army mutiny

army mutiny (1924), a confrontation initiated by IRA veterans within the Free State army, who on 6 March presented a memorandum to government demanding the suspension of post‐Civil War demobilization, and discussions on progress beyond the Anglo‐Irish treaty to a republic. Cosgrave insisted on submission to military discipline, but promised an inquiry. On the night of 18–19 March troops arrested dissident officers gathered in a Dublin pub. The cabinet demanded the resignation of the adjutant general and two other senior officers, and accepted that of Richard Mulcahy as minister of defence, on the grounds that this action had not been properly authorized. Ministers also condemned Mulcahy and his staff for encouraging the continued existence within the army of the IRB, whose supposed clandestine influence had been another source of discontent. Although government claimed to have vindicated the supremacy of civilian over military authority, the peaceful resolution of the crisis depended heavily on the willingness of those who had confronted the ‘mutineers’ to be offered as sacrifices. Meanwhile the departure of Mulcahy and of Joseph McGrath, minister of industry and commerce, who had resigned in sympathy with the dissident officers, left the conservative wing of Cumann na nGaedheal, headed by O'Higgins, in undisputed control.