MR DE VALERA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26781, 26 May 1948, Page 4

MR DE VALERA

ARRIVAL IN DOMINION CONCERN ABOUT PARTITION P.A. WELLINGTON, May 25. The aim of his present overseas tour was to get moral support, not money, for bringing about a united Ireland. No Government had given him any assistance in. his aims, said Mr Eamon De Valera, formerly Prime Minister for Eire, who arrived at Auckland yesterday and travelled by air to Wellington, in a press conference. Mr De Valera was accompanied by Mr F. D. Aiken, a former Finance Minister of Eire, who was Mr De Valera’s chief of staff in the Irish civil war. Mr De Valera had a two-hour conference with the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser. At the press conference Mr De Valera said that while abroad he had naturally met people from Ireland and people interested in Ireland who wanted to know conditions there. He explained to them that the only question remaining to be settled was that of the present partition of the country. Asked for a reason for his tour, apart from the visit to Melbourne, Mr De Valera said the people of Eire were naturally anxious to get all the support they could from their friend? to get the partition adjusted. He had been to the United States before going to Australia. To the question, “What will be the next step to implementation of an allIreland policy? ” Mr De Valera replied. “ You have two islands here. Would you like to have part of one cut off? ” Eire did not grant defence bases in. Southern Ireland during the war because she was not able to defend herself. Furthermore, when Ireland received her full independence, it would be time for her to join a crusade for other countries.

In answer to the query, “Would a threat of Communism to the world as a whole bring Eire close to the British Commonwealth as a whole? ” Mr De Valera said the partition would still be a disturbing factor. He said he had had no hope for the United Nations ever since its early days. The members were not moved by a common desire to make the organisation work. They were without the will' to co-operate. Reminded that he had vifiited the United States years ago and raised millions of dollars for the Irish cause. Mr De Valera said he was now abroad in search of moi’al support—not money. He had encountered in some places self-determination leagues and other organisations for uniting Ireland, and arrangements had been made for them to get details of the conditions in Ireland.