Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 21 January 1915, Page 39

Irish News

GENERAL.

Mr. P. F. Adams, of Tullamore, was chosen as Nationalist candidate for King’s County, in succession to the late Mr. Haviland Burke, M.P., at a convention held in Tullamore. Three candidates were proposed, all local men. Mr. Adams had the majority.

Five hundred National Volunteers, who left Belfast on November 19 to join the army, passed through Dublin in the afternoon. They were met by friends at Kingsbridge Station, where tea and cigarettes were provided. The men then proceeded by special train to Fermoy.

The Lord Lieutenant, with the approval of the King, has determined to devote Dublin Castle to Red Cross hospital purposes. It is estimated that accommodation can be 'provided for close on 500 beds, and an appeal, signed by Lady Aberdeen and the Dublin committee of the Red Cross Society, has been issued for funds.

A Nationalist Convention, held at Ballinasloe, County Galway, selected as candidate for East Galway Mr. Cosgrove, of Portumna. The new man is a County Councillor and another of tho ‘local man ’ • selections now so popular in Ireland. He will succeed the late Mr. John Roche. There .were no fewer than five candidates, one of them being Mr. Henry Grattan Bellow, who dropped out at the first poll, receiving but 15 votes.

Sincere regret was felt at the announcement of the death of tho Rev. Mother O’Connell-Pfrench, which occurred on November 19, at Loreto Convent, Dublin. The deceased nun, who was a daughter of the late Mr. Nicholas Joseph Ffrench, of Ffrenchlawn, County Roscommon, and grand-daughter of the Liberator, was beloved by all who knew her. Her demise cuts off one of the links between the present generation and a momentous period in Irish history.

Sir James Dougherty, until lately the Permanent Under-Secretary for Ireland, was the Home Rule candidate for Derry City. Sir James is a Protestant Home Ruler, and although he has been a Dublin Castle official, he was not one of the traditional kind, but the loyal coadjutor of Lord Aberdeen and Mr. Birrell. His election was unopposed, the Unionists having waived a contest owing to present circumstances. Sir James is a native of Derry, and before entering the Civil Service was a Protestant .minister in Nottingham. Later on he held the position of Professor of Ecclesiastical History in Magee College, Derry, where Iris father was a Presbyterian minister.

The death is reported of the Very Rev. James Dunphy, Arklow, who passed away at the age -of eightyfive years. A native of Queen’s County, deceased belonged to .a much-respected family, which gave many members to the Church. During the troubled period associated with tho Coolgreany evictions Father Dunphy was the dominant factor in securing the maintenance of peace between Die tenants and tho police. His indefatigable and earnest work for tho uplifting and betterment of the many homeless families was ultimately rewarded, and it was a source of great satisfaction to him in his declining years to see many of the tenants reinstated.

A -RECORD.

Mr. John Hayden, tho Nationalist "M.P., writing from Roseomm'on to an English friend with reference to the recruiting from Irish divisions, which is going on briskly throughout Ireland, says: I suppose you have noticed there is a considerable influx of Belfast and other ultra-Nationalists in the Irish divisions. From this little town, Roscommon, with a population of about 1800, 180 men have gone on active service. About half of these were Reservists and the other half recruits. Practically all of them were members of tho local corps of the National Volunteers, which, has been reduced almost to the vanishing point by their absence.

Making allowance for 'old and young land others incapable cr not in a position to .go, this is a record which very few towns even in England can beat. The popular opinion jwhich used to be antagonistic to recruiting is no longer so, and this in itself is an asset of stupendous value. It is a result of the beneficial legislation of recent years, and, above all, of the passage of the Home Rule Act.

IRISH RECRUIT’S IN SCOTLAND.

A delegate meeting of Scottish branches of the U.I.L. was held in Glasgow recently, when a discussion took place regarding the treatment accorded to Irish recruits in Scotland. One delegate stated that his brother had received a promise that he would be allocated to the Connaught Rangers, but when he got to Berwick he was informed that he .would have to take his place in the Scottish Borderers. According to another speaker, out of 300 recruits from .Stirling and district who wished /to join Irish regiments, over 250 were placed in Scottish regiments. .Similar statements were made by other representatives, and it was decided to bring the matter under -the notice of the Irish leaders. A resolution was passed sympathising with the Allies and protesting against the conduct of the recruiting authorities in Scotland and the action of the War Office in refusing to .allow the presentation of colors to tho Irish Brigade.

AN IRISH-AMERICAN AND THE .WAR.

Mr. O’Ha Horan, of Brooklyn, formerly of Castlewellan, ,County Down, in an interesting'letter to his friends, states that the sympathy -of the United States is with the Allies against the tyranny of German militarism. ‘ I hope,’ ho r ays, ‘ that the arrogant, brutal Germans will bo well beaten. There will be .no peace in the world until their power is broken.’ As a Nationalist, Mr. O’Ha Horan adds— All the Irish people here of any consequence are heart and soul with Redmond, Dillon, and Devlin. Tho only few against are tho “Clan-na-Gael ’ and “Sinn Feiners,” who never helped the cause in any way, only trying to do harm at all times. However, their power for evil is small.’

JOINS THE RANKS.

At a recent meeting of the Louth County Council, the chairman (Mr. ,W. A. Doran, a Protestant Home Ruler), formally tendered his resignation, as he was obliged to leave home, having joined the army. Irt the past ho said they all admitted that Ireland had been shamefully treated by England, from the breaking of the Treaty of Limerick down almost to thirty years ago. A new England, however, had now arisen, and during it he past thirty years had been endeavoring to undo the past. A democratic England had given them Home Rule, and if tho Act was not all that they would like, it was not the fault of the English people, but was duo to divisions amongst themselves at home. Time and again /the English people had been -promised that if they gave Ireland Home Rule she would no longer boa, broken reed, but would be a strong arm to them. That promise culminated when tl\eirLeader, Mr. John Redmond, assured Mr. Asquith in Dublin that Ireland would keep faith with England .as she had kept faith with them. That premise meant to him (the chairman) a personal appeal, and so far as one man could do it, he was going to answer the call of his Leader. . He believed in doing so he w'as going to serve Ireland so far as any man could serve her. The question as to whether Irishmen would be hound to fight England’s battles in the future had been .answ-ered iby Mr. Asquith. He wanted the free (offering of a free people, and his (the chairman’s) offer was the free offer of a free man. The action of England in this war would be to her credit so long as the -world lasted, and she would yet be an Empire in which liberty would be broadened more and more. From that Empire the Irish nation would gather strength, instead of being overshadWed by her, as in the past. v