Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 29 July 1915, Page 39

Irish News

1 Among the officers reported wounded is Lieutenant the Hon. W. S. P. Alexander, Ist Irish Guards, youngest brother of the Earl of Caledon. ' | Private Wm. Furey, of the 3rd Battalion Inniskilling Fusiliers, stationed in Derry, has received notice that his brother has been killed in action in France. Private Furey, who is a native of Loughrea (County Galway) had eight brothers in the army, and five of them, all belonging to the Connaught Rangers, have been killed in the present war. % On May 28 General Friend and his staff arrived from headquarters at Athlone, and held a general inspection of the troops in garrison. The General, who addressed them, was deeply moved when reviewing the course of the war. He spoke of the splendid bravery of the Dublin and Munster Fusiliers and the great reputation they earned at the landing in the Dardanelles. The Bishop of Meaux has forwarded to each member of the Irish Delegation that recently visited Paris a souvenir of the occasion in the form of a little casket of white lacquer work, wrapped in specially-prepared paper, and tied with green silk ribbon, holding in place a tiny rosette picked out in the French national colors. The contents of the casket include two Rosaries of special design. The gifts have been conveyed through Father M'Mullen, Provincial of the Passionists, himself a member of the delegation. The London correspondent of the Freeman, discussing the personnel of the new Cabinet, says the inclusion of the head of the Ulster revolutionaries in an Administration formed for prosecuting the war, ' which he himself largely helped to bring about, was thought to be bad enough, but his appointment to the position where he will be charged with vindicating the law which he has publicly pledged himself to defy, surely surpasses the limits of political cynicism.' It is added that the emoluments of Sir Edward Carson's new office average, including special fees, from £15,000 to £20,000 a year. The Dublin correspondent of the Manchester Guardian says that a grave political situation threatened to arise in Ireland at the beginning of June owing to the proposed eviction of the Liberal Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Mr. Ignatius J. O'Brien, from his office, in order to make way for Mr. J. 11. M. Campbell, M.P., a leading Irish Unionist lawyer, who was AttorneyGeneral for Ireland in the latest Tory Administration. Mr. Campbell was legal adviser of the traitorous Tory junta which comprised the Provisional Government. Had his appointment been persisted in, the Irish Party would have resorted to prompt and effective protest. WHY MR. REDMOND REFUSED OFFICE. The Dublin correspondent of the Manchester Guardian makes a statement which, if it should prove to be well founded, throws a new light on Mr. Redmond's refusal to take office in the Coalition Government. The statement is that, although Mr. Redmond was invited to join the new Government, his inclusion would have been little more than nominal, since he was frankly told that he could not have charge of the Irish Executive, or even a place in it, as ' Ulster would object.' He was offered the position of Postmaster-General, which is usually accounted the last and least of Cabinet appointments. The fact that when the new Cabinet appointments were first announced the office of PostmasterGeneral was kept vacant allows the surmise that it was • waiting on Mr. Redmond's acceptance. * AN OUTRAGE. Mr. Dillon publishes in the Manchester Guardian a statement saying that up to the present Nationalists in Ireland are unable to see any sound reason for the break-up of the late Government and the formation of a Coalition. Nevertheless the Irish Party are prepared to give their heartiest support to the new Government for the purpose of carrying on the war, but the inclusion ef Sir Edward Carson in the Government is a gross in-

3j sult to Irish Nationalists and, a severe strain on n the - patience of the Irish people. £ The further - proposal to appointor..Campbell! Lord Chancellor of Ireland is an outrage which, if | persisted :■ in, will break up the ; results truce m Ireland .and have most disastrous —j— -* IRISH EMIGRATION. , There were fewer emigrants from Ireland last year than in any twelve months since the returns were first collected in 1851. That is the outstanding future a return issued recently by the Registrar General for Ireland, in the last nine months of 1851, 152,060 Irish men, women, and. children left the land of their birth TnH ft f in f te , nfclon ° f se " lin permanently elsewhere, and the total number of native-born emigrants from then to December, 1914, was 4,298,641. The largest number of emigrants during one year was 190,322 in 1852, when t the population was 6,336,889, but with the gradual decline in the population the exodus has fallen off greatly in recent years. In 1912 the number of emigrants first fell below 30,000, the figures for the year ; being 29,344, or 6.7 of the population in 1913 there was a slight increase to 30,967,. but in 1914 a decrease of over 10,000 brought the total down to 20,314 (4 6 ZlxAt P°P ulation ); of whom 10,660 were males and 9654 females There were also 269 emigrants, not natives, from Ireland last year. RADICAL PROTEST. Si r xJ ?! Byles ' in a letter to the-Daily News says: No doubt m the reconstruction of his Ministry Mr Asqmth has had many difficulties of which his followers know nothing, but for which they are willing to make great allowances. He would desire lam sure, to retain the loyalty and confidence of those who have faithfully supported him ever since he held his high office. He cannot in any case increase that loyalty but he may diminish it. It has been sorely strained by the appointment of Sir Edward Carson as AttorneyGeneral, but that after all, is an English appointment. If on top of that the Lord Chancellorship of Ireland be given to Mr. Campbell it will be imposible for those of us who have been most closely identified for many years with the Nationalist cause in Ireland to "trust Asquith" in the same sense or the same degree as before To put the administration of the law in Ireland into the hands or the two chief leaders of the Ulster rebellion who a few weeks ago, were defying the Constitution,' and daring the King to sanction an Act of his ParliaZ ment, would not only be to flout Nationalist opinion everywhere but to scandalise all who revere the sanctity or the law. - , J DUBLIN FEIS CEOIL. i. The^ nin A et6enth Fe is Ceoil (musical festival) was held in the Antient Concert Rooms, Dublin, throughout' the second week in May, and from' every viewpoint it was one of the most successful of the series. The total number of entries in the 1915 Feis was 561, as compared with 578 in 1914. ; In the first year of the festival Se figure was 417, whilst the record number of entries was received for the 1911 Feis, with a total of 605. • . The work of the Feis is arranged under'five main i divisions or groups of competitions, the first three beine exclusively devoted to mixed voice, male voice, female voice, and church choirs (of all denominations) Division IV. embraces vocal quartets and trios, solo voice competitions, and instrumental competitions of all kinds Division V. comprises special vocal and instrumental competitions in Irish national music With the exception of the choral competitions, the outstand- ; ing competitive events of ' the week v were the special 'endowed' contests in the syllabus. The winneT of ! the Plunkett Greene Cup this year was Mrs. Levitt, ' Dublin, who was also the winner in 1914 The cud becomes the absolute property of the competitor winning it three years in succession. The 'Denis O'Sullivan' memorial medal attracted 24 competitors this year, and the medal went to Miss Joan Burke, a Dublin contralto or exceptional power and quality.