Original sentence: De Valera, as leader of the opposition, embarked on a world campaign to raise the issue of partition.During the Mother and Child Scheme crisis that racked the First Inter Party Government, de Valera kept a dignified silence, preferring to stay aloof from the controversy and watch his political opponents tear down their own Government.Having spent sixteen years in power, Fianna Fáil was replaced in 1948 by the first Inter-Party Government with compromise candidateJohn A.In 1951 de Valera was returned to power but without an overall majority.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
Edited sentence: After the Emergency the position of Fianna Fáil began to weaken.As with many Irish nationalists, he proved unwilling or unable to recognise or accept the predominantly British and Non-Irish identity of Northern Ireland's unionists throughout his terms in office, thus alienating them from a united Ireland.Costello declared a Republic and on 18 April, 1949, the Irish Free State left the Commonwealth.De Valera, as leader of the opposition, embarked on a futile world campaign on the partition question.In 1948 de Valera was ousted from power by the first Inter-Party Government, with John A.In 1951 he was back in power but without an overall majority.No new ideas emerged and the same faces that formed his first administration back in 1932 were still in power.Sixteen years in power finally took its toll on the electorate and the opposition political parties