CHAOS IN IRELAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3556, 9 May 1922, Page 17

CHAOS IN IRELAND.

* CRIME IN WEST CORK. LONDON, May 1. , A Protestant farmer was murdered at Random This is the ninth similar crime in West Cork in six days. The Protestants are abandoning their homes throughout the country, and are going to England. Scores of businesses have been suspended. The Free State general has warned the soldiers not to interfere with civilians on pain of death. Rebels ambushed a party of the Royal Irish Constabulary near Drogheda, killing one, wounding one, and capturing a third. They seized a car. Freeman’s Journal, in a leading article, demands the Dail Eireann and 1.R.A., whatever their differences, to unite and ,put an end to the murderous campaign in the vicinity of Dunmanway. “Some devilishly-minded persons.” it says, “seem bent on fixing cn Southern Ireland 1 the hateful disgrace and stigma that Belfast wears.” NEW PROPOSAL BY MR DE VALERA. LONDON, May 1, An interesting document has been issued signed by representatives of the Regulars, including Mr Collins, and the irregular section of the Irish Army, appealing for the closing of the ranks to avoid a conflict. The unification of the forces is suggested on the [jasis of the acknowledgment of the majority Irish to accept the treaty. Mr de Valera has simultaneously issued a statement that Mr Griffith’s proposal for a peace conference involved the acceptance of partition. Mr de Valera’s proposal was that the treaty should be referred to the people at the expiration of six months, during which the army would be unified ; and that the Dail Eireann should be kept in session and adult suffrage passed. There were certain rights which the minority were justified in defending by force of arms. BANK ROBBERIES. LARGE SUMS SECURED. LONDON, May 2. Armed irregulars, with a motor lorry, drew up in front of the Bank of Ireland at Mitchelstown and demanded all the moneys. The officials handed over £IO,OOO. The leader gave a receipt and drove off. Armed men also raided banks at Ennis, Westport, Sligo, Ballinrobe, and Claremont, and held up the staffs and carried off in motor-cars sums aggregating over £20,000. The railway between Carrickon Suir (Waterford) was torn up and the roads in the same district trenched and blocked by trees. Protestant refugees from County Cork are arriving in Belfast. Except for the assassinations, the bank robberies have been the most sensational incidents since the inception of the rebellion. More than £60,000 had been carried off, including £14,000 from Sligo, £IO,OOO from Wexford, £IOOO from Ballinrobe, and £3500 from Limerick. The sums stolen at Ennis, Waterford, Tralee, and Mallow are all considerable, but the amount is not stated. Only one case of violence occurred, when Garner, a bank agent at Westport, resisted the robbers. Mutineers have seized the offices of the Dublin Port Dock Board, which commands the O‘Connell bridge. May Jg. Armed men in motors, raided the banks at Baillieborough, Kiln aleck, and Ballyjamesduff, all in County Cavan, and escaped with a large sum in each case. A similar bank raid was carried out at Pontypass, County Armagh. INTENSE PREPARATIONS IN TRAIN. LONDON, May 2. The latest reports from Dublin indicate that intense preparations are being made for some unknown objective. -Railway and road communication in some places is cut off.’ Trains from Tipperary and Thurles were held up amidst scenes of the greatest excitement. Roads in the vicinity of Ballybropljy, Templemore, and Clonmel were blocked. Two mansions at Castlebar and Roxborough were seized and the owners evicted. x REBEL ACTIVITY. FREE STATEE& OCCUPY GALWAY. LONDON, Mav 2. Early to-day large forces of irregulars invaded Kilkenny city. They occupied all the strategic positions and took numerous buildings, including Kilkenny Castle, the City Hall, the Bank of Ireland, and the Cathedral Workhouse, using the las.t as headquarters. The Free State troops seized all the Republican positions in Galway, including the barracks and Government offices. The opposition was slight. Irregulars in Kinnegad (Westmeath) and Greensbridge surrendered their barracks under a threat of attack by the Free Staters, who were cheered on taking possession. The police found a postman’s body riddjed with bullets in Keady (Armagh). His gpn, aged 16, was also shot, and is in a critical condition. Irregulars in Dublin seized and barricaded premises commanding another important bridge. THE PEOPLE PANIC-STRICKEN. LONDON, May 3. Rebel troops continue to hold up banks> seize buildings, and cut railways in all parts of Southern Ireland, and the people

