Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 9 February 1911, Page 249

Irish News

ANTRlM—Shipbuilding in Belfast During the year 1910 Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Queen's Island, Belfast, launched eight steamers, with a gross tonnage of 115,861 and indicated horse-power of 100,130. The output by Messrs. "Workman and Clark is officially stated at eight vessels, of 49,993 tons gross tonnage and 36,300 indicated horse-power. ARMAGH—A Youthful Voter One of the voters in South Armaghwhere Dr. O'Neill was returned with a three-to-one majority a boy aged six years, whose name appeared on the voters' roll. The very youthful voter is Master Peter McCone, of Cashel. CORK—Mr. O'Brien and Tolerance Nothing (writes a Dublin correspondent) could be more ludicrous than Mr. O'Brien's pretence that his organisation is necessary to safeguard the minority under Home Rule. In pursuance of his self-imposed mission he commenced by hunting Mr. William Abraham, the Protestant Home Ruler, out of "his old constituency, and he had him replaced by a Catholic. The people of Dublin Harbor Division, the most Catholic constituency in Ireland, who are not in the habit of parading their tolerance, elected Mr. Abraham as their member. Mr. O'Brien's next move was to have himself nominated against Captain Don elan, another Protestant Home Ruler. The vigorous protest from the Bishop of Cloyne showed where true toleration was to be found. So much for Mr. O'Brien's sham toleration. If evidence were required of the friendship shown.by Catholics to their Protestant fellow-countrymen, there is abundance of it. It is only some rabid Orangeman and misguided politicians who glibly talk of Catholic intolerance. The Lord Mayor The office of Lord Mayor of Cork was declared vacant in the King's Bench Division at Dublin on December 20. The present occupant, Mr. Donovan, after a tie for the office, gave a casting vote for himself, which, as there are emoluments attaching to the office, the court decided ho had no right to do. A Just Punishment The Rev. M. B. Kennedy, Fermoy, speaking at a meeting held in that town to celebrate the victory of Captain Donelan in East Cork, said that Captain Donelan had not only won a triumph over factionism, but he had made a proclamation to England and to the world that Irish Nationalists were not only tolerant towards Protestants, but that they coveted alliance with them whenever a man of them was found ready to lift his arm in the cause of the land. Whilst they in Fermoy rejoiced over the victories won elsewhere, they had cause to be ashamed at the position in which North-East Cork, their own constituency, now stood before all Ireland. Mr. William O'Brien, on the eve of the nomination, had stealthily handed them over to a gentleman of wandering habitation and dubious political famea Sussex Californian. It was a .lamentable thing to reflect that their constituency was cut away from the National Party at a time when the concession of Home Rule was almost certain, but it was a just punishment for their desertion of the Irish Party in the interests of faction. DOWN—Nationalist Victory

Speaking at a meeting in Newcastle to celebrate the Nationalist success at the ■ South Down election, Mr, McVeagh, M.P., said that their opponents had spent plenty of money, had deluged the constituency with literature, had employed paid agents in every polling district, and had at their service a regiment of landlords’ motor-cars and landlords’ carriages. The Nationalists had spent practically nothing beyond the sheriff’s fees. They had no paid agents ; they had issued no literaturethey had not even sent out polling cards to the electors; they had lost heavily on the register by deaths and by emigration, and yet at the end of it all the Unionists had only. reduced their (the Nationalist) majority by seven votes. To secure that result they had spent nearly £IOO for each of the seven votes. At the same —viz., seven votes in twelve months Unionists might hope to win South Down in about 100 years. The last South Down election, so far as the Nationalists were concerned, was the cheapest election fought in the three kingdoms, the average expenditure per vote being only lid, including the sheriff’s fees, whilst other candidates had spent on an average twenty times as much. Despite all the advantages which they had left with the Unionists in the contest, the result proved that they might as well try to move Slieve Donard from its base as to move South Down from Irish Nationalism. The only explanation the Tories could offer for their failure to reduce the Nationalist poll was that scores of Protestant voters (in addition to those who had previously supported the Nationalist candidate) had also followed such example, and had refused to be again cajoled or humbugged by appeals to bigotry and sectarian passions. He was grateful for the support of those independent Protestants, and their number, he was proud to say, was increasing from ©lection to election,

