Tomás Mac Giolla

Tomás Mac Giolla (; born Thomas Richard Gill 25 January 1924 – 4 February 2010) was an Irish Workers' Party politician who served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1993 to 1994, Leader of the Workers' Party from 1962 to 1988 and President of Sinn Féin from 1962 to 1970. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency from 1982 to 1992.

Early life He was born Thomas Richard Gill in Nenagh, County Tipperary. His uncle T. P. Gill was a Member of Parliament (MP) and member of the Irish Parliamentary Party of Charles Stewart Parnell. Tomás's father Robert Paul Gill, an engineer and architect, also stood unsuccessfully for election on a number of occasions. His mother was Mary Hourigan.

Mac Giolla was educated at the local national school in Nenagh before completing his secondary education at St. Flannan's College, Ennis, County Clare. While at St. Flannan's, he changed to using the Irish language version of his name. He won a scholarship to University College Dublin where he qualified with a Bachelor of Arts degree, followed by a degree in Commerce.

A qualified Accountant, Mac Giolla was employed by the Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB) from 1947 until he went into full-time politics in 1977.

In his early life Mac Giolla was an active republican. He joined Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) around 1950. He was interned by the government of Ireland during the 1956–62 IRA border campaign. He also served a number of prison sentences in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin.

In 1961, he married May McLoughlin who was also an active member of Sinn Féin as well as of Cumann na mBan, the women's section of the IRA. She died on 24 March 2018.

Political career 1960s

At the 1961 general election, Mac Giolla unsuccessfully contested the Tipperary North constituency for Sinn Féin.

In 1962, he became president of Sinn Féin, and was part of the leadership that moved the party to the left during the 1960s.

In 1970, Sinn Féin split and Mac Giolla remained leader of Official Sinn Féin, with a faction led by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh initially known as Provisional Sinn Féin. Initially, Mac Giolla's approach to his former comrades in the Provisional movement was one of conciliation, though over time, bitterness emerged. He was firm in his belief that the rise of the Provisionals was largely due to support from elements within Fianna Fáil. As violence in Northern Ireland escalated, Mac Giolla reiterated that the Official IRA (OIRA) favoured mass popular resistance, but would resort to "retaliatory" military action when deemed necessary. In contrast, he condemned the Provisionals' armed struggle, labelling it both counterproductive and sectarian. This stance sometimes led to confusion.

1970s In November 1973 Tomás Mac Giolla addressed the World Congress of Peace Forces in Moscow, at a time when the Officials were becoming increasingly associated with Eastern Bloc socialism. While Mac Giolla had previously criticised the Soviet system, he never fully explained when or why his stance changed. He later suggested that Cuba would be a more suitable model for Ireland than the Eastern European states. Despite his prominent role, Mac Giolla was not the primary architect of these ideological shifts within the party. His more traditional republican outlook continued to cause unease among some members. As president of Official Sinn Féin, however, Mac Giolla played a crucial role in steering the party towards electoral politics, a process that was further solidified in 1977 when the party added "The Workers' Party" to its name. His popularity among the rank and file helped ease concerns within the movement, particularly for those who viewed the name change as a further departure from its republican roots. In 1982 the party became simply the Workers' Party. In 1988, he stepped down as party leader and was succeeded by Proinsias De Rossa. He served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1993 to 1994, the first Workers' Party councillor to serve as Lord Mayor, and remained a member of Dublin Corporation until 1998.

1990s to 2010 While president he was regarded as a mediator between the Marxist–Leninist wing headed by Seán Garland and the social democratic wing of Proinsias De Rossa. At the 1992 special Ardfheis he voted for the motion to abandon democratic centralism and to re-constitute the party much as the Italian Communist Party became the Democratic Party of the Left. However the motion failed to reach the required two-thirds majority and after the departure of six Workers' Party TDs led by De Rossa to form the new Democratic Left party in 1992, Mac Giolla was the sole member of the Workers' Party in the Dáil. He lost his Dáil seat at the general election later that year by a margin of just 59 votes to Liam Lawlor of Fianna Fáil.

Election results Elections to the DáilPartyElection Result Tipperary North 1961 1,123 4.4 Eliminated on count 1/3 Dublin South-West 1976 by-election 1,679 6.7 Eliminated on count 4/6 Dublin Ballyfermot 1977 1,385 5.4 Eliminated on count 5/8 Dublin West 1981 1,678 3.6 Eliminated on count 7/12 Dublin West February 1982 3,285 7.3 Eliminated on count 7/9 Dublin West 1982 by-election 6,357 14.8 Eliminated on count 2/3 Dublin West November 1982 6,844 14.7 Elected on count 5/8 Dublin West 1987 6,651 12.9 Elected on count 13/17 Dublin West 1989 8,218 17.1 Elected on count 1/12 Dublin West 1992 2,726 7.3 Eliminated on count 14/14 Dublin West 1996 by-election 2,909 10.2 Eliminated on count 9/11 Dublin West 1997 1,135 2.8 Eliminated on count 2/9

Publications The Great Irish Oil & Gas Robbery (1974). .