Business and Professional Group

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The Business and Professional Group, also known as the Businessmen's Party, was a small Irish Free State party from 1922 to 1923. It mainly included Protestant ex-Unionist businessmen and professionals. In the 1922 general election, five candidates stood in Dublin and Cork, and Michael Hennessy was elected. In the 1923 general election, John Good and William Hewat were elected in Dublin as Businessmen's Party candidates, while Andrew O'Shaughnessy and Richard Beamish were elected in Cork as Cork Progressive Association candidates. Both CPA members served as independents in the Dáil, and in 1924 both joined Cumann na nGaedheal. The party's support base was largely Protestant, and its policies favored the Treaty, economic orthodoxy, low taxes, and the Treasury view. After 1923 the group did not contest any further elections.