Thursday, July 06, 2006
Comparison
The presence of such personalities as Franco, Salazar or DeValera in European politics guaranteed Europe's preservance of traditional values. We lack such men of action these days
So says some Polish MEP opposed to a European Parliament statement of condemnation (Franco quivers in his grave) of the Spanish dictatorship.
While we in Ireland are, of course, flattered that our contribution to the struggle against Communism has been recognised by our Polish friends, this is unfair on Dev. He was, after all, a democrat, at least after the foundation of Fianna Fáil in 1926. (His line against the Treaty had been, of course, that "the majority have no right to do wrong". I might come back to the undemocratic nature of the anti-Treatyites in a later post about Ken Loach's new film.)
He (Dev) also took some flak for remaining neutral between Franco and the Republic - flak for not backing the generals, that is.
But I think the Salazar comparison has been made in rather more reputable quarters than the Polish right. I think Tom Garvin makes it at some point in Preventing the Future. This, no doubt, demands some research, which I won't be doing right now.
(Via Back Seat Drivers.)