are becoming panic-stricken, not knowing where the trouble will break out next. The latest bank raids include the Charleville branch of the Bank of Ireland, where £9OOO was stolen, the Tuam branch £7OOO and the Boyle branch £6OOO. Events are moving to crisis in Kilkenny. The buildings which the rebels occupied include the Protestant Cathedral of Kilkenny. The Southern Protestants angrily denounce the helplessness of the Provisional Government in the face of this gross outrage. The Free State troops in the district, however, are unwilling to leave the rebels unmolested in Kilkenny. A small force of pro-treatv troops under Colonel Prout occupied the military barracks and gaol after an exchange of shots. The Free Staters have also captured two rebel posts with 18 prisoners. The rebels are now attempting to recapture the prison The Free Staters’ success at Galway, Mullingar, and other centres was due to the adoption of uncompromising methods. In each case the rebels were given a few minutes to clear out of the towns. The rebels’ opposition immediately collapsed. The whole business of the Port of Dublin is paralysed owing to the seizure of the dock offices and the fact that the rebels are using the books for fortification purA CROWN SOLICITOR’S EXPERIENCE. LONDON, May 3. The amazing situation in Ireland is illustrated by the kidnapping of Mr Carroll, a resident of Fermoy and Crown Solicitor at East Cork, by armed men. He was tfed in a sack so tightly that he fainted. He was taken in a motor-car to a lonely cot-' tage in the mountains, and sentenced to death, on -the ground that his activities were dangerous to the country. Mr Carroll asked to see a priest, who pleaded for his life. His captors agreed to ransom him for £IOOO, but they finally accepted £550. After the cheque had been cashed Mr Carroll was released. Subsequently, owing to his warning a Loyalist who had been threatened with death, armed men arrived at his house. In his absence his son warned Mr Carroll, who escaped to Cork, and took refuge with the British military authorities. POLICE BARRACKS BLOWN UP. LONDON, May 3. The Mullingar police barracks occupied by rebels were blown up, after which the rebels departed, pursued by the Free Staters. ATTEMPT TO SETTLE DIFFERENCES. LONDON, May 3. After the representatives of the proTreaty and anti-Treaty troops had addressed the Dail Eireann, the latter agreed to set up a committee to consider methods of settling the differences in the Republican Army. Mr de Valera agreed to the proposal, and said he believed it was possible to solve the question. Mr Collins suggested that the committee should also examine the economic condition of Ireland. The conference of army officers at Dublin Mansion House has issued a statement that a truce will -operate from 4 o’clock till 4 o’clock on Monday, in order to give an opportunity for discussing a basis for army unification. The parties undertake to prevent agression of all kinds. A CONSTABLE SHOT DEAD. LONDON, May 3. As a punishment for attempting to extinguish a fire at a farm at Annaghmore, the Irish Republicans shot Constable M‘Cardwell dead. ULSTER’S PLIGHT. LONDON, May 4. The war on Ulster is being continued with great intensity, especially in Tyrone and Derry, including murders, incendiarism, crop burning, train wrecking, and cattle driving. Armed men rushed into tile barracks at Bellaghy, where tlxe police were sitting at a tabic. The raiders fired a volley and one policeman was killed and the rest wounded. During the incident in which M‘-Cardwell was-killed, a big party burned the house of Constable M‘Clung, firing volleys into the house. M'Clung returned the fire until the roof was alight in several places. He then escaped in the darkness. The Irregulars evacuated positions in Kilkenny, including Ormond Castle, which General Prout’s forces stormed. Hot fighting is reported, 18 persons being killed. General Prout captured 100 Irregulars. REBEL ACTIVITY. LONDON, May 4. Fifty I.R.A. mutineers attacked a post occupied bv 11 Ulster specials at Elagh, in Londonderry, on tjjje Donegal border. The attackers withdrew after a quarter of an hour’s fighting. Four men in the Tinnoctry Barracks are holding out against the continuous firing by large numbers of irregulars. The railway line between Dundrun and Limerick was torn up"- during the night. Irregulars blew up the Castle Pollard Barracks during the morning. While an Antrim police party was proceeding to Ballyronan in order to relieve the barracks, which the irregulars were beleaguring, they were ambushed and had to take refuge in a bog. One constable was killed. Reinforcements later relieved the garrison. BATTLE IN BELFAST. LONUON, May 4. A desperate fight took place at Dunorana between the Free State troops and the irregular Republicans owing to the irregulars invading a Belfast bank and seizing £IOOO. While the irregulars were retreating, the Free Staters intercepted

them and opened fire, the fight taking place in the main street of the town. A girl was killed by being "struck with a bullet in the abdomen. Several of the combatants were wounded. FREE STATE TROOPS ATTACKED. LONDON, May 5. Mutineers and Free State troops clashed at Newton Cunningham two hours after the truce was signed. The Free Staters were aware of the truce, and halted their motor lorries in the village. Suddenly a murderous fire came from behind the walls of the houses commandeered by the irregulars. Three Free Staters were shot dead, and another was wounded. The Free Staters returned the fire. MR COLLINS’S APPEAL. WASHINGTON, May 5. Mr Michael Collins has sent a message through the Irish Diplomatic Mission appealing to Irish friends abroad to take no part in assisting or encouraging the element in Ireland whose object is to destroy the rights of free speech, free assembly, a free press, and I ree election. PROGRESS TOWARDS UNITY. LONDON, May 6. Messrs Rory O’Connor, Mulcahy, and Collins attended a conference of higher officers of the Republican Army to-dav. High hopes are entertained that progress towards unity is being made. /PROLONGATION OF TRUCE ARRANGED. LONDON, May 6. The Dail Eireann’s Peace Committee adjourned till Monday, after making a statement that the commanders on both sides had been instructed to arrange fox the prolongation of the truce, ARMED RAIDS IN BELFAST. LONDON, May 6. Notwithstanding the heavy sentences, including the “cat,” imposed on armed robbers in Belfast, the raiding of offices continues. The military are stopping all traffic in and out of Belfast and are searching everyone. Several armed men drove up in the early morning to an hotel in Dungat, Tyrone, and shot dead the proprietor, Mr John M‘Cra-cken, a former district councillor. N Armed men removed Mr John CaTolan, a school teacher, and Air Denis Kilmartin, his nephew, from their beds in Dungiven, Derry, and shot them on the roadway. They threw them into a flaxhole. from which Kilmartin crawled, later dying from five wounds. Neighbours later recovered Garolan’s body. An armed party held up Mr John M‘Bride, a former T.R.A. officer, on the roadside in Donemana, Tyrone, and shot and left him dying.