"V

M O C R A T (Incorporating "Irish Freedom")

New Series No. 40 APRIL, 1948 Price 3d.

Release the Prisoners!

PROTEST MEETING

HOLBORN HALL, LONDON

April 18th 3 p.m.

MARSHALL INTRIGUES MENACE IRELAND'S SAFETY

By Our Political Correspondent g REAKING through the fog of secrecy and silence significant facts reveal a network of inter-

governmental intrigue which might lead to the involvement of Ireland in a future war.

Leader of the opposition, De Valera, speaking in Oklahoma before accepting membership of an Indian tribe, said that he regarded another major world conflict as inevitable.

Following this came the significant announcement of the courtesy visit of American warships to Dublin.

EVICTED Told 'Go to Workhouse'

From our Cork Correspondent,

J A M E S S A V A G E r p H REE weeks after the new inter-party ' Government had promised to tackle

the housing problem, two Cork families against whom a court eviction order had been granted were told by a prominent citimi to whom they appealed: "Go to the Workhouse."

The families, the Hydes and the Cot-ters, live in Evergreen Street, Cork C.ty, and were compelled to seek re-accommoda^ [ion when the roof of their house collapsed. Unable to find another place to live they tried to carry on, but. were given orders to quit. Evergreen street is notorious for its dilapidated tenements.

The housing question loomed large in the election campaign. In particular the huge increase in stamp duties on the pur-chase of houses means tha t a young couple getting married have to pay £50 on a £1,000 house. Before De Valera's infamous supplementary budget this was £10. Will the new Government, which has already repealed the beer and tobacco tax for the benefit of the publicans and tobacco-importers, repeal this duty on the lower-priced houses also?

Mum's the Word The outcome of the election campaign

in Cork was scarcely gratifying to the working class. James Hickey gained the last seat for National Labour after a stern fight with Anthony (Labour). His vic-tory does not however seem to imply any special support for National Labour as such. The second National Labour can-didate, Sean Doyle (who formerly stood for Ail t in na h'Aiseirghe) received a very small poll.

I asked Mr. Hickey why did the National Labour Party join the Govern-ment. He refused to answor. He also re-fused point blank to answer whether National Labour contemplated re-joining with Labour, and whether he saw any hope of healing the Trade Union split.

Intensify Efforts Many admirers of British Labour in the

City of Cork were sadly disappointed at their failure to make the gesture of re-leasing the republican prisoners in Park-hurst, said Mrs. O'Regan, mother of James O'Regan at present serving a 20-year sentence for alleged I.R.A. activities in England.

"The prisoners were doomed and forgot-ten men," she said, "until the 'Irish Demo-crat' and Eoin O'Mahony took up the fight with courage on their behalf." She ap-pealed to them to continue and intensify their efforts for an early release, in spite of the indifference or opposition of the so-called republicans of Flanna Fall.

Despite her disappointment at British Labour's slowness to act, she herself was always a keen admirer of the Labour Movement and did not agree with the ap-peal" which was to vote against Labour in the Epsom by-election.

VISA REFUSED The well-known Republican writer,

Mr. Peadar O'Donnell, whose recent outspoken comments have been di-ricted not against De Valera but against the inter-party was for no satisfactory denlv refused a visa U.S.A. simultaneously Valera.

Government, reason sud-

to visit the w i t h D e

Political circles in Dublin are asking whether it was feared that he might un-earth the true reason of Mr. De Valera's visit, which has been stated to be con-cerned with partition, but which may be concerned with other things as well.

Meanwhile in Paris Mr. Sean McBride, while properly referring to the division of Ireland, gave no reason to hope that Mar-shall colonization is being abandoned as a policy, or that Irish industry and agri-culture will not be sacrificed to Dillon's back-to-the-bullock policy.

FRANCO'S AGENTS It is reported that agents of General

Franco approached Mr. McBride suggests ing that if he would propose that Mar-shall aid be extended to Spain, this would meet with British approval and secure Portuguese support.

