IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, 7 November 1918, Page 33

IRISH NEWS

Tjae recent fete in Limerick, in aid of the Christian Brothers' Centenary Fund, has placed £2500 at the disposal of the trustees. At some of the Ulster Revision \ Sessions (for the making up of the parliamentary register), the same solicitors appeared for the Nationalists and Unionists. The Sinn Feiners were separately represented. A sub-committee of the Transport Reform Committee is visiting Ireland. The Daily Mail points out "there are infinite possibilities of commercial and industrial development in Ireland, if only its natural resources and endowments are utilised." Dr. Joseph Kicld, who has just died at Hastings (England), aged 94 years, was doctor to Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), whom he accompanied to the Berlin Conference, and also to John Bright. He was a native of Limerick. Nearly 100 Irish ladies, teachers in English schools, on their way back recently from holidays, were held up at Kingstown by the-cross-Channel boats being too full to accommodate them. A journey to the North Wall produced no satisfaction, and the travellers were obliged to lodge in Kingstown for the night. Owing to th« unsatisfactory condition of the port, the Waterford Harbor Commissioners are seeking Parliamentary powers to enable them. to levy tonnage dues on imports and exports, the port having been so far a "free" one in that respect—the only one of its kind in Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish Independent of August 31, dealing with the present situation in Ireland, says:"Sinn Feiners have been torn from their families and imprisoned without charge or trial. Most of their prominent leaders are now under lock and key, and those .-.till at large can hardly open their lips to make a speech before they are arrested. Every day a • fresh batch of arrests is reported, and if this goes on much longer hardly a single prominent Sinn Feiner will be at liberty. And this policy, be it noted, is being pursued when a General Election is approaching, at which the ' issue in Ireland will be between the Dillonites and the Sinn Feiners. On the other hand, as on Lady Day, Mr. Dillon, his M.P.'s and supporters, will be permitted to orate to the extent of columns, and even pages, of the Party organs." WHAT HAS HINDERED IRISH RECRUITING. The other day an English Liberal newspaper described the state into which the Coalition Government had allowed Ireland to drift as "desperate," and, in imploring its readers to look facts in the face, the same publication went on to say "so long as it is possible for her enemies to point to the spectacle of an Ireland which proclaims herself oppressed and governed against the will of her people, England's claim to be the champion of small nations is fatally invalidated." Exactly so (comments the Derry Journal). But what steps are "the powers that be" taking to set themselves right before the world ? Lord Curzon, from his place in the House of Peers, shouts "No Homo Rule"; Mr. Lloyd George says the question of selfgovernment must be postponed indefinitely ; the military governor of this country, Viscount French, speaking in Belfast quite recently in support of the new voluntary recruiting campaign to secure 50,000 Irishmen by October, declared "there was no thought of abandoning the possibility of conscription in Ireland if military requirements are not satisfied with voluntary effort." These declarations taken together, or taken separately, have not, it is almost needless to say, rendered the state of Ireland less "desperate" than in the opinion of the Liberal paper, it was before the declarations were made. We contend that, notwithstanding Che cruel libel circulated concerning Ireland's part in the war by her bitter and obviously still unrepentant enemies; notwithstanding the shameful and dishonest

methods which have been used again and again to misrepresent the facts about Irish recruiting ; notwithstanding the snubs and sneers and deliberately obstructive attitude adopted towards Nationalist proffers of aid by partisan officialdom; notwithstanding that the emigration drain of the last 50 years has swept away the flower of the population so 'as to reduce it from eight millions to four millions; notwithstanding all this we say it is surprising that Nationalist Ireland contributed so much voluntary assistance as she has already given. If she did not contribute more it was chiefly because of the persistent and plotted obstruction to which, in merest outline, we have just referred. THE DEAD AT CLONMACNOIS. (From the Irish of Enoch O'Gillan.) By T. W. Rolleston. In a quiet watered land, a land of roses, Stands Saint Kieran's city fair. And the warriors of Erin in their famous generations Slumber there. There beneath the dewy hillside sleep the noblest i Of the Clan of Conn. Each below his stone with name in branching Ogham And the sacred knot thereon. ° There are laid to rest the seven Kings of Tara, There the sons of Cairbre sleep— Babble-banners of the Gael, that in Kieran's plain of crosses Now their final hosting keep. And in Clonmacnois they laid the men of Teffia And right many a lord of Breagh ; Deep the sod above Clan Creide and Clan Conaill, Kind in hall and fierce in fray. Many and many a son of Conn the Hundred-Fighter In the red earth lie at rest; " Many a blue eye of Clan Colman the turf cover, Many a swan-white breast. THE IRISH CHANCELLOR AND HOME RULE. Apropos of the statement of the Irish Chancellor that since the outbreak of the war, he favored the establishment of Home Rule for all Ireland, .by consent, the London Star mentions the extraordinary number of men who entered the Irish Government as Unionists and became converted to the belief of the necessity for Home Rule. Notable cases are the late Lord Carnarvon, Sir Robert Hamilton, Sir Redvers Buller, Lord Macdonnell, Sir James Dougherty, Mr. George Wyndham, Lord Dudley, and Sir H. E. Duke. It is of interest to note that the London Times did not publish Sir James Campbell's declaration. The Carsonite press in Ireland is brimming over with indignation, and the Belfast Northern Whig is specially bitter. It says: "The way in which Sir James Campbell has passed over from Unionism to Home Rule shows that his political convictions . were never deep-seated. The Unionist platform was for him a convenient step to office, and he made the most of his opportunities. When he has got all it was possible to get from the Unionists he has turned a political somersault. . . . Irish Unionists will lose nothing by his change ofpolicy, and the Nationalists can have him, with our blessing. We have no place for political weathercocks. . . . No matter what happens, he is. Lord Chancellor, and even if he retired to-morrow he would be rewarded with a handsome pension. But whether the Nationalists set up a Dominion Parliament or a Republic, they cannot forget the great patriot who has now joined them, and he should have no difficulty in adopting the Sinn Fein motto, 'Ourselves alone.'"