Rickard Joseph Gerard Deasy (13 March 1916 – 13 July 1999), born in

Terryglass Terryglass () is a village in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the north-eastern shore of Lough Derg (Shannon), Lough Derg, near where the River Shannon enters the lough, on the R493 road. Terryglass is also a civil parish ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

was a prominent farmers' rights campaigner in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Captain with the Irish army, and a member of the Labour Party. He was President of the National Farmers Association of Ireland between 1961 and 1967, and was the leader of a mass protest by Irish farmers in 1966.

Personal life

Rickard Deasy was the son of Major Henry Hugh Peter Deasy, founder of the Deasy Motor Car Company, and his wife Dolores Hickie, daughter of James and Lucilla Hickie and sister of Sir William Hickie; he was a grandson of the leading judge Rickard Deasy. He was educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. In 1961, he succeeded Dr. John Nassau Greene as President of the National Farmers' Association of Ireland.

Military career

Deasy joined the Irish Defence Forces on 5 September 1939 as a private. In 1940 he was commissioned lieutenant in the sixth field battery at Kildare Barracks, and would become commander of his unit. Later he became the instructor at the depot and school of artillery at Kildare. Before the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Deasy was the

officer commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

of the thirteenth field battery.

Farmers' Rights Campaign

In 1966, frustrated with the desperate economic situation of Irish farmers and the hostile Minister for Agriculture, Charlie Haughey, Deasy organised what was to be a 30,000-man walking protest from Cork to the Irish Parliament at

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. This was followed by a 20-day sit-in protest and a six-month campaign of civil disobedience by farmers, culminating in the

Irish Farmers' Association The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) (Irish: ''Feirmeoirí Aontaithe na hÉireann'') is a national organisation to represent the interests of all sectors of farming in Ireland. The IFA is Ireland's largest farming representative organisation an ...

being officially recognized by the Irish Government. Recognition of the Farmers' Association was seen as a major step forward for social partnership in Ireland, and a consultative approach to economic participation. It attracted widespread media attention, coming at a time of general distrust towards groups advocating greater economic equality. Deasy was at times accused of being a Marxist, which may have thwarted his electoral chances in a mainly rural constituency. His role in the farmers' movement was considered to have damaged the political aspirations of Charlie Haughey. Charles Haughey#Minister for Agriculture: 1966 Farmers.27 Strike In 1969, Deasy ran as a labour candidate in Tipperary North, but came in last place with a small percentage of the vote. Deasy married Countess Sheila O'Kelly de Gallagh. They had four children, three boys and one girl.

References

1919 births 1999 deaths Irish activists Irish agrarianists Labour Party (Ireland) politicians Military personnel from County Tipperary {{Ireland-activist-stub