First Fruits? Forty indoor clerks employed

by Fuel Importers Ltd. have been given a week's notice. Mr, James Larkin, T.D., who led a deputation of 1,500 workers to Mr. Morrissey, Minister for In-dustry and Commerce, said that there would be 'no general dis-missal' of manual workers and that a sub-committee was study-ing the problem of redundancy.

Killiney rejects Franco

From a Correspondent TVTHEN the Blackrock and Dalkey Ae-

' * bating societies met at Killiney Blackrock proposed the motion tha t " the Franco Rebellion was in the interests of Christianity." Those supporting the mo-tion repeated the old old story of the sup-posed Red plot in Spain.

The opposers of the motion relied on the fact that at all times the Communists were in the minority even in the Republican! Government, which was a genuine Demo-cracy. Franco had talked a great deal about Christianity but this was merely a stunt.

A number of excellent speeches were made, including one by Mr. Arnold Marsh, who fought the Dun Laoghaire constitu-ency for Labour in the recent election. One of the speakers said that Communism had more in common with Christianity t h a n either had with Franco Fascism, and a t -tacked America's pro-Franco policy in Europe.

The arguments of the opponents of Franco won the day for the motion was lost by 12 votes to nine.

STORMONT BEGINS NEW HERESY HUNT

FROM O U R B E L F A S T C O R R E S P O N D E N T

" T H E anti-red witch-hunt has come to these parts with a vengeance. The ' "Red" eruption started in the town of Lurgan, 10 miles from Belfast,

when some thousands of linen workers went on strike demanding 15/- a week pay rise. The Minister of Labour, Magennis, saw

red immediately, and sounded the alarm in Parliament. He flayed the "agitators" for putting bad ideas into the heads of the workers, declared the whole thing was a conspiracy to wreck the Marshall Plan, staged as it was in an industry earning dollars to the tune of £100,000 per week.

Mr. Magennis simultaneously announced the discovery of something like a "Red Plot" in Belfast, where he claimed evil-minded English lefts were converging, and called to "have them thrown out."

tt turned out the representatives of ship-yard workers from the Mersey, who were engaged in a dispute with their firm, did

Delargy told 'Resign' ' ^ H E London Area Committee of the

Anti-Partition League has passed a resolution lequesting Mr. Hugh Delargy, M.P. to resign from the chairmanship bf the organisation.

Interviewed by the "Irish Democrat, ' Mr. Scott-Maunsell explained that the Committee felt that the League should be free from party affiliatons in Britain. "We want to do what the Irish Party did years ago,'1 he said, "and the presence of a La-bour chairman restricts our freedom of action."

"Same as Tories" Asked whether he advocated opposing

Labour in elections, he said, "The Labour Government is behaving in a manner in no way different from a Tory Govern-ment. If we are free to oppose the one, we want to be free to oppose the other."

On the other hand Mr. 8oott-Maun-sell made It clear that he sees Ireland's chief ally In British Labour. ' T h e heart of Labour is sound," he said, "but how

many of them come to heel and vote as Morrison tells them!" Creech Jones, he said, had declared that

he saw no urgency whatever in the ques-tion of Irish unity.

Tactical Problems It will be remembered that tactical ques-

tions have for some time been agitating anti-partition circles. The "Irish Demo-crat," writing in January following the issuing of an anti-Labour leaflet in the Epsom by-election, deplored the giving of votes to Tories in any circumstances.

The Anti-Partition League is holding its annual conference in the late spring. Mr. Scott-Maunsell was unable to announce the date as yet, but was anticipating Whit-sun week-end.

It is reported that fur ther expulsions from the Prisoner's Welfare Committee took place a t its meeting on March B4th. One Of its members declared "A heresy hunt is in progress."

actually come to Belfast to tell the ship-yard workers here the facts and seek solidarity. In fact, so well did the Mersey-men do the job, that thousands of ship-yard workers demonstrated in the centre of Belfast and heard with enthusiasm the "English intruders" whom Brooke's La-bour Minister asked to "put the dogs on."

