Margaret Pearse defeated at the 1922 general election. She supported those who opposed the Treaty during the Irish Civil War and continued to be a member of Sinn Féin until 1926. In 1926 she left the party conference with Éamon de Valera and became a founder member of Fianna Fáil. She never stood for election again. Her daughter Margaret Mary Pearse also joined Fianna Fáil, and served as a TD from 1933 to 1937 and later served in Seanad Éireann as a Senator from 1938 until her death in 1968. At the launch of "The Irish Press" newspaper Margaret was asked to
Progressive Democrats governments four times, on each occasion with Fianna Fáil (1989–1992; 1997–2002; 2002–2007; 2007–2009), and also with the Green Party from 2007–2009. In 2005 Michael McDowell publicly took a firmly anti-republican position and named Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Martin Ferris as members of the IRA Army Council. The convention in Irish politics at this time was not to accuse Sinn Fein politicians of being members of the Army Council, in doing so McDowell broke with convention. He said that until the IRA disbanded Sinn Fein could not be involved in government, North or South. On 7 September 2006 Mary Harney