Seán Lemass correctly prophesied that increasing affluence would not necessarily make people content with their governments, it would instead increase demands on the State. Lemass believed de Valera’s great strength was that he could “provoke amongst the people intense personal loyalty or intense personal hatred. [ ‘An old man in a hurry’ – John Mulqueen on Seán LemassOpens in new window ]Lemass saw this as a strength, not a weakness. Lemass often thought that “the taking of a decision was perhaps even more important than the soundness of the decision”. In the end, Lemass concluded that their decision making was no better than his, for all the agonising that they did.

Source: The Irish Times March 15, 2026 06:12 UTC