Machinations For Englishmen unconnected with the

Tory party crossing the Irish sea to Brook-land is now a .hostile act, and linen workers seeking a pay rise is a Red con-spiracy directed against the Plan of Mar-shall to fill everyone's pockets with wads of dollars!

So far has this crusade against the simplest stirring of the workers for a de-cent living gone, that Sir Bisil Brooks himself thought it necessary to dish out doleful warnings about the strike menace, "Communist machinatians" and the fear that British capitalists will take fright and drop their factory build-ing projects in Northern Ireland. But all to no purpose. For the Lurgan

strikers replied by marching to Portadown ten miles distant to secure a stoppage of the mills there, and similar action was taken by the workers in Newry and Bess-brooke. The slogan in all these Demon-strations was: "We want 15/- rise."

Plebiscite Me Eye Battling for democracy in Prague oc-

cupied the centre of the stage In this out-post of liberty during the past few weeks. But Derry spat into the Fragile soup. Here the majority of the city's Inhabitants are denied the right to hold a demonstra-tion. Warnock's a t tempt to Justify this dictatorial act against the majority ot Derry's citizens cuts no ice. Unionist de-monstrations are held regularly Without disturbance, but t ha t is how minority democracy works in this quarter ot the United Kingdom.

(Continued on Page Two, Got One)

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2 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT April, 1948

• Continued from Page One

STORMONT HERESY niTI\T

Anyway, the Unionist M.P., McMana-way put the Unionist case frankly and truthfully in Stormont when he said the Minister was right to ban the demon-stration for "if he hadn't, we would." The democratic hear t of Brooke's min-

is t ry was perhaps brought out best in some exchanges between the nationalist members and Mr. Warnock. Mr. McSpar-r e n had claimed D e n y as a 60 per cent, ant i-part i t ion town, but Mr. Warnock ques-t ioned this, whereupon Mr, McAteer inter-jected, "Will you take a plebiscite?' ' "Ple-biscite me eye!" was how the Minister dis-posed of the enquiry.

Brooke "Democracy" Tory circles here, a l though annoyed and

worried at the exposure of the f raudulen t "democracy" they maintain in connection w ith the Derry affair, express confidence t h a t Mr. Ede and Mr. Morrison and their cabinet friends in London will not see them stuck, and t ha t democracy of the Brooke-Warnock variety will be allowed to flourish unhindered as it has done for the pas t quarter of a century.

Facts on Farming Some startl ing fac ts in connection with

t h e agricultural industry are revealed in t h e Babington Report recently published. T h e report brings out the s teady crush-ing out of the smaller holdings and the g rowth of the numbers of large holdings.

Between the years 1861 and 1946 the n u m b e r of fa rms under 30 acres fell f rom 109,075 to 55,535, or roughly half . The f a r m s f rom 50 to 100 acres rose in number f r o m 8,046 to 12,819 in the same period, while those over 100 acres increased by 2.235 or nearly 100 per cent.

The numbers of holdings between 30 and 50 acres alone remained practically the same—15,691 in 1861, against 15,190 in 1946.

The report which is officially sponsored by the Government draws the conclusion t h a t the holdings below 30 acres are un-economic and must be replaced by larger ones. The report does not favour any com-pulsion, but relies on "normal economic development."

In face of the fac t tha t out of 55,000 hold ings of below 30 acres no less t h a n 25,000 are actually below 10 acres, the de-s t ruc t ion of a huge mass of the peasantry is visualised, all according to the "normal laws" of capitalism.

Nowhere more t h a n on the land is the havoc of the present system so devastating, point ing clearly t h a t the al ternative to ext inct ion of the weak fa rmer is the maxi-m u m co-operation in production and mar-keting, with a Government in power t ha t will s tand for the protection of the inter-

e s t s of the working fa rmer and not those of the g r a s s lord.

