Hagiography?

Malcolm believes that no rose should bloom to blush unseen. So, he offers to his massed audience the following anonymous "comment":

How surprising that RTÉ's 'Hidden History' series should falsely accuse de Valera of being a Nazi sympathiser (see T. Ryle Dwyer's article in which he rejects this notion here. In a recent episode, they rationalised the actions of an actual fascist, Eoin O'Duffy, who tried to lead a coup against de Valera's government. Distortion is not a typical RTÉ tactic at all, at all. Malcolm has already drawn attention to the — ahem! — ambiguous attitude of De Valera to fascist and totalitarian régimes (as on last 29th August, in regard to Brian Girvin's book on The Emergency). Girvin was the only historian the programme could get to promote their "distortions", as T. Ryle Dwyer puts it. Any other Irish historian will laugh at the idea that de Valera was a closet fascist. Unlike Churchill, he never expressed his admiration for Hitler and Mussolini, and stated his opposition to fascist regimes.

[Warning: neither Malcolm nor his little elves could get this direct link to work. Your mileage may differ. There also seems to be no immediately-obvious access to this article through the main Irish Examiner webpage. Further advice welcome.]

This is, in all truth, one of the more printable responses that Malcolm's recent posting provoked (most have emailed abuse directly, so no need to search the "comments" for the filth). Quite why the use of the substantives "De Valera" and "Jew" in the same posting should cause such general aggravation and abuse escapes Malcolm totally.

Anyway, Malcolm (who is currently busy re-reading his biographies of De Valera) wants the record put straight, even for those who cannot read the whole posting:

• He does not, and has not accused De Valera of being a Nazi sympathiser (and, quite honestly, does not believe that RTÉ have done so). Anyway, Malcolm is edgy about any accusation beginning "They ...".
  
• He has no intention, at this stage, in getting involved in the notion that Churchill was an admirer of Mussolini or Hitler. However, it bewilders him that any mention of De Valera creates this curious need to make a parallel with Churchill.
• Or, quite frankly, that ODuffy could be "rationalised".
  
• What Malcolm does fret on is the way De Valera, and those around him, were attracted to the totalitarianism of, par example, Salazar and ["Not the nuclear option, Malcolm!"] Pius VI.
  
• His memory is that , above all, De Valera's Ireland in the late 1950s was a pretty dismal and philistine place.

Anyway, Malcolm is currently occupied. Throw your abuse this way. When he's finished his current book-pile: he's up for you. Sphere: Related Content