GUNMEN KILL KEVIN O’HIGGINS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 93, 11 July 1927, Page 1

GUNMEN KILL KEVIN O’HIGGINS

Reed. 9.25 a.m. LONDON, Sunday. MR KEVIN O’HIGGINS, Vice-Presi-dent and Minister of Justice in the Irish Free State Ministry, was going to church in Black Rock with his wife this morning when three men in a motor-car fired four shots, wounding him. Death followed in a few hours. Mr. O’Higgins left home at 11.45 accompanied by his wife, and walked leisurely in the direction of the Botterstwon Church. When they were about a quarter of a mile away, the three men opened fire. Three of the shots struck the Minister in the body and one in the head. “I forgive them all,” he cried to his wife when he was lifted into the ambulance and conveyed home. Dublin's foremost doctors fought five hours for his life. Saline trails* fusion was attempted, but he was too weak to take blood transfusion, though many volunteered. Two men named Flemming, living nearby, hearing the shooting, rushed out and saw him on the pavement. “Is that you, Kevin?” asked one. “Yes,” was the reply. “I’m dying, and I’m at peace with my God and my enemies.” He then expressed the wish that his wife and children should be provided for. Canon Brean almost immediately arrived in a motor-car and administered the rites on the spot where Mr. O’Higgins had fallen. His cassock was bespattered with the blood which was flowing freely from the wounds. A little girl, who was the only witness to the shooting, says she saw a grey, car in which tw*o men were standing. A third stood near the radiator with an overcoat over his arm.—Sun. Kevin Christopher O’Higgins (Caoimhghin Oh Uigin) was only a young man. He was born in 1892, a son of the late Dr. T. F. O’Higgins, of Stradbally. It might be said that he ripened early in Irish politics and quickly commanded attention for his qualities as an administrator, and his straightforward character as a man. A graduate of St. Patrick’s College, Carlow, and a B.A. of the National University of Ireland, he began his political career as a Sinn Fein member of the House of Commons, representing Queen’s County in the Mother of Parliaments. When Southern Ireland came into its own, as the saying goes, Kevin O’Higgins was immediately elected a member of the Dail. He took office as Minister for Home Affairs in the Irish Free State, but soon relinquished that portfolio for the more important one of justice. In addition to that he became vice-president of the State, and was acknowledged both by friends and enemies as a strong lieutenant for President Cosgrave. There will be widespread grief throughout Ireland that the brilliant young administrator fell so soon to the bullets of gunmen. In 1921 he married Bridget May Cole.

Just Home From Geneva

OLD GRIEVANCES RECALLED OUTSPOKEN PRESS COMMENT Reed. 11.25 a.m. LONDON, Sunday. With the scantiest description on which to work, the police have begun a widespread search of garages, and are holding up motor-cars over a wide area throughout the country. Mr. O’Higgins returned on July 8 from Geneva, where he was the Irish

DLOODS in Saxony have reached serious proportions. The death-roll is heavy. Latest advices state that at least 150 persons have been killed in the Meuglitz Valley. This area is studded with villages the inhabitants of which are chiefly occupied in making wooden toys. Many holiday-makers were trapped by the sudden inundation of the countryside when the banks of the usually placid river welled over with stupefying suddenness. There have been enormous losses of cattle and sheep, and the carcases of dead animals are floating everywhere. The waters rushed into the houses with such rapidity in some towns that the inhabitants were drowned in their beds. Many other people were engulfed in torrents or dashed to death against trees or walls. LIKE A TIDAL WAVE The flood-waters spread so fiercely after a violent cloud-burst at Glas-

SHOT IN PRESENCE OF HIS WIFE LAST SACRAMENT GIVEN ON THE STREET “DIES AT PEACE WITH GOD AND ENEMIES” SUNDAY was a black day in Dublin, where Mr. Kevin O'Higgins, Vice-president and Minister of Justice, was assassinated at Blackrock by three gunmen, who shot at him from a motor-car. The administrator was accompanied by his wife. Four shots were fired, and proved fatal. He lived for a few hours, but from the first it was clear , that he was a stricken man Canon Brean came hurrying in a motor-car, and administered the last rites on the spot where Mr. O’Higgins had fallen. The clergyman's cassock was bespattered with blood. The Vice-president’s last. message to his country was “I’m . dying, and at peace with my God and my enemies.” By Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright.

l Free State’s representative at th* Naval Disarmament Conference. The “Daily News” recalls that Mr. O’Higgins was Minister of Justice when 77 Republicans were' executed in 1922 and 1923, including Rory O’Connor. During the election, Mr. O'Higgins defended these executions as necessary for the defence of the State. The “Daily Mail” in a leader referring to Mr. O’Higgins, says: “It is an abominable crime, and will bring bitter grief to all Ireland's worthy sons. Mr. O’Higgins worked faithfully and successfully for the cause of law and order, and it was largely due to him that the election passed off so quietly. The loss is a grave one, and nothing short of a disaster if it marks the opening of a new period of political outrages.” Sun.

huette that 15 persons were drowned in a few moments. Something akin to a tidal wave swept the Gottleuba and some lumber-camps in the vicinity, carrying off great logs, which battered down cottages and all the bridges. Nothing remained intact after an immense column of water struck Glashuette from the mountains. Telegraph posts were razed like straws and railway cuttings were obliterated. One train crossed a bridge just before the structure collapsed, but it was instantly overturned into deep water. FLIGHT TO HIGHLANDS At least five other trains were partly submerged. The rescuers could not approach the passengers, w r ho became panic-stricken as the waters rose. The casualties in this wreck are not yet known. Troops have been rushed to the scene and are co-operating with the police in rescue and relief work. Squads of men are engaged in propping up battered buildings. The gas and electricity supplies are cut off at Chreiberhau. This has intensified the sufferings of the people. The town of Neuendorff has been demolished. Each succeeding report is more tragic. The severance of communications prevents an assessment of the actual death roll and it will be many days before the full extent of the catastrophe can be known. The storm continues widespread with great violence. People are making for the highlands, fearing that the worst is yet to come. The sitting of the Reichstag was suspended after relief had been voted. Members of the Cabinet are hastening to the flooded areas.—A. and N.Z.