BOOK OF THE DAY:IVANA BACIK reviews No Coward Soul, A Biography of Thekla Beere, by Anna Bryson. IPA. Pp 213 . €20.
IN THESE difficult economic times, with a divide being manufactured between the public and private sectors, it is refreshing to read the life story of a truly dedicated civil servant.
Thekla Beere was the first woman to head up an Irish government department, becoming secretary of the department of transport and power in 1959. She stood out not only as a woman, but also as a Protestant – few non-Catholics were left at senior civil service grades by then.
Although “not known for radical new ideas”, Beere was capable and hard working. During her time as secretary, she oversaw many important initiatives, such as the development of the Irish aviation industry.
Subsequent to her retirement in 1966, she made her greatest contribution to Irish public life, serving as chair of the first commission on the status of women. Its 1972 report was described by Mary Robinson as “a charter for women in the modern Irish State”.
Remarkably, over half its recommendations were implemented within a few years. Beere also served in a variety of other public roles, president of An Óige and a member of The Irish Times Trustamong them.
Bryson’s meticulously researched text, based largely upon Beere’s own personal papers, offers an in-depth analysis of her career, and will make particularly interesting reading for students of public policy. Yet despite the detail provided on the workings of the civil service, and the inclusion of copious photographs, the book remains coy about Beere’s personal life.
She never married (the marriage bar would have required her to leave the civil service), but sustained a 40-year relationship with businessman JJ O’Leary, whose photograph is provided, but about whom little more is said. Other references are made to friends and family, but it is difficult to gain any sense of her as a real person.
This caveat aside, the book raises several political themes with contemporary resonance.
First, it charts the progress made in modernising the economy following the publication of Ken Whitaker’s first paper on economic development in 1958. Bryson writes that this prescribed “a move towards positive, interventionist economics”.
Second, Bryson provides interesting commentary on the growth of the semi-State sector during the 1950s and 1960s, and its domination by a few “giants” like CIÉ. She writes that the strength of these bodies thwarted the development of private industry, soaking up capital and managerial talent. Moreover, it was difficult to maintain any real supervisory role over the sector.
Finally, this account of Beere’s impressive career offers insight into the role of women at the time. Although not an overt feminist, and often critical of radical voices in the women’s movement, Beere did much to further the cause of gender equality in a practical way. Her name was even put forward as a potential presidential candidate in the 1970s; but since her death in 1991 she has faded from public view. Bryson’s very welcome book should revive her memory and restore her place in Irish history.
Indeed, as we recognise belatedly the enormous price to be paid for the reckless risk-taking by the men who have dominated the banking and financial sector, we might reflect on the need to celebrate the qualities for which Beere was admired: her diligence, honesty and integrity.
With International Women’s Day in mind, we should seek to emphasise these values in corporate governance.
Ivana Bacik is an independent Senator for Dublin University, a barrister, and Reid Professor of Criminal Law at Trinity College Dublin. She was elected to the Seanad for the first time in July 2007.