IRISH TURMOIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18513, 25 March 1922, Page 9

IRISH TURMOIL

OUTRAGE IN BELFAST. SNIPING ON TYRONE BORDER. VIGOROUS TRENCHING PROCEEDING. Pres# Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, March 23. Eight men in a motor-car drove through May street, Belfast. The car stopped'and the men fired, killing two policemen. They then drove off and escaped. Further sniping is reported on the Tyrone border. An I.R.A. force attacked a residence, killing one of th’e occupants, a prominent loyalist. Vigorous trenching is proceeding along the border. Many residents have left the area.—A. arid N.Z. Cable. FOUR MEN MURDERED. FATHER AND THREE SONS. LONDON, March 24. (Received March 24, at 8.30 p.m.) Armed men broke into the residence of Mr Owen MacMahon, a well-known Belfast saloon-keeper, at 1.20- in the morning and murdered him and three of his sons. A fourth son and a barman were dangerously wounded. —A. and N.Z. Cable. MURDER IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. TWO CONSTABLES SHOT DEAD. LONDON, 'March 24. (Received March 24,'at 9.40 p.m.) The assassination of two members of trie constabulary in broad daylight in the heart of Belfast caused a sensation in the city. Constables Carnduff and Cunningham were on beat duty, when a gang came up behind and discharged revolvers into them. Constable Carnduff was killed instantly, and Constable Cunningham was mortally wounded, but the assassins fired further shots into them and then ran to a motor-car, which drove off furiously. Civilians pursued the car, but it escaped into the Sinn Fein district, where a search was made without result. The angry crowd would have lynched the murderers if they had been caught.—A. and N.Z. Cable. FREE STATE BILL. DEBATE IN THE LORDS. LONDON, March 24. (Received March 24, at 8.30 p.m.) In the House of Lords, Viscount Peel moved an amendment to the Irish Bill making it clear that the month in which Ulster could contract herself out of the Treaty would operate from the sanctioning of the Free State Constitution, not from the passing of the Bill. The amendment was agreed to and the report stage was concluded. The third reading was adjourned until Monday, at Lord Carson’s request, as he wishes to consult his friends in Ulster regarding Viscount Peel’s amendment, which, he says, will have the most grave results.—A’, arid N.Z. Cable. LATE IRISH NEWS. LONDON, March 23. (Received March 24, at 11.15 p.m.) On the vote for £1,300,000 for miscellaneous services to be administered by the Provisional Government of Ireland, Colonel Newman, in the House of Commons, complained that the financial arrangements with the Sinn Fein Government had been detrimental to the loyalists in Southern Ireland. In regard to the settlement of claims for compensation, Mr Churchill said we should not pay for damage done by our people, as the bargain to pay for damage done to our people was not observed. The House agreed to the vote. The motion by the Attorney-General in the Ulster Parliament included the death penalty for bomb-throwing and manufacturing bombs. The Attorney-General said if these powers were not sufficient he was prepared to advise the Government to enact the death penalty for carrying arms. Bombing continues despite this determination. A bomb was flung at a house in Skringa street and dangerously wounded the occupants —a son and daughter, aged 16 and 17. Most appalling conditions continue in Tyrone. Extensive buildings owned by Patrick Daly, a prominent Sinn Feiner at Carrickmore, were destroyed by fire. It is believed to be a reprisal for the destruction of loyalists’ houses. The position at Caledon and Atghnachloy is more acute. Machine guns were used by a force in the Free State close to Callagh bridge, which is in ruins. Most of the houses in the vicinity were evacuated. Agricultural work is suspended. The Republicans are appearing openly in uniform.—A. and N.Z. Cable.