Garret FitzGerald - Minister For Foreign Affairs

Minister For Foreign Affairs

After the 1973 general election Fine Gael came to power in a coalition government with the Labour Party with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach. FitzGerald hoped that he would take over as Minister for Finance, particularly after a good performance in a pre-election debate with the actual Minister for Finance, George Colley. However the position went to Richie Ryan, with FitzGerald becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was a case of history repeating itself as FitzGerald's father had held that post in a government led by Liam Cosgrave's father W. T. Cosgrave fifty years earlier. His appointment to Iveagh House (the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs) would have a huge effect on FitzGerald's own career and the future of Fine Gael. Cosgrave was suspicious of FitzGerald's liberal ideas and believed that he had designs on the leadership. During his period in foreign affairs, Fitzgerald, developed a good relationship with Liam Cosgrave and all the tension that had existed between them in opposition disappeared.

The minister's role had changed substantially since his father's day. Ireland was no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations but had in 1973 joined the European Economic Community (EEC), now known as the European Union (EU). FitzGerald, firmly ensconced as Foreign Minister, was free from any blame due to other Ministers mishandling of the economy. If anything his tenure at the Department of Foreign Affairs helped him to achieve the leadership of the party. His innovative views, energy and fluency in French won him — and through him, Ireland — a status in European affairs far exceeding the country's size and ensured that the first Irish Presidency of the European Council in 1975 was a noted success.

FitzGerald's policy towards Northern Ireland, however, brought him into confrontation with the Roman Catholic church, whose "special position" in the Republic had until the Referendumof December 1972 been enshrined in the Constitution. FitzGerald in 1973 met Cardinal Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli and proposed to further modify the Republic's Constitution to remove laws with overtly Catholic foundations, such as the bans on divorce and contraception, as well as to relax the public stigmas in Northern Ireland towards mixed religious marriages and integrated education. Casaroli at first seemed receptive, and the Government formally submitted the proposal to the Vatican. FitzGerald's vision caused great consternation among the church's hierarchy, however, and in 1977 Pope Paul VI personally met with FitzGerald to tell him that "Ireland was a catholic country — perhaps the only one left — and it should stay that way. Laws should not be changed in any way that would make the country less catholic."