GALWAY—Probable Vacancy Mr. Farrell McDonnell, Dunmore, County Galway, has intimated his intention of becoming 'a candidate for the vacancy which will be caused by the resignation from the representation of North Galway of Mr. Richard Hazleton, who, it is expected, will sit in Parliament for North Louth. As Port of Call The importance of the letter which Mr. M. Sullivan has received from the Prime .Minister of Newfoundland in relation to more rapid steamship communication between these countries and Canada will not be underrated (says tho Freeman's Journal). During the discussion at the meeting of the proprietors of the Midland Great Western Rail- .: way, Mr. Sullivan pointed out that Trepassy, on the south coast of Newfoundland, is nearer to Ireland than Halifax, and now the Prime Minister states that next August the port will be connected by railway with St. John's and the whole American railway and that his Government would be glad to . discuss the subsidising of a line of steamers between Newfoundland and Ireland. Mr. Sullivan lays stress on the fact that the position of the two islands enables them to facilitate the passage from the Old World to the New, and he contends that such a project would conflict in no way with the scheme for connecting Halifax and Galway. KERRY—Kenmare Copper Mine Workmen are busy preparing the famous copper mine near Kenmare, County Kerry, with a view to its being: reopened. A syndicate has been formed, and it is expected that the mine will he in workingjorder in the course of the current year. LIMERICK— Suffrage The Limerick Corporation, at the request of the local branch of the Women's Suffrage Association, of which Mrs., Dodds, 8.A., is hon. secretary, unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Government to give special facilities for the consideration of a Bill giving women equal franchise rights with men. QUEEN'S COUNTY—Division of Untenanted Land Mr. Campbell, Estates Commissioner's Inspector, attended at Ballacolla, Queen's County, recently, for the purpose of dividing the untenanted land on the Caldbeck estate. These lands, comprising some 247 acres, have been the subject of a prolonged struggle extending over six and a half years. When the Act of 1909 became law it was arranged to treat the estate as a congested estate within the meaning of the Act, and Mr. Booth was superseded in the division of the untenanted land and Mr. Campbell appointed as inspector in his stead, with the result that the final stage in the struggle was enacted on December 16, when sixteen laborers and small farmers received possession of allotments varying from 29 acres to 4 acres, which, together with six laborers' cottages erected during the past two years, makes a total of 22 people planted on these 247 acres of untenanted land since tho struggle began. TYRONE—Venerable Voters The polling in East Tyrone this year brought out the usual contingent of centenarians. John Charlton, aged 108; William Quinn, aged 103; and Owen Hughes, aged 95, voted in the Stewartstown district for Mr. W. A. Redmond, the successful candidate. WlCKLOW—Fishing Disaster Under most distressing circumstances six fishermen belonging to Arklow lost their lives in Arklow harbor on the night of December 15. The names of the victims are Patrick William Kavanagh, Larry Brien, Daniel Donovan, William Clancy, and William Forde. It appears that two boats, the Mary Immaculate and the Fisher Lad, were leaving for the herring fishing, when they were caught by a succession of tremendous seas, just outside the bar, which capsized both boats, throwing the crews into the sea! There was no wind at the time, and the boats were entirely at the mercy of the waves, being tossed about like pieces of corkwood. Three members only of the two crews were saved. The occurrence threw the town, naturally, into mourning, and the greatest sympathy for the relatives of the deceased fishermen was expressed. It is a peculiar coincidence that on the same date eight years ago four fishermen were drowned in the same place under "exactly similar circumstances. GENERAL Sending Milk to England An exchange states that 20,400 quarts of Irish milk are being imported into London every day. It is said that the purveyors who take the milk are buying it from the Irish farmers because certain Hants, Berks, and Wilts, farmers considered the present price unremunerative. The * Dictator of England' Mr. William O'Brien, in an interview with the Morning Post correspondent, says that the action of the Unionist press in England was largely accountable for the success-

