Vivion de Valera military service during "The Emergency", de Valera retired from the army with the rank of Major. In 1945, he embarked on a political career, being elected as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin North-West. He served in Dáil Éireann until 1981. He was a director of "The Irish Press" from 1932 until 1982 and managing director from 1951 until 1982. Vivion de Valera died in Bray in 1982. He was also the uncle of former ministers Síle de Valera and Éamon Ó Cuív. Vivion de Valera Vivion Laurence de Valera (13 December 1910 – 16 February 1982) was
Éamon de Valera 16 September 1953, de Valera met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill for the first and only time, at 10 Downing Street. (The two men had seen each other at a party in 1949, but without speaking.) He surprised the UK Prime Minister by claiming that if he had been in office in 1948 Ireland would not have left the Commonwealth. It was during this period that de Valera's eyesight began to deteriorate and he was forced to spend several months in the Netherlands, where he had six operations. In 1955, while in opposition, de Valera spoke against the formation of