IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 46, 19 November 1924, Page 43

IRISH NEWS

IRISH PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES— OF IRISH RACE— BOUNDARY COMMISSION—VIEWS ON THE BOUNDARY SETTLEMENT.

The great Irish National Pilgrimage to Lourdes is now en route to its destination (writes a Dublin correspondent under date September 29). An advance guard composed of bishops, priests, nuns, and some laymen sailed last week from Dublin, and the great body of the pilgrims, totaling four hundred, followed to-day. The first group has been designated as the "Cardinal's Party," but Cardinal Logue, due to the infirmities of advanced age, has been unable to accompany them as he had anticipated. The pilgrimage .includes one hundred and fifty invalids attended by a large staff of physicians. Motor transportation is.provided by the Knights of St. 'Columbanus. Archbishop Harty, of Cashel, in a statement said that the object of the pilgrimage is to ask intercession for the peace and spiritual progress of the Irish nation. The pilgrims hope, the Archbishop said, that their prayers to that end may mingle with the prayers of members of the far scattered Irish race throughout the world. Mr. John Ryce, a distinguished Catholic journalist, is accompanying the pilgrimage to report its progress. * * * The dedication of the beautiful new church built in honor of Blessed Oliver Plunket at Blackrock, Co. Louth, took place recently in presence of a great gathering of ecclesiastics and the faithful. His Eminence, Cardinal Logue, presided at the solemn ceremonies. The church is constructed .in Celtic, style, of local green stone rubble masonary, with Newry granite cut stone dressings and green Cumberland slates. All of the fine stained glass windows were gifts of parishioners. The floors of sanctuary and side chapel are decorated in mosaic. The high altar, a memorial, was designed by Signor Tommasi of Italy. The nave is 80 feet in length and 31 wide. Its walls are divided into niches with moulded pilasters and arches. The preacher on the occasion which brought great rejoicing to the people of Armagh, was a Jesuit Father. "Could the Blessed Oliver Plunket," he said, "have seen what it meant to the world at large that the warm faith of the Celt should remain intact, what a consolation it would have been to him when the last awful moment at Tyburn came. The erection of this church betokens the cause for which Blessed Oliver died." His Eminence, Cardinal Logue. then delivered a brief address in which he paid glowing tribute to the zealous work done in the diocese by priests and people. It was good, said the Cardinal, that the building of the spiritual edifice had kept pace with that of the material. His Eminence closed with a magnificent eulogy of the faith of the Irish race. a a a The immediate setting-up of the Boundary Commission .was demanded at a great Nationalist rally in Derry City. The meeting was representative not only of Derry City and County, but also of Tyrone-Fermanagh. Mr. Cahir Healy, M.P., declared the interpretation of Article XII. did not rest with Lord Birkenhead, Lloyd George or any other Treaty signatory, but with the Tribunal for which the Pact provided. The wishes of the inhabitants should be ascertained, he contended, by methods similar to those adopted under the Versailles and Lausanne Treaties for the determination of disputed European frontiers. . ;•... Immediate action by the Irish Government was urged in view of what Mr. Healy described as the new Plantation of • Ulster. The Belfast Government, he said, had been constantly importing Orange supporters from the Saorstat

and elsewhere, to whom the homes and farms of expelled Nationalists are being handed over. Mr. T. J. S. Harbison, M.P., said Six-County Nationalists would, insist on the Treaty being carried but to the full. In an article discussing the Boundary question Irish Truth (the new weekly edited by Mr. Henry Harrison; says: ''Lord Carson blurts out the truth. He states that Mr. Bonar Law ' had the most explicit assurances from the Government that Article XII could only be construed as relating to a rectification of the frontier as determined by the Act of 1920.' He con tends that it was only in virtue of these secret assurances —and of those given by Lord Birkenhead to Lord Balfour —that the Treaty was ratified by Parliament. And, quite characteristically, he suggests that the path of British national honor lies in the direction of fulfilling the promises of a corrupt backstairs intrigue felt the cost of volating the pledged faith of Britain solemnly plighted in the open light of day. Behind the Free State's Back. "Let our readers savor the full infamy of it. Whatever the prospects held out to Collins and Griffith at Downins Street, we could claim no more than Article XII gives, and whatever ' the assurances ' given to Lord Balfour and Mr. Bonar Law, we were entitled to no less. Article XII, construed according to well-established juridical principles, was the final arbiter. No British Cabinet could give a pledge binding the Commission to a particular construction of it. Therefore ' the assurances ' meant nothing more nor less than that the Coalition Government was promising behind the Free State's back, to appoint a chairman who would carry its corrupt assurances into effect. There is no other possible meaning in the transaction, and we have to thank Lord Carson for exposing it in its full infamy. The London Times publishes a communication which it has received from the Conservative, . Liberal, and Labor members of the British Parliament, who recently visited the Six Counties. The communication, which is signed by the 21 members who formed the delegation and is dated House of Commons, September 15, is as follows: "As a result of a recent visit to the boundary of Northern Ireland and the Free State and of conferences with representatives of different shades of political opinion, wo are unanimously agreed that: "(1) Feeling in Ireland as a whole, except among a few extremists, is strongly in favor of a settlement. "(2) That a satisfactory settlement can best be arrived at by direct mutual agreement between the parties in Ireland. "(3) If the negotiations are to have the best chances of success they should be entered into before any Boundary Commission is set up by the Government of Great Britain. "(4) We urge this not in the interest of Ulster alone, or of the Free State alone, but in the interest of the future peace, happiness and prosperity of the whole of Ireland. "(5) We venture, therefore, to urge that a meeting between representatives of Ulster and the Free State should take place,at the earliest possible moment."