UNITED IRELAND

Evening Star, Issue 21091, 2 May 1932, Page 7

UNITED IRELAND

m DE VALERA'S AIM UNCOMPROMISING ATTITUDE Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright. DUBLIN, April 30. In the Dail Mr de Valera, replying to speeches, said; 11 My word, our word, is as good as Mr Thomas’s. I am not afraid of negotiation with Britain, but when wo negotiate, it will be about a united Ireland, and not before. No negotiation is needed about this oath Bill, and wo propose to get our political rights to the last letter.” Referring to the equality of nations under the Commonwealth, ho said: “ We are going to put it to the test to see whether that is a descriptive phrase or whether it has solid substance behind it.” HOSTILITY TO BRITAIN DISCLAIMED LONDON, May 1. (Received May 2, at 9.5 a.m.) “ Nothing is further from the truth than the suggestion that hostility to Britain is behind the Oath Bill,’’ said Mr De Valera, when interviewed. “We are simplyb ending a humiliating sham which has hitherto been an obstacle to the peace and ordered progress of the Free State. We have not entered into negotiations with Britain because the matter concerns the rights and interests of the Free State people alone. If the Senate rejects the Bill we will at some stage appeal to the people against the Senate.” * Asked if he wanted the Free State to stay in the Commonwealth, ho replied: “ The matter is not at present at issue.” CABINET OF YOUTH The London ‘Times’ gives particulars of the new Irish Cabinet, which it describes as on the whole a Cabinet of young men. Tho link with the iyxo rebellion is maintained through the persons of Mr de Valera himself and all Sean O’Kelly, who has been cliosen as vicenpresident of the Executive Council. Mr O’Kelly was one of the very early Sinn Fein group on the Dublin Corporation, where, with Mr Cosgrave and a few others, he raised the banner of complete independence several years before the war. During the troubled times Mr O’Kelly acted as unofficial ambassador for the Irish Republic in Paris, and was the leader' of the deputation that tried to place Sinn Fein s case before President Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Ho is one of the oldest members of the new Ministry. , t . . , Mr P. J. Ruttledge, Minister for Lands and Fisheries is a lawyer from the West of Ireland, and is legal adviser to the Irish Hospitals’ Trust in connection with the sweepstakes. A Republican of long standing, he took an active part, in the guerrilla campaign of ten years ago. Mr M'Entee, the new finance Minister, has just turned forty. Ho is an engineer, writes poetry, and is the only member of the Front Bench with any pretensions to oratory. He also took part in the Easter Week rising, and was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted, and he was released at the, time of the general amnesty. Mr Sean Lemass, Minister for Industry and Commerce, is in tho early thirties and is regarded as the coming man of the Fianna Fail Party. He is of Huguenot stock, and has been in the Republican movement since he was a boy. Although he was under seventeen at the time, he fought in the General Post Office in Easter Week. Mr Lemass seems to have more of the stuff of statesmanship than any of his colleagues. He has a clear mind, with an incisive style of speaking, and may be described as tho leader of the more moderate wing of Fianna with evolutionary rather than revolutionary ideas.

The new Minister of Agriculture, Dr James Ryau, is a medical man whose hobby is farming. He is a brother-in-law of Mr Sean O’Kelly, and also of Mr Richard Mulcahy. Ho has been a consistent opponent of Mr Hogan’s agricultural policy, and, whereas Mr Hogan concentrated on the British market and did everything in his power to increase the Free State’s agricultural exports, Dr Ryan proposes to encourage tillage with a view to the development of the home market and the reduction of the unemployment figures. . Mr Frank Aiken, Minister of Defence, is the picturesque personality in the new Government. He was a prominent leader of the Irish Republican Army in the fight against the British, and was chief of staff to Mr De Valera’s forces in the Civil War. Ho has many legendary exploits to his name, and as his adversaries in the field now come under his direct command, some interesting situations are likely to arise. Mr Derrig, the new Minister of Education, also was a notable figure in the Civil War. He lost an eye in an attempt to escape when ho had been taken prisoner by the Free State troops, and was one of the ablest of Mr De Valera’s guerrillas, • He is a teacher by profession. i Mr James Geoghegan, KiC., Minister of Justice, is a recent recruit to Fianna Fail, and Senator Connolly, who becomes Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, is a business man who leads the Fianna Fail group in the Senate.