These two books are natural complements to each other, covering notionally the same ground but in radically different ways. Diarmaid Ferriter, together with the assistance of his colleagues at the National Archives of Ireland, has put together a sampler of the vast and fascinating collection of documents and photographs housed there in connection with Irish local government. The book amounts to an illustrated informal social history of Ireland, at times hilarious, at times horrifying, and sometimes deeply gratifying. The long struggle between decentralisers, who called for more local democracy, and centralisers, who argued that local autonomy meant local corruption, is sketched - as is the long and still unfinished process by which central and local authorities supplied water, sewerage services, public health, housing, roads, local public order and regulation of food hygiene, often in the face of local indifference or even outright hostility.
The meritocratic recommendations of the Local Appointments Commission were frequently denounced by local democrats. In 1949, Oliver Flanagan demanded that a Laois man, rather than the recommended candidate, be appointed solicitor to the County Council: "I warn the Council, that if a Laois man is not appointed, they will hear more about it." If a Laois man wasn't appointed, they would be given someone from "Timbuctoo".
Resistance to the taking of land for redistribution or road building is no new thing; land has always had a particular grip on the Irish political psyche. In 1940, the authorities were informed: "By no means will I, John Fitzgerald of Clarina, allow any man to set foot inside my 27 acres of land to mark out a cottage plot, or in other words, to take from under my hands the only means of providing bread for my big young family while there is a farm of 100 acres close by with only a man and a dog to be provided for . . . I will fight as the men of 1916 and later did to hold my living."
The failure of the State to build a proper road network after the war because of local pressures is documented very vividly. Road mending was regarded as outdoor relief, a charity and a political perk rather than as the provision of an important service. Farmers often regarded such services as unnecessary and an expense which was unwelcome. The need to prevent actual starvation in some rural areas was focused on by local councils and is recorded here.
Efforts to improve the sanitary habits of the locals were not always well received. In 1955, Bridget Cunningham of Carrickmacross expressed a sturdy local independence of yeoman character: "When I want your opinion I'll ask for it. We want no dictation down here to tell us if we may keep pigs or hens in our backyards. You would do a better service for the community if you built houses for the working classes that they can afford to pay for. Nobody wants sanatoriums or big luxury buildings. Use more common sense, and there would be no need for half of them. Make work for the young boys and girls of our country. They should not all be for export."
There are happy endings as well: notwithstanding resistance to immunisation, James Deeny, chief medical adviser to the government, was able in 1958 to witness the end of the tuberculosis epidemic that had killed hundreds of thousands of people since 1900.
There are marvellous photographs of prominent personalities, including one of William O'Brien of the old Irish Parliamentary Party; James McPolin, county medical officer and anti-immunisation campaigner; Sean Mac-Entee; and my old friend and mentor, Tom Barrington. On a personal note, the book reconstructs the world of my father, who worked in local government all his adult life, and certainly knew most of these people well.
Mary Daly has put together a useful collection of Thomas Davis lectures on local government. The lectures were designed to be delivered in a 25-minute radio slot, and are therefore short, succinct and in many ways ideal introductions to the often knotty issues of local government in a small and highly politicised island community. Topics covered include the evolution of the county as a traditional entity from artificial beginnings, democratisation of local government after 1898, the Dβil take-over of the system in 1919-1921, the county manager system, housing programmes and much more.
These two books are essential for the library of any serious student of Irish politics.
Tom Garvin is professor of politics at University College Dublin. He is the author of several books on Irish politics, including 1922: The Birth of Irish Democracy