Irish in Question

Dagenham in Commons

k J R . John Parker, M P . for Dagenham, in a recent Parliamen-tary question, asked the Minister of Labour to give figures

of recruitment of local and other workers to Ford's factory. He said that considerable local indignation existed because of an impression that local residents were not securing adequate employment.

R e p l y i n g , t h e M i n i s t e r e x p l a i n e d t h a t o u t of 946 p e r s o n s i n t e r v i e w e d l a s t m o n t h , o n l y 436 w e r e a c c e p t e d . Of t h e s e no less t h a n 340 w e r e f r o m D a g e n h a m i tse l f , t o g e t h e r w i t h 21 f r o m B a r k i n g , 37 f r o m R o m f o r d a n d 25 f r o m H o r n c h u r c h .

Only 24 applications were received from Eire, and all these were accepted.

Ill-Feeling I t is being pointed ou t in Dagenham t h a t

a large proportion of t he local population is I r ish, and tha t there h a v e been a num-ber of a t tempts in the pas t few years to sow ill-feeling between these and the Eng-lish community.

The unearthing of t h e t rue facts of the s i tuat ion by Mr. Parker ' s pertinent ques-tion is considered to have given an effec-tive answer to all mischief-makers. T h e h igh proportion of acceptances

f rom Eire is attr ibuted to t h e fact that th is industry involves work of a n arduous and exacting character where t h e strength and h igh physique of m a n y Irishmen is highly valued.

OLD "DEMOCRATS " WANTED

I n o r d e r to c o m p l e t e i t s files, t h e " I R I S H D E M O C R A T " r e q u i r e s s ev -e r a l cop ies of t h e O C T O B E R 1946 i ssue . A n y r e a d e r s w h o posses s cop ie s of t h i s i s sue a n d w h o a r e w i l l i n g t o p a r t w i t h t h e m s h o u l d s e n d t h e m t o t h e " D e m o c r a t " Of f i ce a t 374 G r a y ' s I n n Road , L o n d o n , W.C . I . R e a d e r s posses s ing f i les o r s i n g l e cop ies of e a r l y n u m b e r s a r e i n v i t e d t o w r i t e t o t h e E d i t o r s t a t i n g t h e c o n d i t i o n s o n w h i c h t h e y w o u l d b e w i l l i n g to dis-p o s e of t h e m . D o n o t s e n d p a p e r s first.

Congrats, from Austra l ia

T H E "Irish Democrat" has received 1 the following letter from Mr. H.

W. Leary, hon. secretary of the Bris-bane Branch of the Pensioners' League, Brisbane, Queensland, Aus-t ra l ia :

Congratulat ions on your J anua ry issue. Quite a number of people here look forward eagerly for each tssue. We gain knowledge of Irish affairs, unobtainable otherwise, from your paper, to say no th ing of world t rends generally.

The progress of the Irish people is linked, of course, to the progress of all peoples.

T h e article "How NOT to f ree the Prisoners" is to t h e point. We have a Labour Government in office in Australia, and because it Is dilatory in carrying out i ts p rogramme many say "Don't vote fo r it again"—which would mean replacing It by an un-scrupulous "Big Business" Govern-ment .

I am part icular ly interested in "Red Hugh's" account of t rea tment of Old Age Pensioners, and would like to contact a n y pensioner who cares write to me. Here's hoping you cares to write to me. Here's hoping you grow and grow.

Greetings, Brisbane, Q., H - L E A R G . Australia.

Red Flags and Green

• UmiHIIIIIIHIIHMHMHIIMIIHHn

Do you enjoy

C O M F O R T A M D G O O D F O O D ?

= r -You will find them both sit

T H E Q U E E N 8 B U R Y

B R I G H T O N

H O T E L

Early Bookings are invited

Bed and Breakfast from 10/6 per

night or £3-3-0 per week.

