IRISH SETTLEMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 30 October 1935, Page 5

IRISH SETTLEMENT

DE VALERA’S READINESS?

REPUBLIC IN THE EMPIRE CONCESSIONS TO BRITAIN RESULT OF POLL AWAITED By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 8 p.m. London, Oct. 29. The result of the British election is awaited with unusual interest in the Irish Free State, says the Dublin correspondent of the Times. It is believed that if Mr. Baldwin is returned by a substantial majority an Anglo-Irish settlement will 'be one of the first preoccupations of the Government. It is understood Mr. E. de Valera, president of the Free State Executive Council,. discussed the matter with Mr. R. A. Eden, British Minister in charge of League of Nations affairs, at Geneva but made little progress. It is agreed that nothing can be achieved before the election.

It is believed that Mr. de Valera is aiming at a republic within the Empire and would be ready, if Britain withdrew her navy from Lough Willy and Bantry Bay, to negotiate a treaty of mutual defence which would be far more satisfactory to Britain than the existing conditions.

Moreover, the Free State is prepared to give Britain a virtual monopoly of various exports, including motor-cars, coal and wireless receivers, in return for a quid pro quo covering livestock and dairy produce, although there must be a complementary political settlement in which Mr. de Valera is desirous of a federal arrangement with Northern Ireland.