The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1939. The Enemy By Night

Northern Advocate, 28 July 1939, Page 6

The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST”

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1939. The Enemy By Night

Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper

THE latest outrage perpetrated by the Irish Republican Army which tries to justify destruction and murder by a kind of warped patriotism, must have shocked the entire British nation, and will possibly cause a revulsion of feeling which cannot have good results towards Anglo-Irish relationships. Certainly Eire cannot be held officially responsible for the I.R.A.’s campaign of conspiracy and terrorism, and Mr, de Valera has specifically condemned both the spirit behind the outrages, and the outrages themselves. It is unfortunate, however, that he has referred to the so-called partition of Ireland in such a way as to suggest that the existence of the partition might to a degree condone the outrages, whereas nothing could do so in any community with a sense of social and civic responsibility.

The manner in which British indignation has been kindled by the latest explosion, which killed one innocent man and has maimed others for life, is indicated by the report that in London the police had great difficulty in preventing assaults on persons of Irish appearance. This, of course, is reprehensible and foolish. The most contemptible feature of the I.R.A.’s campaign is the total disregard for the safety of disinterested civilians, with no responsibility whatever for the past or present policies to which the I.R.A. takes exception. It would be all the more regrettable, then, if Englishmen, in their desire to institute reprisals, showed similar disregard for the liberties and personal safety of innocent people. But it becomes increasingly clear that where guilt has been established it must be followed by punishment more rigorous and severe than the somewhat lenient measures so far employed. In almost any other country but Britain, the ringleaders convicted to date would have been executed out of hand, instead of being merely sentenced to imprisonment. From now on there will be a sterner attitude. The tactics of the Irish Republican Army strike at the foundations of civil order. Britain cannot afford to be indulgent in dealing with those despicable creatures who defile the name of patriotism with their dark and sinister methods.