Ireland and Spain 1931-1933. Divergent Republics

The paper examines the development of the fledgling diplomatic ties between the new Irish state and the recently established Spanish legation based in Dublin. It will analyse the formal establishment of political, cultural and social links developed in contemporary times between the two old historical allies that had previously been limited to polite lip-service; conditioned, in part, as they were by monarchical Madrid’s caution in regard to London and previous Spanish reluctance to engage with a rebellious state. 1931 signified a volte face in the relationship developing between Dublin and Madrid since the establishment of a Spanish consulate in Dublin in March 1924, facilitated by their commitment to the League of Nations, to which both were strongly committed in the 1920s. This paper will illustrate how the declaration of the II Republic in Spain was a crossroads in the relationship between these two nations. The roles of ‘rebel’ and ‘traditionalist’ state had been instantly switched. The Church and much of the new political elite in Ireland viewed republican reforms in Spain with ever growing and public distaste creating conflict among Irish republicanism, post-independence. The main Spanish republican representative in Ireland in this 1931-33 period, Emilio Sanz y Tovar, became very sensitive to these schisms as he tried to cement political and socio-economic ties with his Irish hosts.