IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, 18 November 1920, Page 31

IRISH NEWS

HARASSING THE BEREAVED. Dublin Castle, under .whose regime unexpected deaths are a feature of Irish life, has stepped in now to harass the mourners (says the Edinburgh Catholic Herald for October 2). Neither Irish Volunteers, Gaelic Leaguers, nor members of the Cumann na ra’Bann may take part officially in funerals in Ireland, says Dublin Castle’s latest order. Steps will be taken “to limit the size of the procession to a definite number of relatives and friends, and to forbid any marching or parading in military formation of organised bodies of suppressed organisation, to prevent such marching and parade if necessary by force, and to arrest persons wearing uniform or in possession of arms.” The Bishops are to be asked for their “assistance and co-operation.” At the same time it has been ordered that members of the occupying forces who may die in Ireland shall have spectacular obsequies. PROTEST A NTS AND-CATHOLICS IN IRELAND. A meeting of delegates from the various clubs and societies in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, held there on September I, to aid the relief fund for the expelled workers of Belfast, afforded remarkable evidence of the friendly relations between Catholics and Protestants in the South. Representatives were present not only from Catholic societies, but also from all the Protestant organisations of the kind, including the Methodist body. Canon Leslie, representing the Protestant Episcopal Church, said he had lived twelve years in Clogheen and ten in Clonmel. During the 12 years he had spent in Ciogheen he could not have wished his lot to be east in any other part of the earth, his relations with the people were so happy; and he might say, addressing a number of men of Clonmel, that from tin- kindly relations between all creeds and classes in the town it might, well la- called the vale of honey —the vale of sweetness. It well deserved the name. The Canon strongly denounced the idea of driving men out of their employment because of their religions or political opinions, and the society for which he was speaking agreed to come to the meeting and express abhorrence at the state of things in Belfast. It is only in those parts of Ulster where the Protestants are in a majority that any friction whatever arises between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. CHANGE OE BRITISH OPINION REGARDING IRELAND. British opinion is rapidly coming round to recognition of the Irish Republic (says the Edinburgh Catholic Herald). The Glasgow Citizen, which has hitherto been implacably Unionist and anti-Irish in its politics, printed recently a leading article on “Irish Policy.” It contained these salient sentences: A man cannot compel another to he his friend, and neither can peoples be united by force. . . . To-day the results of English effort to control Ireland are melancholy. Generations of rule, supported and maintained by armed forces, have culminated in murder and utter chaos; and the methods of Britain in Ireland have been proved useless. However unpalatable the truth may be, it must be recognised—the lesson of all history seems too plain to be misunderstood. The obvious deduction from experience is that it is useless to continue to force Ireland to be one with ourselves against her will. The Irish people must choose their own government and be masters of their own fate. The difficulties attendant on such a solution arc discussed. Among these Our Admiralty are unable to permit the control of Irish harbors to pass into hostile hands. These problems solved, Ireland may have what constitution she will. This problem is already solved. Do Valera has accepted the Cuban solution, which would leave the British Admiralty in a position to prevent Irish harbors passing into hostile hands. POPE’S GOOD ADVICE. Making in St. Michael’s Church, Tipperary, on Sunday a strong appeal “to the population to do nothing that would in the slightest degree tarnish the grand old Catholic faith,” (says the London Catholic Times of September 11), Most Rev. Dr. Harty, Archbishop of Cashel, declared that there was a grand Irish spirit in the land to-day which elevated the people, made them self-reliant, and filled them with a love of country. That spirit, said his Grace, was a Catholic spirt as well as an Irish spirit. Whenever .Jn vthe history of Ireland there was a specially strong love of country shown it was accompanied by a strong love of the Catholic faith, so that they had reason to be proud.

" ? - / “I will,” continued the Archbishop, “give you a word of advice, an advice strengthened by my recent visit to the Holy See, and one which I give to you with all the earnestness I can command. I appeal to you to do nothing that would in the slightest degree tarnish the grand old Catholic faith. “Let there be no crime in Ireland. Every crime that is committed is a stain on our Catholic faith and on our national honor. “1 know nobody knows better the intense provocation the Irish people have got from the tyranny of a foreign Government. But, above all that, 1 strongly advise you, I entreat you, to do nothing and to countenance nothing that would be in violation of the law of God. ( hat was the advice 1 received from the Holy .bather, who said the people of Ireland while working'for the glory and the freedom of their country should always be careful to do so within the Law of God. His Holiness sympathised keenly with the Irish people in their struggle for the uplifting of their nation, and sent them a message of hope and encouragement; and said they were a most faithful nation, and a people most dear to his heart.” RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY IN “CARSONIA.” Bigotry in its most virulent form (says the Irish In dependent) was displayed at a. special meeting of the Belfast Corporation held a short time ago. The business for which the meeting was called was “to devise ways and means of safeguarding the lives, homes and property of all the citizens, and further to consider what steps should be taken for the reinstatement of all workers who have been thrown out of employment.” wo deputations had written to the Town Clerk notifying him of their intention to attend. but while the Orangemen from the shipyards turned i 1 1) in force, the men who had been expelled from their employment dared not venture near the building. It has been stated in Parliament that the Belfast outbreak was not in any way due to religious bigotry, and the Orange newspapers have echoed this statement. If the Corporation meeting showed nothing else, it at least proved beyond all doubt that the underlying motive responsible for the wreckings and lootings was hatred of Catholics. The deputation of shipyard workers, who described themselves as Unionists and Protestants, warned the members of the City Council that in future first consideration must be given to loyal ex-service men and Protestant Unionists. Pile shipyards were to fie closed against Catholicseven loyal Catholics. A contingent threat of further bloodshed and damage was used to deter the Council from showing any sympathy towards the families left homeless by the recent orgy of the Change mobs. Only two voices were raised in protest against the organised attempt to deprive Catholic workingmen of the means of earning a livelihood. One of the speakers. Councillor Savage, was subjected to repeated interruptions from the gallery, and was finally told: “Sit down nr we will jump on you.” --This is a fair sample of Ulster tolerance. The Belfast News-Letter . which is crying out against “terrorism in the south and west,” regards this sort of conduct of proof of Ulster’s lawabiding condition. Instead of striving to restore order and to protect life and property some of the Belfast journals are deliberately fanning the embers of religious b'gotry into another and more appalling blaze. Even Sir Edward Carson, who on other occasions professes such abhorrence of crime, has made no effort to restrain his followers. I his is not a matter for wonder, considering the active part he took in the Twelfth of July celebrations. Not even the recent Derry outbreak could convince him that partisan displays wore a, danger to be avoided. Fortunately this disregard for the public safetv is not apparent on the other side. His Eminence Cardinal Logue has forbidden those under his jurisdiction to make use of the coming Feast of the Assumption for political meetings or processions. It would be well if this prohibition were heeded throughout Ulster. The fact that it is almost impossible to distinguish between the Orangemen’s religious and their political opinions makes it doubly necessary for Catholics to act on the Cardinal’s advice.