EIRE’S POLICY

Evening Star, Issue 23729, 9 November 1940, Page 12

EIRE’S POLICY

NO BASES FOR BRITAIN MR DE VALERA'S DECLARATION LONDON, November S. Mr De Valera, in the 1 Dnil,’ recalled his declaration never to allow Eire to be used as a base for attack against Britain. An extensive system of observation had operated since the outbreak to ensure that ports would not be used illegally. All parties applauded the declaration that there was no question of leasing ports.

Mr J. M. Dillon, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, referred to Mr De Valera’s statement. He said that as far as he was aware no demands were made on Eire, no threats were made, and no violence was forecast. In the circumstances were the terms of Mr De Valera’s statement best calculated to promote calm preparedness among the Irish people in the unforseeable future? It seemed odd to hear him mention the possibility of bloodshed, even as a remote contingency, between two neighbours, who had been at peace for centuries. He was certain that any difficulties could be surmounted by consultation. He did not believe Britain calculated or designed any demand or action prejudicial to the sovereignty of Eire. ULSTER NOT SURPRISED, The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Craigavon, said: “However deeply the attitude of Eire may be deplored, the student of the successive stages of Eire’s policy cannot be in the least surprised. It has always been evident that Eire, while accepting concession after concession from Britain, intended to give nothing in return. Eire clings to neutrality in the midst of a war in which the Empire is fighting for its existence, simultaneously creating difficulties for the Power to which she owes immunity from attack from Germany. , Mr De Valera’s announcement marks the culmination of a process we in Ulster have foreseen for 40 years.” The ‘ Daily Telegraph ’ says: “ Now that the United States Government has been stabilised, hopes are being freely expressed in some quarters that President Roosevelt will be able to use his influence and effect an arrangement whereby the Royal Navy could use Eireann harbours. At present there is no indication of measures to redress the situation, in which neutral Eire is hampering the operations of the Coastal Command in a large and important area in the Atlantic, but it is clear that the recent sinkings in the Atlantic make it imperative that new steps betaken at the earliest opportunity.” UNDER THE DEBRIS CANARY GUIDES A.R.P. WORKERS SEVERAL PEOPLE RESCUED LONDON, November 7. Wedged in a- crevice under twisted girders, a canary saved, the lives of nine victims under a bombed London tenement. The trapped persons were too exhausted to cry out. but the canary s song guided the wardens, who rescued nine and brought out six bodies. Five more are believed to be under the. wreckage. Then a faint cry from another part of the wreckage revealed more life, whereupon members of the A.R.P. dug down and brought out a small boy. begrimed but undaunted, after 10 hours under debris.

This bombing wiped out a whole family named. Cook—the mother, four sons, and one daughter. CLEARING UP LONDON GREAT WORK BY PIONEER CORPS (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, November 7. Brawny navvies are working shoulder to shoulder with clerks in spectacles day by day to clear the debris caused by bombs dropped on London. A Press representative had an opportunity of seeing in South London the sterling work of these men of the Pioneer Corps between the ages of 18 and 50, who are drawn from every walk in life, regardless of occupation. A tour of several of the worst bombed areas was designed to show the methodical stages of the clearance from littered piles of debris to spick and span sites on which neat piles of bricks, timber, lead, piping, etc., are stacked—each collection of piles representing the salvable remains of a house.

While these men of the Pioneer Corps, who, as Mr Churchill recently said, are as muefi a part of His Majesty’s forces as the King’s company of the Grenadier Guards, are working to repair the nightly damage, London’s civilians also play a part. In one area & clergyman’s wife, Mrs Mackenzie, and her two daughters, aged 7 and 10, were providing tea, cake, and biscuits for the workers. “ They have been doing this twice a day for 10 days,” said the officer in charge. “It must be because I am a Scotsman.”

How this voluntary canteen service, including 100 cups of tea a day, is possible was explained by Airs Mackenzie, who said she, for personal use, laid in a small stock of tea and sugar as advised by the Government before the blitzkrieg.

A tragic sight was a bedstead hanging against chimney tops, where sleep ing women had been blown and killed.

“ This mud is like Flanders, isn’t it? ” said one worker during a pause, yet in a very short space of time each site is cleared ready for better rebuilding when tlie might of the Royal Air Force has put an end to these inhuman assaults on Londoners’ homes and lives.