MANIFESTO TO THE IRISH PEOPLE

New Zealand Tablet, 19 January 1911, Page 114

MANIFESTO TO THE IRISH PEOPLE

"At a meeting of the National Directory of the United Irish League held in Dublin a few days before the general election the following manifesto, on the motion of Mr. John E. Redmond, was issued to the Irish people: Fellow-countrymen, —The hour has struck for which generations of Irishmen have waited and hoped. The great general election has come unexpectedly, and with shorter time for preparation than in the memory of any living man. The issue is clear and simple, and vital to the cause of Irish freedom. For twenty years the House of Lords has stood between the Irish people and full self-government, and, now, exasperated by oft-repeated injuries and insults, the long-suffering democracy of Great Britain lias risen in revolt against that ancient fortress of privilege and monopoly. For the first time the cause of Home Rule for Ireland has become inseparably linked with the cause of democratic freedom in Great Britain. In the present struggle, the liberties of Ireland and of the masses of the British people are alike involved. The one obstacle standing between Ireland and her just demands for the right of self-government is the Veto power of the House of Lords. _ If the House of Lords is defeated, the path to Home Rule is open and clear. The triumph of the people at the polls means the triumph of Home Rule in the new Parliament. For many years the great majority of the British people and of their representatives in the House of Commons have been in favor of Home Rule for Ireland. The House of Lords has stood, and stands to-day, the one barrier in Ireland's pathway to freedom. The obstruction of the Lords must and will be overcome. No such opportunity for Ireland has arisen since the infamous Act of Union. The irresistible logic of the situation makes Home Rule for Ireland the pivot on which the election will turn. In this great crisis Ireland demands essential unity, discipline, and „ loyalty in the National ranks. The one duty of the country is to return to Parliament a pledge-bound Irish Party, stronger .and more united than ever. To that end every other consideration must be sacrificed. The National Directory, in view of the extraordinary and unprecedented nature of the emergency, has decided that the usual Conventions for the selection of candidates shall be dispensed with., except in certain instances; and * that decision the country is called upon loyally to accept and to abide by. v Our people in Great Britain and our exiles everywhere are splendidly united and ready and eager to support us in this last great fight for the freedom of the cradle land of their race. With all the more force, therefore, wc appeal to Irish Nationalists in Ireland to close up their rajiks and, by supporting a united, disciplined, and pledgebound Irish Party, to prove themselves worthy of the magnificent unity and generous enthusiasm of their race in lands beyond the seas. The time is short. The struggle will be sharp and decisive. All the energies and resources of the members of the Irish Party will be needed for work in those constituencies where contests are threatened by an unholy combination of Unionism and factionism, amplv provided with funds with the' object of smashing the Irish Party and exhausting its exchequer. The members and friends of the National Organisation must be prepared for instant action; nothing can now defeat us or delay our triumph except treason and division in our own ranks. The Irish Party stands to-day where it has always stood. Its demand is for full National Self-Government. It is a National and not a sectional Party. It represents no one class or creed, but the whole Irish people of every class and of every creed. It is not responsible to any one man, or to any one section of men, but to the whole'lrish people, whose creation it is, and whose salvation it has proved itself to be. Toleration has been and is the very essence of its policy. No man has been or will be excluded from it on the ground of rank or religion. We seek

such a settlement of the National demand as it will be the pride of the Irish Protestant and Irish Catholic to cherish and to defend. That settlement is now close at hand. Its achievement depends upon the Irish people themselves, they know their power. They realise their responsibility, there is every ground for confidence that they will emerge from the great and _ epoch-making contest united triumphant, and fully vindicated from all the aspersions ot their enemies. Let the battle-cry lie: A united Party —down with the veto of the House of Lords—and may God defend the right!’ God Save Ireland. , r The resolution was seconded by Very .Rev. Canon Me* adder., 1.1., V.F., W est Donegal, and passed unanimously.