Bed, Breakfast and Dinner from £4-4-0

per week. Full board from £5-5-0 per week.

Write or phone

£SOO Gift to Royal Family

Denounced From P A T O ' B R I E N

jy/JR. PAUL CARLETON, member of the Borough Labour Par ty of Birmingham,

a t tacked a t the March meet ing of the Trades Council, Hie City Council 's decision to present the Royal Fami ly with a stiver teaset, value £500.

He denounced the Labour Party coun-cillors for supporting t h e proposal, and drew a contras t between t h e Council's generosity in this case a n d the i r meanness in paying salvage workers a n d dustmen a mere £ 5 a week for pe r fo rming dirty though essential worK,

Mr. Carleton was unlucky to be dis-qualified f rom the Borough Labour Party Executive Committee owing to a last minute rule change , which rendered his nomina t ion invalid. He haw written an excellent article for t he T rades Council journal on Easter Week, 1916. and the events which led up to it.

T ^ A R L Y l a s t s u m m e r a p e r i o d i c a l t r i e d t o h o r r i f y i t s r e a d e r s by

s t a t i n g t h a t t h e C o n n o l l y A s s o c i a t i o n p l a t f o r m in H y d e P a r k w a s s e e n fly-i n g t h e R e d F l a g .

In the interests of t r u t h this story was refu ted by the Association, though it was pointed out a t t h e same time tha t -they were in no way a shamed of the worker's flag.

T h e object was of course to smear the Connolly Association as a body alien to Ir ish thought, bu t they ignored the fact t h a t the Red Flag a n d its associations are not as remote f rom I re land as they would have us believe.

A writer, and old IRA man, in a recent issue of "The I r i sh People," organ of the I r ish Labour Par ty , draws at tent ion to t he fact tha t "The Red Flag," the inter-nat ional anthem, was writ ten by J im Con-nell, a native of County Meath.

I J i m was a Nat ional is t as well as a I Socialist, and in h i s famous song he

praised not the gory emblem of Imperial-ism, but the honourable red banner Of t he working-class movement . His song is a s Ir ish as our na t iona l an them or "The wearing of the Green . " London. W. B U R K E .

The Tricolour V T A Y I, through t h e columns of your

paper, make a few observations about our National Flag? To some people they jus t mean a few pieces of cloth, green, white and orange. I have seen some flags on platforms in Hyde Park which were a

ANTI-PARTITION LEAGUE BREAKS NEW GROUND

T H E Brit ish working man must be convinced that the partition~of Ireland was an evil, declared M r . F. G. Short, Hon. Secretary of the B i rmingham

Area Committee of the Anti-Partition League, speaking at the inaugural meeting of the new Coventry branch held in Coventry last month.

He said t h a t pressure m u s t be brought to bear on Members of Par l i ament , especi-ally on those who represented the large cities where the Irish form a considerable proportion of the electorate.

Cha i rman was Mr. F. Conway, of the Coventry United Irish Societies, with whose suppor t the meeting was held. Also present were Mr. T. F Ryan , chai rman of the Bi rmingham Area Commit tee and vice-chairman of the Cen t ra l Executive Council, and Mr. B McCoy, l i terary distri-butor for the Midlands.

Two More Two new branches of t he Anti-Partit ion

League have also been f o r m e d in MOBS Side and St. Patrick's. Manchester , the "Irish Democrat" learns f r o m Mr. J. E. Lyons, cha i rman of the Manches te r Area Committee.

Cha i rman of the Moss Bide branch is Mr. George Bpain, p rominen t In Manches-ter I r ish circles for aajuxy years . At the inaugural . meeting of t he St . Patrick's

branch, Mr. Hugh Delargy addressed the gather ing, and the Dean of St . -Patr ick 's Par i sh Church was elected chai rman of the branch.

Mr. Lyons is also act ive in the formation of branches in South Shields, the constitu-ency of Mr. Chuter Ede, the British Home Secretary.

disgrace to our country. These colours are t he visible symbol of t h e most cherished ideal of the Ir ish people, the union of O r a n g e and Green.

