IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 14, 5 April 1923, Page 43

IRISH NEWS

THE KERRY TRAGEDIES. A coroner's jury at Tralee, Co. Kerry, has (writes the Special correspondent of the London Catholic Times, under date February 3) returned a verdict of wilful murder against the unknown men who fatally wounded an enginedriver named Daniel Daly in that town last week, and also against the persons who, by wrecking a goods train, caused the death of two other railway workers — O'Riordan and Daniel Crowley^—in the same locality some time ago. At the inquest upon Driver Daly it transpired that that unfortunate railwayman was shot because he refused to render assistance to the wreckers in their campaign against the transport services around Tralee, while from the evidence given at the second inquest it appears that their willingness to drive a goods train through their native county was deemed a sufficient reason for hurling Crowley and O'Riordan to their deaths. It says much for the bravery and civic spirit of the Kerry railwaymen that these terrible attacks on their defenceless comrades have weakened in no way their determination to pursue as heretofore their usual avocations; that, in fact, they have merely led them to re-announce to the local military authorities that neither murder nor assassination would prevent them from discharging their duties to the public. A Labor Protest. The Kerry outrages to which I have just referred have led to the publication of an energetic protest by the railway unions, signed by Mr. Bermingham, Irish Secretary, N.U.R. and by Senator J. T. O'Farrell, Irish Secretary, Railway Clerk's Association. Having uttered a solemn protest against the Kerry outrages, the railwaymen in this important document go on to express the fear that those appalling deeds were the natural sequence of notices issued some time ago to railway workers calling on them, in certain contingencies, to refuse to carry on their work. Continuing, they very rightly state that they fail to see the necessity or moral justification for the ruthless murder of engine-men, or for the banishment Under threats of death of stationmasters from their stations, whose only crime has been an honest effort to protect the property committed to their care; while in conclusion they reaffirm the inalienable right of Irish workers to earn an honest livelihood unharassed by interference from either individuals or parties. Surely a more reasonable protest against the efforts which are being made to drive thousands of trade unionists in Ireland from their work could not have been issued, and yet it appears to have had no effect upon the militant opponents of the Treaty, who, as I recently heard one of Mr. de Valera's political admirers say, would rather see this country submerged for ever than a contented partner in the British commonwealth of nations. A Mail Train Ambushed. , Finding that attacks on the Great Southern and Western Railway system expose them to increasing risks, the train-wreckers seem to have transferred their attention to the . line connecting Waterford and Wexford with the capital. Thus on Saturday last a hundred raiders, armed with rifles and machine-guns, ambushed a mail train bound for Dublin at Killurin—in the neighborhood of Wexford—and, having ordered all its passengers to alight, burned it shortly afterwards at Macmine, a station some short distance further up the line. The Killurin district has, it is true, been the scene of many railway outrages, but this latest attack is the most formidable which has yet been made updh the transport services in Co. Wexford, and its occurrence undoubtedly suggests that the wreckers, largely foiled in Munster and the Midlands, are determined to cause as much inconvenience to the people of Wicklow, Waterford, and Wexford as they can. THE STATE OF IRELAND. Outrages of a minor kind continue to take place throughout the provinces (continues the above-quoted correspondent). Thus, within , the last few days, a number of post offices have been raided, attempts have been made

to blow up several bridges, and Corgary House, the Galway residence of the late Mr. Walter Joyce, who was killed so brutally some time ago, has been burned to the ground. Deplorable as these outrages are, they are much less serious than those to which we were accustomed some time ago, and I think—if we exclude the attacks upon the railway system, which in some localities, particularly in Wexford, remain unabated— there is no doubt that conditions in the provinces are becoming much more normal than they were. Even in Dublin a real improvement has been noticeable for some time, and that desultory night shooting which, without inflicting any apparent injury on the protagonists, deprived citizens of the Irish capital of sleep for many months, has definitely died clown. Daring attacks upon the forces of the State and the property of the people continue to occur, indeed, within easy reach of the very centre of Irish government, but they become fewer and fewer as the weeks pass by. Two outrages of this kind have been perpetrated quite recently: a military lorry has been wrecked in the neighborhood of Dublin by a land mine (four National soldiers being seriously wounded), and the civic Guard barracks at Dundrum have been burned to the ground. The very prominence with which these outrages have been reported in the columns of the Irish press is a sign, however, that the forces of disorder are being really curbed at last, while another sign which points 111 the same direction, but which seems to have been strangely overlooked, is that the Dublin newspapers are once more beginning to pay adequate attention to the affairs of Europe. Some time ago practically their whole space was devoted to Irish news—usually of a far from pleasant kind-but now they find room for references to the troubles of the Continent-troubles the very existence or which we were beginning to forget amidst our own misfortunes. THE BORDER CUSTOMS. In conformity with the Free State decision regarding the collection of customs, the Imperial Commissioners of Customs and Excise will issue a warning that after April 4 all traffic with the Free State seawise from Great Britain and landwise across the boundaries between the North and South of Ireland, will be subject to Customs laws and regulations applicable to overseas trade. But exports between the North of Ireland and Great Britain will remain unchanged. The decision has created indignation in Ulster Sir James Craig speaking at Belfast, said that traders described the Free State action as foolish to a degree He hoped wiser counsels would prevail in the Free State before erecting a permanent barrier. Meantime, Ulster must direct the attention of Great Britain and the Dominions where trade was welcomed instead of thwarted. NATIONALISTS IN THE SIX COUNTIES It has been stated that Lord Glenavy's proposals contained in the letter to Sir James Craig include the suggestion that -Ulster" should be relieved of the obligation to accept the findings- of the Boundary Commission. The truth of the statement: may be doubted (says an exchange). The people of the South have little reason to release the six counties from their obligations. It has always been the aim of the Orange leaders who rule in the North to encroach on the. authority,of the South, and this proposal would certainly please Sir James Craig and the lodges; but their attitude towards those who differ from them in politics does not encourage the policy of removing the barriers that protect the South from encroachment. As a matter of fact there is a movement amongst the Northern Nationalists for the termination of the unbearable conditions of uncertainty and confusion under which half a million people holding Nationalist views live.