Lemass, Sean

Lemass, Sean (b. 15 July 1899, d. 11 May 1971). Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of the Irish Republic 1959–66 Born in Ballybrack, Co. Dublin, he joined the Irish Volunteers (militant nationalists) at age 15. He fought in the 1916 Easter Rising, and on the anti-treaty side in the Irish Civil War (1922–3). He was captured by the Free State forces and imprisoned from December 1922 to December 1923. He was a founding member of Fianna Fáil, and helped build its organization at the grass roots. He entered Dáil Éireann (the Irish Parliament) in 1925 for Dublin city and remained its member until his retirement in 1969. He became Minister for Industry and Commerce in de Valera's governments (1932–48, 1951–4, 1957–9). He succeeded de Valera as Taoiseach in June 1959. Lemass spent most of his premiership building up industry. He used tariffs, ‘tax holidays’ for foreign companies settling in Ireland, and the establishment of new government-commerce cooperative bodies to promote native industry. The economy improved significantly in the early 1960s, and Lemass laid the plans for Ireland's entry in the European Economic Community (which eventually bore fruit in 1973). His other major accomplishment was his meeting in 1965 with the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, O'Neill, and his instigation of a more pragmatic attitude towards the north. Upon his retirement, he was succeeded by Jack Lynch.