LAWLESSNESS IN IRELAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18080, 3 May 1922, Page 7

LAWLESSNESS IN IRELAND.

INTENSE PREPARATIONS. COMMUNICATIONS CUT OFF. RAILWAYS AND ROADS. By Telosrcph—Press Association--Copyusht (Received 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. LONDON'. May 2. Latest reports from Dublin indicate intense preparations with some unknown [ objective. Railway and road communi-j cations in several places have been cut. off. Trains from Tipperary aid Thurles have been held up. Scenes of greatest excitement exist on the roads in the vicinities of Ballybrophy, Limerick, Tern-] plemore, and Clonmel, which had been' blocked. Two mansions at Casti'ebar and Roxborough have been seized, and the owners evicted. Mutineers seised the offices of the Dublin Port Dock Board, I which command the O'Connell Bridge. ! The railway between Carrick-on-Suir and Waterford have been torn up and roads in the same district trenched and; blocked by trees. Protestant refugees from County Cork, are arriving in Belfast. MANY BANK ROBBERIES. OVER £60,000 STOLEN. ONLY ONE VIOLENT ACT. Australian and N.Z. Cablo Association, | (Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, May 3. j Except for the assassinations a scries of bank robberies provide the sensational incident since the inception of tho rebel-' lion. More than £60,000 has been carried off, including £14,000 at Sligo, £10,000 at i Wexford, £.10,000 at Ballina, and £3500 '. at Limerick, Considerable sums were; also stolen at Ennis, Waterford, Tralee,! and Mallow, but the amount is not stated. In only one case did violence occur, when : Mr. Gardiner, agent for the bank at Westport, resisted the robbers. Armed irregulars with a motor-car and a lorry drew up before the Bank of Ireland in Mitchelstown, and demanded all the bank's moneys. Officials handed over £10,000 and the leader gave a receipt and drove off. PLEA FOR UNITY ISSUED. AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICT. DE VALERA'S REPLY. A. end N.Z. LONDON, May 1. An interesting document has been issued, signed by representatives of tho regulars, including Mr. Michael Collins, to irregular sections of the Irish army, appealing for the closing of the ranks to avoid conflict, and suggesting unification of the forces on the basis of acknowledgment that the majority of the Irish people will accept the treaty. Mr. de Valera simultaneously issued a statement that Mr. Griffith's proposals for a peace conference involved acceptance of partition. Do Valera's proposal was that the- treaty be referred to the people at the expiration of six months, during which time the army would bo unified, the Dail Eireann kept in session, and adult suffrage passed. There were certain right which the minority were justified in defending by force of arms. '