Editing Liam Cosgrave (section)

===Minister===
After the [[1954 Irish general election|1954 general election]], a [[7th government of Ireland|Second Inter-Party government]] was formed on 2 June 1954, led again by John A. Costello. Cosgrave, at the age of 34, was appointed to the position of [[Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade|Minister for External Affairs]]. Cosgrave took part in trade discussions and chaired the [[Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe]] in 1955. He also presided over Ireland's admission to the United Nations in 1955. Cosgrave outlined the three principles of his foreign policy to the Dáil in June 1956: adherence to the principles of the [[Charter of the United Nations|UN Charter]], independence and non-alignment, and "to do whatever we can as a member of the UN to preserve the Christian civilisation of which we are a part and with that end in view to support whenever possible those powers principally responsible for the defence of the free world in their resistance to the spread of communist power and influence". Ireland was non-aligned in favour of the [[United States]]. The second Inter-Party government collapsed amid severely deflationary policies set by the Minister for Finance, [[Gerard Sweetman]]. Cosgrave held Sweetman personally responsible for Fine Gael's defeat at the [[1957 Irish general election|1957 general election]], and told him so, reportedly stating that Fine Gael "was no longer led by people living in big houses at the end of long avenues." He did not speak to Sweetman for some years.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}