LAWLESSNESS IN IRELAND.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17437, 24 April 1922, Page 7

LAWLESSNESS IN IRELAND.

THE BELFAST VENDETTA. •

OUTRAGES ELSEWHERE

(Bv Cable— Treat Association— Copjriiii.) (Australian and X.Z. Cable Asrociat.on) LONDON, April 21. The shooting was continued in Belfast this morning. A man was shot dead. A polic? sergeant was wounded. Yesterday's casualties were four kil'ed find twelve wounded." #!le "pitched battle" covered 60 streets, which became "no man's land," and entirely isolated. It was impossible to enter or leave the nrea. Gunmen occupied vantage points on roofs and railway embankments. Armoured cars and Lewis gnus intermingled thfcir shots with the snipers' rifle fire. Women and children lay terror-stricken for hours in back moms. Snipers lay prone on the tram tracks and fired hundreds of rounds before tihe armoured cars interfered. A determined attack was made last night on the Wellington Barracks, in Dublin. A fierce fusillade of machinegun and rifle fire, lasting an hour, was directed on the building from all sides. Residents over a wide area were alarmed by the terrific bursts of firing, accompanied by bomb explosions. The attackers utilised houses in the vicinity, and attempted to riuUi. the front gate, through which they hurled grenades. The guard replied, throwing grenades. Several were wounded on both sides. (Received April 23rd. 5.3 p.m.) LONDON, April 22. Savagery and crime continue in Belfast, Dublin, and other parts of Ireland. Fourteen persons were killed and twenty wounded in Belfast streets in two days. They included playing children, women, and peaceful citizens. The majority of the victims were Protestants. The ugliest fact is that the massacres iliuve been going on for months, and thus far not a single murderer has been brought to justice. The outrages recommenoed in Belfast on Friday with an attack on a patrol of seven police iii the Shortstand district. After several volleys had been fired, the patrol located ( tho snipers amongst the chimney stacks. Tho Sinn Feiners continued to fire, the police replying, until.an. armoured car drove up, and opened fire with machine-guns. The snipers escaped. One policeman •was wounded. A bad feature of the affair was that the police could see people in tho Shortstand district signalling to the concealed gunmen the position of the Crown forces.

Sinn Feiners also brutally murdered Thomas Best, a youth of seventeen. His body was found still warm in a doorway in a street in Belfast.

Rebel Activities Elsewhere. Elsewhere minor outrages are being perpetrated, sometimes at the expense of the supporters of Mr Collins, Nationalists and other moderates.

Republican troops arrived at Mullingar and seized the public buildings. Later Free State troops arrived and demanded possession of the buildings. Thus far tliere has been no collision, though large Republican reinforcements are arriving. Jiusiness in Mullingar is suspended, the inhabitants being terror-stricken. Republicans raided the railway workshops at Ennis and disabled the engines. No trains left to-day. There have been 6imilar railway raids elsewhere. Incendiarism in a Steamer.

Fifty armed men, boarded the Ulster Steam Navigation Company's steamer, Rathlin Head, which was berthed at the North Wall, Dublin. They shot the watchman and then sprinkled petrol over the ship, to which they set fire. The crew extinguished the flames. Wireless Station Seized.

Republican troops seized the Bunbeg wireless station on the Donegal Coast, simply informing the British naval men in charge that they required the building. Tho invaders provided vehicles to take the men to tho nearest railway station.

Tragic Comic Episode. Sometimes tho episodes are more comio than tragic Armed Sinn Fein Republicans held up a British Liaison Commission on the Ulster frontier and deprived them of two motor cars which were flying white flags. The judges in the Dublin High Court sat without their wigs, which Rory O'Connor is detaining. Two men, on behalf of the Belfast Boycott Committee, demanded money from the Irish Needlework Company in Dublin When this request was refused ihcy threatened to close the place. 1/ater eight armed men appeared and cleared out the stock, and closed 'the shop The company was working on a portion of Princess Mary's trousseau and when the threat hecame known the management hid the goods. Tho Lord Mayor, speaking at a meeting of tho Dublin Corporation on Friday said: "Diabolical transactions aro happening nightly. We have got rid of the British army, and if these bullies of night will also clear out the people will see we have peace."

DEFYING THE REBELS. MB COLLINS AT KILLARNEY. (Received April 23rd, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, April 22. When Mr Michael Collins was travelling to lJUlarney it was discovered that the railway line had been interfered with. The train proceeded to Headforth, where it was found that armed men had locked the crossing gates and damagcu the points. After the line had been repaired the train proceeded, but when nearing Ki Harney, a goPds waggon was found on the line. An accident was, however, averted. When Mr Collins arrived at Killarney an I.R.A. officer brandishing' a revolver, warned him he would not be allowed tp speak. Mr Collins and his party walked to thi Market square, but found the platform surrounded by men in uniform, armed with rifles and revolvers. Mr Collins had to go to a resident's house and addressed cheering crowds from a window.

REPUBLIC v. FREE STATE.

EEBEL JUNTA'S DEMANDS.

(Received April 23rd, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, April 22. The anti-Free State Army Council has forwarded a letter to the secretary of the Dail Eireann stating the conditions under which unity of the Army may be attained. The terms include:— (11 Maintenance of the existing Republic. (2) The Dail Eireann to be the only Government in the country. (3) The present I.R.A. to be maintained under an elective and independent executive. (4) No election on the issues before the country to be held until the threat of war by Engiand is removed.