T h e flag was presented to Thomas Meagher when on a tour appealing for suppor t shortly before the rising of 1848. I : was adopted by t h e young Irelanders as portraying the un i ty of North and South . After the de fea t of 1848 It was al-most forgotten, but was brought filto use aga in by Padraig Pearse and flown from the G.P.O. during t h e rising of Easter, 1916. Since tha t f a m o u s week it has re-ma ined the recognised emblem of the I r i sh people.

Let us understand its t radi t ions and his-tory a n d appreciate t h e ideals for which it s t ands . When we see i t misused or see a few dir ty pieces of colours stuck u p as the I r i sh flag we should make a protest r i g h t away. We should regard the flag as represent ing the living nat ion.

G E R A R D H A R R I N G T O N . London, S.E.

New Government ' T H E par l iamentary set-up in Eire now

looks to be a fiasco. I can ' t possibly see how Labour c a n co-operate with Fine Gael a n d think t h a t t h e coalition must surely break down before long. Labour ap pa ren t ly hope to have their programme implemented which seems to me very wishfu l thinking. T h e y would occupy on the o the r hand a very favourable position hold ing the balance of power with a de Valera Government .

T h e new Taoiseach was a supporter of the blue-shirts and I find it very difficult to imagine Jim Lark in working in co-opera t ion with Genera l Mulcahy. This mus t surely be the mos t extraordinary al-liance ever w M A I T L A N D .

Emigration T F R E E L Y confess t h a t I am opposed t o ' emigrat ion. I t h ink t h a t Ireland is

perfect ly able to suppor t no t only her pre-sent population bu t a g r e a t deal more if her capabili t ies were properly developed.

Emigra t ion betrays a diseased state of society.

Kerry. M A U D E E N M A C M A H O N .

Fighting Fund Acknowledgments Tha following contr ibut ions to our fight-

ing fund have been received dur ing Febru-ary and March. We offer our sincere t h a n k s and good wishes to: Arklow 7/-, J . Kerr 3/1, R. Doyle 1«/-, A. Watson 2/6, J . Burns 2/8, T. Hardy a /6 , "B.G.W." 5/-, J . C. Kennedy 1/., E. Milne 10/-, "Arklow" 2/4,

E. R. Keys 3/-, E. Smi th 1/-, W. Burke and E. Mc8. 6/6, E. McSweeney 20/-, V. Snelling 6/-, Flarm and Mary Campbell 10/-, Con-nolly Association Executive Committee 20/-, E. McSweeney 10/-, 'Arklow' 2/4, Irish girl £1, P. Kelly £1, Bert Owen* £2, Miss E. Gonta r sky 8/-, M. McCormick £5, N. Gal-lagher £1 . Total £15 17s. 4d.

You cAn have the 'IRISH DEMOCRAT" posted to you for a year by sanding a 4 / - 4>a>tal order to the Editor, 374 Gray's Inn Road, London, W.C.1.

April, 1948 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 3

IRISH D E M O C R A T 374 GRAYS INN ROAD,

LONDON, W.C.1

All communications to be addressed to the Editor, DESMOND GREAVES.

Telephone No. Ter. 3906. RATE—Twelve Months 4/-

S i x Months 2/-

Democracy T H E Labour back-benchers who

protested against the banning of the anti-partition procession in Derry have rendered a public service and saved the reputation of B r i t i s h Labour.

The right-wing leadership talks a deal about Democracy. Du r i ng the last few weeks they have been lectur-ing the world in general and Czecho-slovakia in particular on the virtues of its Ang lo - America or Western brand. Italy has been alternately threatened and cajoled into being free the western way rather than her own way.

But the most elementary demo-cratic right, that of free assembly, is being > unceremoniously flouted not six hundred miles from London and in a part of the United K i n g d o m at that.

