DRASTIC ACTION IN ENGLAND

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 259, 31 July 1939, Page 10

DRASTIC ACTION IN ENGLAND

Speedy Enforcement Of Artti-LR.A. Law I . HEAVY exodus of / IRISH Terrorists Strike LastMinute Blows By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. (Received July 30, 9.20 p.m.) LONDON, July 30. Drastic police action was an immediate result of the final reading in the House of Lords of the Prevention of Violence Bill, the agreement by the House of Commons to the amendments made, and the speedy Royal Assent, by which the police are empowered to conduct a vast rouqd-up of members of the Irish Republican Army in England. The ferry service to Ireland during the weekend ran in three instead of two sections to cope with the exodus of Irish from London. There were remarkable farewell scenes, several women becoming hysterical. The. police had intensified precautions throughout Britain as a result of information that lastminute bombinbs were planned. The public was excluded from the Houses of Parliament at the weekend. While the House of Lords was rushing the Bill through on Friday, I.R.A. members were striking final blows. Dozens of public telephones were put out of action in the West End during the morning. A woman handed in a parcel at an eating house at the Birkenhead docks, saying, “This is Paddy Regan’s' dinner.” The attendant, hearing a ticking sound, opened the parcel and found a bomb timed to go off at 12.30 p.m. when the hut was full of men having their lunch. Crowd Mobs Speakers. Under the provisions of the Act the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Simon, on Friday considered 30 cases and signed- eight expulsion orders. The Commissioner - of the Metropolitan Police, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Philip Game, and provincial chief constables from the storm centres discussed details in connexion with the enforcement of the Act. Seven out of eight persons who had refused to be expelled will be forcibly sent from the country. Several suspects left for Dublin from Liverpool by steamer under strong police guard.' ' Squads of police rushed to Hyde Park today when a crowd mobbed Irish speakers. Three men were arrested. ORDER FOR ARRESTS Deportees In Northern Ireland (Independent Cable Service.) (Received July 30, 9.20 p.m.) LONDON, Jr-ly 30. Several English men and women who are believed to have aided Irish terrorists by passing on information and providing lodgings may be compelled to register and live under the conditions of a ticket of leave. Irish servant girls are being dismissed, sometimes without much inquiry as to whether they are sym- _ pathetic with the terrorists. The great majority of them are hostile, but the agencies declare that it is impossible to place them iu private houses. Sir Dawson Bates, Minister of Home Affairs in Northern Ireland, has instructed the police to arrest deportees. They will be jailed and later placed in circumscribed territory in Ulster. EIREANN CABINET May Introduce Similar Legislation (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, July 28. The Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Iloare, said in the House of Commons that he had been told that if the Government two days ago had the powers now conferred by the Prevention of Violence Bill it was very likely that the Government might have forestalled one or other of the recent I.R.A. outrages. It is reported that the Prime Minister of Eire, Mr. de Valera, has called a special Cabinet meeting in Dublin to consider a plan for immediate action against I.R.A. extremists in Eire and special legislation to deal with I.R.A. members who are deported from England.