of the Redmondites at the general election. The Tory papers of England daily celebrated Mr. Redmond's glories as ' Dictator of England,' and their constant adulation of his power has been triumphantly quoted in the Redmondite newspapers in Ireland with marked effect. Irish Lace for Sweden The Crown Princess of Sweden (says the Daily Chronicle) received early in December a large consignment of Irish laces, comprising flounces, handkerchiefs, fancy collars, and several children's dresses, which were to be despatched to English and Swedish relatives as Christmas gifts. Since her marriage to the Crown Prince the Duke of Connaught's elder daughter has been a consistent supporter of Irish industries. The Princess had many suits of Blarney and Fingall tweed in her trousseau. She invariably appears in the country at the winter games and at shooting parties wearing a neat coat and skirt of homespun. Her sons wore frocks of Irish lace when they were infants, and Irish linen embroidered in Connemara is now used in the Royal Palace at Stockholm. The Final Results The last of the Irish contests in which the Unionist candidates are taking part is over (says the London Daily News), and we can measure the strength in Ireland of the Unionist position. The Irish Unionists fought this election entirely on the Home Rule issue,, and the net result is that they have lost two seats to the —Mid-Tyrone and South County Dublin. The first of these is of lesser significance, because the ejected Unionist had got in on a split Nationalist vote; but South Dublin returned Mr. Walter Long as recently as 1906 by a majority of over 1300, and had never since 1886 been won by a Nationalist in a straight fight. Taking Ireland north and south of the Boyne, the conclusion seems to be that the Unionists have weakened perceptibly. In Ulster itself they have a bare majority of seatsl7 as against 15 Nationalist and one Liberal; while in four other constituencies Liberal candidates were beaten by smallish majorities. To speak of an Ulster solid against Home Rule is therefore absurd. Home Rule is the political creed of nearly half Ulster as well as of the whole of the rest of Ireland. It has ceased to frighten any very large body of Irish Protestants; and the old war cries have worn too faint to stir strongly. The Nationalists cannot be denied the credit of having done their best to clear away suspicion and misunderstanding. They number among their members in Parliament at least seven Protestants, a Liberal candidate whom they supported is the son of a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and they count among their supporters hosts of Protestant Irishmen. These indications of the decay of old prejudices and of the coming together in the common cause of sections hitherto divided will gratify all who wish well to Ireland. The Irish Party The result of the electoral campaign in Ireland is that the Irish Party goes back to the House of Commons numerically stronger than it was in the last Parliament (writes a Dublin correspondent). South County Dublin, for years a national stronghold, but lost owing to' dissension, has been wrested from the Unionists by Alderman Cotton. The Alderman's majority over his opponent, Captain Bryan Cooper, was 133, but by attention to the register in the future it can be increased to over 1000, as at one time it was, for South Dublin is preponderatingly Nationalist. The city and county are once again represented solely by Nationalists, and the Dublin six go to the House of Commons to voice the demand of the metropolitan county and city for Home Rule. Mid-Tyrone, which was also lost to the Nationalists owing to disunion, has been re-captured for the cause by Mr. McGee. The winning of these important constituencies shows clearlv the value of unity and should be an object lesson to all earnest Nationalists. Mr. Orinnell and Mr. McKean, who were at variance with their old colleagues during the last session of Parliament, have it is announced, returned to their allegiance, so that the United Irish Party will number seventy-six in the House of Commons when it meets. Mr. William O'Brien has not succeeded in sweeping the country, as he boasted he would do. On the contrary, wherever, outside Cork, he tried his fortune, disaster overtook him. And even within Cork County he met with an overwhelming defeat in the East Division. He had himself nominated against Captain Donelan, the veteran Protestant Home Ruler, and was defeated by a majority of 1339. Without doubt the result brought intense pleasure to the great majority of Nation- ™ S A>-n? hei \ in Mayo Mr. William Dorris defeated w i r -r&- B ,r en by ? majority of 2848. In East Kerry Mr. 1. O Sullivan, the Nationalist candidate, defeated Mr (ruiney, the representative of faction, by a majoritv of 1253. In the same county Mr. Boland had a crushing majority over his O'Brienite opponent. In West Limerick ! • f l -T J -, 0 i haUg^ J eß ? y defeated Mr. D. D. Sheehan, the All-for-Ireland candidate, by 1765 votes. Limerick Cit had previously shown its contempt for disunion by returning Alderman Joyce by an immense majority. Dr. Charles U Neill the Nationalist candidate for Armagh, has been reSSS? ya m l a J° rt y of . lg ß7 over the All-for-Ireland cantiVfLu 4 S / lrad i V P ° lDtd T ut '. everywhere outside Cork the factionist attacks on the Nationalists signally failed