Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 1 February 1917, Page 39

Irish News

Rev.' J. Hannigan and Rev. Father Kilbride, both members of ■ the Redemptorist Order in Limerick, have been appointed chaplains to the British Forces at the front. ‘ Speaking at the opening of the Belfast Christian Brothers’ Jubilee Bazaar a short time ago, Right Rev. Or. Macßory, Bishop of Down and Connor, said the Christian Brothers’ boys had risen to eminence in' every walk of lifein the Church, in Law, in Medicine, in Parliament, in the Civil Service, in Business, and in Scientific Research. - Sir Mark Sykes, in a letter to the Morning Pont, makes an indignant protest against its ; bitter, partisan attitude towards Nationalist Ireland. He dwells, on the feelings the paper’s insults must have produced amongst the members and friends* of the Irish Guards who were represented by thousands at the Requiem Mass in Westminster Cathedral which he attended. Sir Mark comments strongly on the folly of failing to appreciate two great . assets—the martial instinct and the intense enthusiasm of the Irish people. ' • .. : DEATH OF A WELL-KNOWN IRISH SCHOLAR. The Irish Language Movement and Literary Revival have lost one of their pioneers by the death of Mr. Thomas Flannery, of London, which occurred suddenly at 38 St. George’s road, Forest Gate, E., on November 4. Mr. Flannery had been in poor health for some time, but his death was not anticipated, a sudden attack of heart failure proving fatal in a few minutes. . His work in Irish literary fields was well known. He had been a member successively of the Gaelic Union, the Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language, the Irish Literary Society of 'London (of which he was one of the original members), the Irish Texts Society, and the Gaelic League. He was also for many years a member of the Philological Society. His interest in these bodies and- their work for Ireland’s native language never flagged, even when declining years and poor health rendered him unable to take an active part in the work. His books, too, have been the means of helping and inspiring many a student of Irish, besides being of a very high literary order in themselves. His volume of essays, For the. Tongue of the Gael, and his translation of Father O’Molloy’s De Prosodia II ihern ica, are well known. —.——a SIR EDWARD CARSON AGAIN. ■J Sir Edward Carson told a ‘ select ’ audience who met in London the other day under the chairmanship of the Duke of Abercorn that when the war was over 1 if any man dared to lay a hand on her [Ulster’s] liberties, he would once more sound the x-eveille and ask their men to champion the cause for which their comrades died.’ These ‘ whirling ’ words ’ were not really ‘wild’; they were carefully chosen. They may mean nothing (says the Irish Weekly). ‘ Laying a hand on -Ulster’s liberties ’ is a phrase capable of many interpretations," just as ‘ Ulster ’ cannot be accurately defined. Sir Edward will ‘ sound the reveille ’ under undetermined conditions, and ask certain mexx ‘to champion the cause for which their comrades died.’ What ‘ cause ’ ? If he meant the cause for which the Allies are fighting on the Continent, we need only remark that five Nationalist comrades of the Ulstermen who are supposed to rush into the fray when Sir Edward Carson ' sounds the reveille’ have fallen in France, Flanders, Gallipoli, the Balkans, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere for every one of Sir Edward’s alleged followers whose life has been given to the cause; and this statement is made without any. reflection whatever on the bravery or capacity for self-sacrifice displayed by the Ulster Unionists who have gone to the front and done their duty without' fear. But the general public will not go into the fine points of Sir Edward’s diction thev will assume that his words are really simple and straightforward—that he has announced his intention

of embarking. on a £ civil war in Ireland if the national rights ; won ?by - the Irish people and solemnly guaranteed to them by the British Parliament and the King are not denied them, and if the Home Rule Act, the pledges of Ministers, the decree of Parliament; and the honor of the British nation are not falsified and outraged after the manner alleged against the terrible ‘ ’—only more so. That is Sir Edward’s policy, as it will be understood by 95 per cent, of those who read his speech. And the ‘ liberties ’ for which the democratic Unionists of Ulster are invited to wage a ‘ civil war are the ‘liberties’ enjoyed by the working women and girls of Belfast! Sir Edward Carson’s threats against the Government do not matter to us; perhaps they do not worry the Government overmuch. But his threat of another ‘ civil war ’—of another ‘ reveille ’ perhaps of another series of appeals to the Kaiser as ‘ the greatest Protestant Power in Europe ’ — deserves serious attention in Ireland. He has failed, so Tar, to organise a ‘ regular Opposition ’ in the House of Commons, and that failure has been accentuated by the events of the past week. Therefore,** he seems to have made up his mind that the policy of sounding the reveille in Ulster must be reverted to. How matxy sane men in the north of Ireland will welcome the announcement? THE PROTESTANT BISHOPS. - We do not wish to accentuate the differences betweexx the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland, but utterances of Irish Protestant bishops call for a word of comment (says the Catholic Times). When Ireland, by active political effort, was asserting her light to be permitted to maxiage hex' own affairs, these prelates arrayed themselves against the Irish people. Thev took the side of Ireland’s enemies, and fought with all the bitterxxess of obstinate politicians against the ixational demand. Since war broke out, they, have, in their public addresses, spoken as if they were entitled to represent Ireland as a whole and to lecture the people, to whom, though the spiritual guides of only a minority of the population, they have shown so much hostility. They have, of course, the right to express their sentiments, but a little more humility oxx their part would xxot be unbecoming. In the course of a speech which he delivered the other day at Belfast the Right Rev. Dr. D’Arcy said he wished to warn those who were attacking Ulster that if they persisted in doing so they would produce a complete alienation;, the partition of Ireland would be accomplished and that without any legislation. Who the alleged assailants are we know not. Catholics are not making any attacks on Ulster. If they were, we do not think that a rebuke to them would come with good grace from the Right Rev. Dr. D’Arcy, who, when feeling between the Protestants of Ulster and the Catholics was in a state of tension owing to the incitements of the Unionists, only ixxcreased the strain. FUEL RESOURCES. The London Globe says that from a well-informed correspoxxdent it has received certain suggestions with regard to the coal supply which seem to promise a very real- economy. Ireland imports about five million tons of coal per year, and not only is the price very high, but the commodity demands an amount of shipping which can ill be spared. Ireland herself produces almost unlimited stores of peat, which is one of the finest fuels ixx the world, and which, at the bog-side, costs no more,-when properly prepared, than ten shillings a ton. The resources of the country in this direction have been hardly more than scratched up to the present, and the amount of potential fuel in the Bog of Allen alone must be gigantic. The correspondent explains the failure to make these vast .stores available by the refusal of the Irish Agricultural Department to give technical ixxstruction and by the lack of such machinery as is employed in Dexxxnark and Sweden. That the peat is there in Ireland in enormous quantities and that it is of the best quality, are undeniable facts! ■