"EIRE A REPUBLIC"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1945, Page 4

"EIRE A REPUBLIC"

TN declaring that "Eire is a republic" Mr. de Yalera has provided a fresh bone of contention of a not very profitable kind. From 1922 to 1927Eire—then the Irish Free State—had Dominion status. By the definition of the Statute of Westminster Dominions are "autonomous communities within the British Empire . . . united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations." In 1937 a new Constitution was adopted by the Dail Eireann and enacted by the people by means of a plebiscite. Under it the former name of Ireland, Eire, was restored, and Eire was declared to be a sovereign, independent democratic State, associated for certain purposes with the British Commonwealth. As far as was deemed practicable, the link with the Crown was severed. Since then the position has not altered. When war broke out Eire enforced its right to determine for itself its relations with other nations, by remaining neutral. Any Dominion could have done so, though whether in practice it could have done so and remained a member of the British Commonwealth is a problem for constitutional lawyers, a problem involving, inter alia, the question ofwhether His Majesty can be simultaneously at war and at peace. However this may be, the problem, in practice, might be determined by the attitude of the enemy.

In the case of Eire, the enemy's ambitions were frustrated by the Royal Navy, and'also, it has been stated in Dublin, by the "open secret" that the Irish Army throughout the war worked in fairly close co-operation with the British General Staff, and it was supplied with arms and munitions from British sources, while large numbers of Irishmen joined the British forces. Thus, in the sternest test of the relationship of two States, Eire was found to be, net an ally, but a friendly neutral. This was not as British peoples would have wished it, but it was far better than a neutrality that was in spirit hostile, or coldly "correct." It is notable that Mr. de Valera, while declaring Eire to be a republic, drew attention to an Act making it clear that Eire had "no intention of severing itself from the British Commonwealth." Whether the Commonwealth can embrace a State which is a republic is a nice question, which will probably be decided more by the facts of geography and the future relationship of the British and Irish peoples than by any constitutional document.