Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 19, 13 May 1909, Page 747

Irish News

ANTRIM— VaIue of Temperance Associations The Most Rev. Dr. Tohill, Bishop of Down and Connor, in the course of an address at St. Mary's Church, Belfast, on temperance societies, said : — In the temperance society, by instruction and the good example of others, they would gain strength to resist the drink temptations which' beset their path. Children, both boys and girls, should join it; they would be the future men and women of the district. If a generation of the young grew up, not knowing what drink meant, they would be a credit to the Catholic Church. There would be few or no absentees from Mass on Sundays, and the confessionals would be more thronged on Saturday evenings. He repeated that the temperance society, with its weekly meetings and lectures and the frequentation of the Sacraments at fixed times, was the best machinery to effectually check the great evil that was ruining the homes and souls of a good many. It was a satisfaction to hear that drunkenness was on the decrease, and that the practice of temperance was making steady progress amongst the people. CORK— Parliamentary Representative An election to fill the vacancy in the representation of Cork City, owing to the resignation of Mr. W. O'Brien, took place last week, when Mr. Maurice Healy, brother of Mr. T. M. Healy, was returned. Mr. Healy represented Cork in parliament from 1885 to 1900. A New Catholic Church The tender of Mr.. J. J. Coffey. of Middleton, has bee.i accepted for the erection of a new Catholic church at Mogeely at a cost of £3000. Death of an Alderman Sincere regret was felt in Cork when it became known that Alderman Barrett, well known in the public life of the city, had passed away. For upwards of fourteen years Alderman Barrett represented his fellow-citizens in the Corporation, first being elected as Councillor for the South Ward, and on the death of Alderman Blake, some seven years ago, he was elected Alderman of the SouthCentre Ward, a position Avhich he occupied since. He was during the greater part of his time in the Corporation a member of the Law and Finance Committee, in which hn displayed great ability in dealing with the financial questions connected with this important department. He filled with credit tho office of Lord Mayor during the years 1905 and 1906. He was also a member of the Cork Board of Guardians and of the Committee of Management of the Cork Lunatic Asylum, enjoying the esteem of everybody connected therewith for his straightforwardness. The Architect of Queenstown Ca'hedral - Mr. Charles Guilfoyle Doran, architect, passed away at Queenstown on March 19. Mr. Doran's name will be for all time associated with the building of the great Cathedral of Cloyne, overlooking Cork Harbor at Queenstown. In every nook and corner of the Queenstown Cathedral there is to be found carved work of the highest artistic excellence, and many a well known churchman's face is there recorded in stone for all time. Mr. Doran's Whole life was given to the great work. His knowledge of Irish literature was enormous, and he had accumulated a most extensive and valuable library of books dealing with Irish subjects. DUBLIN-Catholic Toleration The Lord Mayor of Dublin having been taken to task by the authorities of the Dublin Young Men's Christian Association for granting the* use of the Mansion House for a meeting of the Catholic Young Men's Association, sent a reply which should have the effect of making for a better feeling between the members of both bodies. His Lordship replied as follows : — ' The object of the Catholic Young Men's Society is to establish a bright and cheerful club, with a genuine Catholic and Irish atmosphere, and the committee, while affording the members every facility for promoting many games and out-door exercise, will not forget the paramount duty of endeavoring to improve the mental and moral stamina of the members, and of encouraging them to help one another. The Lord Mayor has no doubt that the members of the Young Men's Christian Association can claim with equal justice that their organisation is in no way antagonistic' to the interests of their Catholic fellow-citizens. In granting the use of the Mansion House for any purpose, the Lord Mayor will not be influenced by any sectarian feeling, and each application will be considered and dealt with on its merits. I am further to say that, having allowed the use- of the Oak

