Political Legacy
In Irish political circles, the role of foreign minister was considered a poisoned chalice because of the challenge of resolving the delicate problem of how to de-escalate tensions in Northern Ireland, when both sides were wary of Irish governmental policy. Albert Reynolds, and Dick Spring, placed Northern Ireland at the top of the government agenda. Both were helped considerably by the initiative of John Hume, and the understanding built up between Reynolds, and British Prime Minister John Major. Spring devoted considerable energy and resources towards increasing Ireland's international influence and diplomatic ties in UN, in the post Cold War world.
As Foreign Minister, there was much critical comment in the media on Spring's extensive foreign travel. Spring got even harsher criticism, for using the Government Jet to reduce journey times between his home in Tralee and his office in Dublin. However, he did conduct, for the first time, a public consultative process that involved a wide range of citizenry and social groups as well as members of the diaspora, in the re-shaping of Irish foreign policy through the first ever White Paper on Foreign Policy in 1996.
Critics of Dick Spring, have described him as a Champagne socialist due to his choice of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel when staying in New York as Foreign Minister, instead of staying in the then Irish-owned Fitzpatrick Hotel. Spring brought the Irish Labour party unprecedented visibility and power in government, at a time when the two significantly larger, right-of-centre political blocs, had precedence in every election. He advocated and successfully implemented, policies that were contrary to Catholic social teaching, which had always been a consideration in influencing Irish policy until the 1980s. In the aftermath of many scandals involving clerical sex abuse cases, and against a backdrop of rapidly declining confidence in the Catholic Church as an institution amongst the public at large, Spring found an opportunity to amend state policy, and steer social policy in a secular direction.
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