Francis Ward

Francis Constantine "Conn" Ward (born February 12, 1891 in Corlygorm , Donaghmoyne , County Monaghan , † December 15, 1966 in Dublin ) was an Irish politician of the Fianna Fáil . From 1932 to 1946 he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Administration and Health.

Life

Ward was born in 1891 to the farmer Patrick Ward and Elizabeth Ward (née Ruddin). He attended the Patrician Brothers School in Carrickmacross . While studying medicine at University College Dublin , he joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 . After completing his studies, he practiced as a doctor from 1915 to 1919 in Scotstown (Co. Mognaghan) and then until 1920 in Dundalk .

In the Irish War of Independence he fought as an officer in the IRA . At the armistice in 1921 he held the rank of Colonel-Cammandant. He was an opponent of the Anglo-Irish Treaty .

politics

Ward was vice chairman of Monaghan County Council . As the nominee-designate of Sinn Féin in the constituency of Monaghan North for the parliamentary elections in 1918 , he renounced in favor of Ernest Blythe . In 1926 he was one of the founding members of Fianna Fáil. In the general election in June 1927 Ward took on, but could not win a seat. In the following election in September 1927 he was elected to the Dáil Éireann , the Irish Parliament, to which he was a member until 1948.

From 1932 to 1946 Ward was Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of Local Administration and Health, responsible for Health and Welfare. During his tenure, the hospital system was expanded. Attempts at rationalization and better coordination in the hospitals failed, however, because of the lack of interest in the government and resistance in the health system. During the Second World War the weaknesses of the health system became apparent, Ireland had an extraordinarily high rate of tuberculosis and type diseases.

In 1945 Ward proposed a major health reform, the Public Health Bill . It included free medical care, largely financed by taxes. Doctors should be integrated into a state health system and only a small private sector should remain. The reform met with bitter resistance, especially against the comprehensive powers to quarantine orders for infections and the mandatory examinations of students.

Ward was designated minister for the newly created health ministry in 1947, but fell victim to a political scandal. After John MacCarvill was sacked as manager of the Monaghan Curing Company, a cured ham owned by Ward's family, MacCarvill's brother Patrick, a former MP and chairman of the Irish Medical Association, made serious charges against Ward. He accused Ward of mismanagement and corruption. A committee of inquiry exonerated Ward of all allegations with one exception, the incorrect declaration of income from the company. Ward resigned on June 13, 1946 and, bitter over the lack of support from his party colleagues, left Fianna Fáil in September. In the next election in 1948 , in which Ward no longer ran, Fianna Fáil, who had ruled since 1932, suffered a defeat.

Ward worked after the end of his political career as a doctor for the Monaghan County Council and was appointed to the health committee in 1953. Ward died on December 15, 1966 in a nursing home in Dublin.

literature

• Lawrence William White: Ward, Francis Constantine ('FC', 'Con') . In: James McGuire, James Quinn (Eds.): Dictionary of Irish Biography . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009 ( online [accessed July 5, 2020]).

Web links

• Dr. FC Ward. Houses of the Oireachtas, accessed July 5, 2020 . 
• Conn Ward. In: ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved July 5, 2020 .