Dr. Garret FitzGerald reflects on “Ireland’s Past Success – And Current Crisis”Thursday, May 14th at 7pm
at Glucksman Ireland House
Glucksman Ireland House NYU, the Irish Business Organization (IBO), Irish Network-NYC (IN-NYC), the Irish-American Bar Association of New York (IABANY) and the Consulate General of Ireland in New York are pleased to announce a special evening with Dr. Garret FitzGerald reflecting on “Ireland’s Past Success – And Current Crisis.”
This event is now full, and we are no longer accepting reservations.
Directions to Glucksman Ireland House NYU.
See a full list of Spring 2009 public events at Glucksman Ireland House NYU.
Full biography for Dr. Garret FitzGerald:
Garret FitzGerald was born in 1926. His parents were active in Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence. His father, Desmond FitzGerald, served as Minister for External Affairs 1923–1927 and as Minister of Defence 1927–1932. Educated at Belvedere College and University College, Dublin, Dr. FitzGerald worked as a strategic economic planner (Aer Lingus), journalist, and university lecturer in economics. He became a Senator (Fine Gael) in 1965 and was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1969. He served as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Liam Cosgrave Fine Gael administration from 1973–1977. As such he played a leading role in the Sunningdale Conference, December 1973, which led to a very brief power-sharing administration in Northern Ireland. In June 1977 he became leader of the Fine Gael party, and Taoiseach in June 1981. One of his objects in politics was to advocate liberalization and non-sectarianism in southern Irish society, and his pledge to work to this end became known as his "constitutional crusade". His government lost office over a budgetary issue in February 1982 but regained power in December 1982. His "constitutional crusade" proved influential, but in the short-term, unsuccessful in that Catholic pressure groups, in part inspired by the Pope's visit to Ireland in 1979, succeeded in getting both major political parties to agree a referendum to render abortion unconstitutional as well as illegal, and this passed in September 1983. FitzGerald attempted a second constitutional amendment in June 1986, this time to delete the constitutional prohibition on divorce, but once again the conservative Catholic position triumphed at the referendum. Deep economic recession dominated the decade and pursuit of ‘fiscal rectitude’ in government and public spending produced tensions between Fine Gael and their political partner, the Labour Party.
FitzGerald had significant and enduring success in Anglo-Irish relations and in providing Northern Irish nationalists with an alternative way forward to that then held out by republicanism. His New Ireland Forum, was convened in 1983 and reported in 1984, and his subsequent negotiation with Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government yielded the crucially significant Anglo-Irish Agreement of November 1985. This marked a major constitutional amendment to the 1920-1921 political settlement, vis-à-vis Northern Ireland, and laid the foundation for future cooperation in the 1980s and 1990s between the Republic and United Kingdom governments in advancing a "peace process" in Northern Ireland. FitzGerald resigned the party leadership after his government lost the February 1987 election and he retired fully from politics in 1992. Dr. FitzGerald’s best-selling autobiography, All in a Life, was published in 1991. Recent publications include: Reflections on the Irish State: Ireland since Independence (2003) and Ireland in the World: Further Reflections (2005). Dr. FitzGerald served as Chancellor of the National University of Ireland from 1987-2009 and he maintains a busy schedule of research and speaking engagements.
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