to fighting. The Truce began on July 11, 1921. This allowed the Dáil to meet openly for the first time since 1919. Before this, it had been banned and had to meet in secret.

The Anglo-Irish Treaty

During the time of the Second Dáil, the Irish Republic and the British Government agreed to talk about peace. Éamon de Valera was the President of Dáil Éireann at this time. To make his position stronger for the talks, the Dáil changed its rules in August 1921. They gave him the title President of the Republic. This made him the head of the Irish state. This change was meant to show the British that the talks were between two independent states.

Signing and Debating the Treaty

On September 14, 1921, the Dáil officially chose five people to go to the peace talks in England. These people were Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Robert Barton, Eamonn Duggan, and George Gavan Duffy. Three of them (Collins, Griffith, and Barton) were also part of the Irish government.

These five people eventually signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December 6. The Second Dáil only met for 10 days between the Truce and the signing of the Treaty. They did not discuss the treaty in great detail before it was signed.

The debate about the Treaty started on December 14 and lasted for thirteen days. On January 7, 1922, the Dáil voted to approve the treaty. The vote was 64 in favor and 57 against. These debates were the first time Sinn Féin openly discussed what they had achieved.

After the Vote: New Leaders

After the vote, Éamon de Valera, who was against the Treaty, resigned as president. He was nominated again but lost the vote, 60 to 58. Arthur Griffith then became the new president. Even though they were against the Treaty, de Valera and his supporters continued to attend the Dáil. De Valera became the first Leader of the Opposition in the Dáil.

The Treaty said it needed to be approved by "a meeting... of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland." The Dáil vote didn't quite meet this because some members were missing. The official approval happened at a separate meeting on January 14, 1922. This meeting was attended by the Unionists and boycotted by the anti-Treaty TDs.

This meeting also approved a Provisional Government led by Michael Collins. This government worked alongside Griffith's Dáil government.

What Happened Next: New Parliaments

The Treaty also said that a new assembly would be elected. This assembly would create a Constitution for the Irish Free State. This new constitution would start on December 6, 1922. This assembly would also act as a "Provisional Parliament" to oversee the Provisional Government.

This election for the new assembly was held on June 16, 1922. The Second Dáil had approved this election on May 20. On June 8, 1922, the Second Dáil decided to "adjourn to Friday, 30th June, 1922." This meant they planned to meet again later.

The Start of the Civil War

However, the Irish Civil War began on June 28. Because of the fighting, the planned meeting of the Second Dáil on June 30 did not happen. The new Provisional Parliament's first meeting was also delayed until September 9. By then, Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith had both passed away. The Dáil government and the Provisional Government were combined under William T. Cosgrave.

On December 6, 1922, the new Constitution and the Irish Free State officially began. The Provisional Parliament became the lower house of the Free State's parliament, called the Oireachtas. The Civil War continued until May 1923.

Different Views on the Dáil's Future

During the Civil War, Éamon de Valera and other supporters of the Irish Republic argued that the Second Dáil was still the true and legal parliament of the Irish Republic. They believed it never truly ended.

In the British system, a parliament usually ends before a new election. But the Irish leaders wanted to make sure there was no break in the government. They worried that if the old Dáil ended, and then an election couldn't happen because of fighting, there would be no government at all.

Because no clear transfer of power happened, some republicans claimed the Second Dáil was still the only real parliament. They said the new assembly was not legitimate. This meant they also believed the Free State and its constitution were not legitimate. Because of this, anti-Treaty TDs refused to take their seats in the new parliament.

A few secret meetings of the "Second Dáil" were held by anti-Treaty TDs. In October 1922, they appointed a republican government led by de Valera.

Later Developments

In 1926, de Valera started a new political party called Fianna Fáil. This party took a more practical approach to opposing the Free State. The next year, they decided to stop refusing to take their seats and entered the Free State Dáil.

De Valera became leader in 1932. In 1937, he suggested a new Constitution for Ireland, which was approved by the people. This helped to settle questions about the state's legitimacy.

In December 1938, some of the TDs elected in 1921 who still believed the Second Dáil was the last true Dáil met. They signed over what they believed was the authority of the Irish government to the IRA Army Council. They said this would last until a new Dáil could be democratically elected by all of Ireland. From then on, the IRA Army Council saw itself as the true government of the Irish Republic.

Today, some smaller political groups still believe the Second Dáil was the last true Irish parliament.

See also

• Members of the 2nd Dáil
• History of Ireland
• First Dáil