Fionnán Sheahan: Echoes of Dev in Micheál and Simon’s purity test to keep ‘criminals’ out of the Dáil – when it suits

"All of the Fianna Fáil TDs for Kerry between 1926 and 1933 had been members of the IRA during the War of Independence and the Civil War. Many of them would continue to maintain open links with the IRA into the early 1930s even when Fianna Fáil and the IRA became increasingly alienated from each other. For example, Jack Flynn, a TD from 1932, was charged for possession of ammunition and found to be in possession of IRA documents in 1928.” Owen O’Shea, ‘From Bullets to Ballots, Politics and el...