ULSTER PEOPLE ANXIOUS

Taranaki Daily News, 15 April 1932, Page 9

ULSTER PEOPLE ANXIOUS

PRIME MINISTER IN ENGLAND

STATEMENT BY MR. THOMAS.

By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. London, April 13.

Lord Craigavon, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, has unexpectedly arrived in London, it is believed in connection with Ulster’s anxiety about the Irish crisis.

Interviewed, Lord Craigavon said he did not attribute too much to Mr. Thomas’ statement regarding a united Ireland, which perhaps was rather unhappy in its phraseology, but he was •sure that it could be straightened out. The Attorney-General, Mr. A. B. Babington, accompanied Lord Craigavon, who will return to Belfast to-morrow.

Lord Craigavon and Mr. Babington had a meeting at the House of Commons with the Dominions Secretary and Sir Herbert Samuel, Home Secretary, who are technically responsible in the House of Commons for the Northern Ireland administration.

It is understood that the-Ulst6r Ministers were desirous of discussing aspects of the present controversy raised by the attitude of the Irish Free State to the oath of allegiance and particularly one passage in Mr. Thomas’ reply to Mr. De Valera’s dispatch with regard to which some anxiety had been voiced in the Northern Ireland Parliament.

The passage stated: “It is true that the 1921 settlement did not result in the establishment of a United Ireland, but the treaty-itself made the necessary provision for the union at that time of the two parts of Ireland if both then had been ready to accept them. As to the future, his Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom feels it sufficient to state that in its opinion there will be no conceivable hope for the establishment of United Ireland, except on the basis that its allegiance to the Crown and the membership of the British Commonwealth continue unimpaired.” These words were used only as a reply to Mr. De Valera’s statement that the agreement of 1921 “means the consummation of the outrage of partition in Ireland, and they do not indicate any change, actual or contemplated, in the British policy regarding Ulster and Irish unity. It is expected Lord Craigavon will on his return to Belfast make a reassuring statement to this effect in the Northern Parliament.