Room to the Catholic Young Men's Society for the purpose referred to, the Lord Mayor will not have the slightest objection to- place the same room at the disposal of the ' members of the Young Men's Christian Association for a similar purpose, namely, the inauguration of a -new branch of their organisation.' DERRY— Congratulating the Grand Jury Mr. Justice Holmes, in opening the Assizes for the County Derry, said, in his address to the Grand Jury, there were but three charges that they wore called upon to investigate. None of these was of serious character. Therefore, as far as the calendar is concerned, he could congratulate them upon its very small dimensions. He had no reason to believe that if they took the county as a whole there was anything to cause apprehension, as far as any disorderly conduct is concerned. ' They knew the county better than he did, but as far as he was aware the county of Derry still preserved the same peace that »t always had done during his long connection with it and recollection of it. Mr. Justice Kenny, in his address to the City Grand Jury, said it gave him great pleasure, on the occasion of his presiding there as judge of assize after an interval of three years, to inform them that the condition df the city, so far as criminality was concerned, wasmost satisfactory. There were only two cases for their consideration, both of a very simple character. The County Inspector reported that the city was in a most peaceful condition, and, if statistics couid be regarded as a true criterion, that crime during the past three months had been on the decrease. His Lordship concluded by congratulating the Grand Jury on the peace and good order that prevailed in the ancient and historic city of Derry. KERRY— Death of a Baronet Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, Bart., a member of the Privy Council for Ireland, died on March 22 at his residence in London. Deceased was a Commissioner for National Education in Ireland and. a Senator of the Royal . University of Ireland., He sat in the House of Commons as a Liberal for many years, representing Galway and Kerry. GENERAL The AH-for-Ireland League At a meeting of the Irish Parliamentary Party in London, at which Mr. John Redmond presided, the following resolution was unanimously adopted : — ' That in the opinion of this Party the movement announced under the name of the " AU-for-Ireland League" is hostile to, and intended to be subversive of, this pledge-bound Party and the United Irish League; that its success could only result in creating a fresh split in the National ranks, with consequences disastrous to the National cause ; and we strongly condemn this movement as an attempt to spread faction and its resultant ruin throughout Ireland. We call upon . the members of this Party to abstain from identifying themselves in any way with this new movement, and we appeal to the Nationalists of Ireland to do all in their power 'to put down this attempt to divide the National ranks and ruin the National cause.' No Religious Test The Most Rev. Dr. Kelly, Bishop of Ross, who was among the speakers at the Irish National banquet on St. Patrick's night at the Hotel Cecil, London, said in the course of his speech: — The attitude of some of the native population of English Catholics, and of a section of their press, in regard to the Irish question and to. the dearest hopes and most cherished aspirations of Ireland, sorely tried the temper of many of them. The native English Catholics, apart from their Irish brethren, could not change the scales in a single English election. They relied on the Irish Party to help and defend them, and the Irish Party had unstintedly come to their help and assistance. In retiirn on Irish questions this small section of English Catholics would ,not give the Irish Party even the ( charity - of their silence.' They were anti-Home Rulers first and Catholics after. He ventured to suggest to them firstly that the Irish Party had been elected by Ireland and sent to Westminster to promote and safeguard the interest and welfare of Ireland, and they had no mandate "with regard to English questions; and secondly, that the Irish Party' was not composed exclusively of Catholics. On the patriot roll of Ireland many of the most brilliant and honored names were those of Protestants. His own oldest friend amongst the Irish Party was Mr. Swift MacNeill, "a Protestant and the son of a Protestant clergyman. If a Protestant were a sound Nationalist he was elected quite as freely as a Catholic, for the test was not a religious one. The Party, from a spirit of chivalry, had defended English Catholics on the religious questions, but this chivalry of Irishmen was not inexhaustible, and if this section of English Cath-

-olics were finally left to their own resources they must blame themselves. Revival of Irish Trade

In a speech delivered on March 11 at Bradford, Mr. Birrell made some interesting references to the revival <>l" Irish trade. Mr. Birrell pointed out that from 1825 to 1904, no statistics were kept of Irish trade. He then proceeded to compare the trade of the country in 1904 and 1907. In the former year the total imports and exports amounted to £105,000,000, in the latter year they reached £122,000,000, an increase of 17 millions. Going through the different Irish agricultural industries separately — cattle, butter and eggs, bacon, poultry — Mr. Birrell showed they were in a condition of increasing prosperity. Summing up the position that Ireland holds in the markets of Great Britain ' the great open markets of the world for agricultrual produce ' — the Chief Secretary stated that in 1907 the Irish export of all classes of live stock was- much larger than the import from any other country into the United Kingdom ; the Irish export of butter to Great Britain was the second largest in quantity and value; the Irish export of eggs was the second largest quantity and the largest value imported into Great Britain ; the export of poiiltry from Ireland was greater "than that from any other- country into the United Kingdom ; Ireland supplies the third largest quantity of bacon and hams and yields to none in quality ; and it sends also to Great Britain large quantities of farm produce such as potatoes and oats. Contrasts in Toleration

In the course of a lecture delivered in Letterkenny en March 19, Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., contrasted the treatment meted out to minorities in Armagh and Cork. He said : ' Let us now contrast Protestant Armagh, in Ulster, with Catholic Cork, in Munster. The population of County Armagh, according to the 1901 census, was 123,392, of which 56,652 are Catholics and Nationalists, and 68,740 are Protestants and Unionists. There are 30 members on the County Council, of whom 8 are Catholics and 22 Protestants. The number of officers employed by the County Council and the committees appointed by the council is 50, and of these three are Catholics and 47 Protestants. Of the committees appointed by the council, the Catholics have 2on the Finance Committee and the Protestants 10. On the Proposals Committee there are 2 Catholics and 22 Pro-. testants. On the Agricultural and Technical Instruction Committee there are 7 Catholics and 30 Protestants. Armagh County Council has, since the Local Government Act of 1898 became law, persistently and contemptuously rejected the claims of the Catholics to recognition. Scores of Catholic young men have, in answer to advertisement which the council are by law compelled to insert in the public press when vacancies arise, offered themselves as candidates for positions under the council. How they fared is best answered by the fact that 94 per cent, of the places are monopolised by Protestants and Unionists. Let us now contrast Protestant Armagh with Catholic Cork. The total population of Cork County in 1901 was 404,611,. of which 365,742, or over 90 per cent., are Catholic, and 38,857 Protestant or non-Catholic. The council consists of 52 members, all Catholics and Nationalists. The Committee of Agriculture, appointed by this exclusively Catholic County Council, consists of 75 Catholics and 10 Protestants, and the Committee of Technical Instruction of 28 Catholics and 2 Protestants. The officers employed by the council number 119 Catholics and 24 Protestants. The Committee of Agriculture employ 4 Catholics and 4 Protestants, and the Technical Committee 29 Catholics and 11 Protestants. In other words, the Cork County Council, exclusively Catholic and Nationalist, gives positions to 40 Protestants and Unionists, o\it of a total of 191 places. The population is 90 per cent. Catholic and Nationalist ; the County. Council is exclusively so; and yet over 20 per cent, of the public appointments go to Protestants and Unionists. I could quote many other examples of Protestant and Unionist exclusiveness and of Catholic and Nationalist toleration in connection with the County Councils, did time permit. But those I have given are typical of the others.'