History of The Irish Medical Organisation

A congress of 6l delegates from the counties assembled on the 29th May 1839 at the Royal College of Surgeons and the Irish Medical Association, a union of Physicians and Surgeons, was formed under the Presidency of Richard Carmichael.

The following resolution was passed: "That it is therefore our opinion a legislative measure should be sought for by us, to unite the medical profession of Ireland into a co-operation upon such principles as shall constitute them one National Faculty, and thereby identify in feelings and interests, the greater mass of provincial practitioners with their metropolitan brethren"

However, the newly formed Association received little publicity and could not control or speak: for the majority of the divided profession. On June 7th 1853 a congress was held in Dublin which formally re-established the Association. Dr Charles Benson (1797 - 1886), Professor of Medicine in the College of Surgeons, was elected President.

In 1882, the Irish Medical Association became incorporated and in 1890, its Articles of Association were amended to read as follows,

1. To amalgamate therewith a certain existing unregistered and unincorporated association called "The Irish Medical Association" established for the same objects as those hereinafter specified.
2. To unite the members of the Medical Profession and so form a body competent to exercise influence in Sanitary and Medical Affairs for the Public Benefit, and to protect and promote the interest of the Medical Profession.
3. To watch the proceedings of Parliament upon matters affecting the interests of the Medical Profession, and to take action with regard to same, with the object of promoting its views amongst the Members of Parliament.
4. To inform the members of the Association as occasion may require of all matters affecting the interests of the Profession and so afford them an opportunity of expressing their opinions and offering any suggestions they think fit.
5. To obtain, when considered necessary, legal advice as to the interpretation of the Law upon matters involving the interests of the Profession and as it may seem expedient, to institute legal proceedings for the purpose of obtaining judicial decisions thereon.
6. To arbitrate in disputes between individual members of the Profession, when such arbitration may be requested.
7. To do all such lawful things as are or may or shall be incidental or conductive to the attainment of the above objects or any of them.

The newly constituted Irish Medical Association made provision for reciprocal membership with the Provincial Medical and Surgical Associations, the forerunner of the BMA. From 1890, the Association worked in harmony with the British Medical Association and it became obvious that amalgamation between the two was desirable in order to avoid overlapping and wasted effort.
 

In January 1936 the Irish Free State Medical Union (BMA and IMA) was established, "To promote the medical and allied services and to maintain the honour and interests of the medical profession". The Union, with offices at 18, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, was governed by a central council. In 1941, at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Irish Free State Medical Union, a resolution was passed to change the name of the Union to the Medical Association of Eire, with offices located at 95, Merrion Square, Dublin 2.

The change of title was necessitated by the desire of the members to correct the anachronism of its reference to the Irish Free State which no longer existed under that name.

New offices at 10, Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 were purchased in October 1950 for the Irish Medical Association.

In 1957, relations between the Irish Medical Association and the Department of Health were at an appallingly low level. Doctors of all grades were "lambasted" as ultraconservative, incompetent, money grabbers. It was said that the IMA was not a trade union or excepted body" and it had no authority to negotiate terms or conditions of service. To add to the disharmony, William Doolin, Editor of the Journal of the Irish Medical Association wrote in July 1960:

"For nearly 2000 years, Divinity, Law and Medicine have been bracketed as the three learned professions and how any man with even a glimmer of history in his mental make-up could advocate a descent from that high position is incomprehensible"

Furthermore, Doolin added that if the Irish Medical Association were convened to a Trade Union and called upon its members to strike, "It would cease to be a profession or worthy of its calling". Other counsels prevailed, leading to a division of opinion and allegiance. The high ideals championed by Doolin seemed unsustainable and outmoded in the present political climate.

A number of members of the IMA were co-opted to a sub-committee for the purpose of discussing the desirability and feasibility of founding a trade union, so that the Minister would be forced to the negotiating table. It was felt that without the protection of the Trade Union Acts, the Association was to a certain extent hamstrung, under present day conditions, in fighting for the rights of its members.

In 1962, the certificate of registration was issued at a cost of œ1000 and the Irish Medical Union was established under the Presidency of Dr John Cox. The Union was initially housed at the offices of the IMA in Fitzwilliam Place, and later in Northumberland Road, not without too many accusations that it was being evicted from Fitzwilliam Place.

Dr Cox held office until the first General Meeting of Athlone on November 18th 1962. At this meeting, Sean Ua Conchubair of Oranmore, Galway was elected President. The then Minister for Health, Mr McEntee, recognised the importance of having a determined Trade Union as an opponent and offered a limited negotiating licence to the IMA. This licence excluded industrial action and it could also be arbitrarily revoked by the Minister and his successors. This licence was unfortunately accepted by the IMA and though peace makers in both organisations tried to promote unity there were hot heads and extremists in both organisations who refused even to consider the possibility of joint action.

With a divided profession, resistance to Ministerial manoeuvring was often ineffective.

However, though divisions caused difficulties, the Union continued to grow steadily in strength and effectiveness as a representative body. Alone or in combination with the IMA, it influenced legislation affecting conditions of service for General Practitioners, temporary Dispensary Medical Officers, Junior Hospital Doctors, Specialists in many disciplines and the community in general.

However, no matter how vigorously points of view were presented, a recalcitrant Minister, his officials or local authorities could always weaken an argument by emphasising that the Union or the Association did not necessarily represent the views of every doctor in the country. Sometimes trivial differences in the opinions expressed by the two medical bodies were misrepresented as evidence of deep division.

Work towards unity went on from 1979 and the pages of the Medical Press were brandished with articles and letters from "pro-unity" and "anti-unity" supporters. Finally, at an EGM of the IMA in September 1983, the decision to amalgamate with the IMU was taken. A massive "pro-unity" ballot was also counted at the IMU AGM in Kilkenny in October 1983.
 

IMA and the IMU amalgamated in January 1984 to become the Medical Union, a name which was later changed to the Irish Medical Organisation housed at 10, Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 under the Presidency of Dr Michael Smith, Kanturk, GP.

Today the IMO is the sole negotiating body on behalf of all doctors in Ireland, recognised for negotiating purposes under the Trade Union Act 1941. The role of the IMO is to represent doctors in Ireland and to provide them with all relevant services. It is further committed to the development of caring, efficient and effective Health Services.