It is no use pretending that the Stormont Government is independent when every essential power is re-served to the imperial parliament. Everybody knows that the Brit ish Government had only to say: " You must not prevent these peaceful citi-zens from expressing tbeir v i ews ! " and the Unionists would have come to heel with a snap. Instead there was much excusing and washing of hands but not a tenth part of the in-tervention which is almost hourly made in the affairs of many coun-tries which are not even de facto under British tutelage.

The attitude of the anti-partition leaders, however, is self-destructive. They congratulate the Government on its negative attitude towards the Czech's running their own country their own way, yet demand that an exception be made in the case of Ire-land. Democracy knows no excep-tions. It is indivisible and the sooner its friends are united the sooner the whole world wil l enjoy its benefits.

W A R ! A S an elderly politician in opposi-

" tion, Mr . De Valera, like Mr . Churchill before him, blurts out what he hid carefully while in office. He believes that another world war is coming, and possibly soon.

Many who wondered what conceiv-able basis his policy could have had during his final three years of office will now see in perspective his policy of rapprochment with British Im-perialism, his opposition to the states of South-eastern Europe, and to Soviet Russia. They will also under-stand his committing Ireland to the straitjacket of the Marshal l Plan.

Nobody believes that the war he is speculating on would see Ireland neutral. British politicians have pub-licly stated that in a transatlantic war these Islarfds would be a cockpit.

As sure as we look for a conflict between two warr ing camps, we shall see nothing but inevitable ruin and destruction for Ireland as for Britain.

Fortunately there are not two war-ring camps, or even two war-prepar-ing camps. Anglo-American Imper-ialism (& pursuing a policy which may lead to war. But the greater part of the world wants peace and is strong enough for peace to prevail. Not two war-camps, but a war M,mp and a peace samp • • • and lr«l*n<F must thraw in her small weight tout great traditional prestige on the side of peace.

LONDON VOLUNTEERS T , H E v o l u n t e e r s in L o n d o n w e r e

f o r m e d in t h e w i n t e r of 1913. s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e i n a u g u r a t i o n of t h e m o v e m e n t in I r e l a n d . T h e r e s p o n s e w a s v e r y e n t h u s i a s t i c a n d ' h u n d r e d s flocked t o jo in . A s in I r e l a n d m u c h of t h e o r g a n i s i n g w o r k w a s c a r r i e d ou t b y t h e I r i sh R e p u b l i c a n B r o t h e r -hood . A m o n g t h e first t o jo in w e r e M i c h a e l Co l l ins , P. S. O ' H e g a r t y , a f t e r w a r d s P o s t m a s t e r G e n e r a l , a n d P a d r a i c O ' C o n a i r e . t h e G a e l i c w r i t e r a n d s c h o l a r .

i Q N E c o m p a n y d r i l l e d a t L a d b r o k e G r o v e K e n s i n g t o n , a n o t h e r a t

H a c k n e y a n d o n e a t B e r m o n d s e y , w h i l e a f o u r t h m a d e u s e of H i g h g a t e W o o d s , H a m p s t e a d H e a t h , a n d t h e r i f le r a n g e a t t h e w o o d . M a n y r o u t e m a r c h e s w e r e h e l d in v a r i o u s p a r t s of L o n d o n .

A F T E R J o h n R e d m o n d ' s s p e e c h a t W o o d e n b r i d g e , S e p t e m b e r 20th ,

1914, t h e r e w a s a sp l i t in t h e r a n k s of t h e v o l u n t e e r s in L o n d o n a s in I r e -l a n d , a n d m a n y of R e d m o n d ' s s u p p o r t e r s r e s i g n e d . T h e c o n s e q u e n t r e d u c t i o n in n u m b e r s , h o w e v e r , w a s a m p l y c o m p e n s a t e d b y t h e i n c r e a s e d e n t h u s i a s m of t h o s e w h o r e m a i n e d , t h e n o r t h , s o u t h a n d w e s t L o n d o n c o m p a n i e s b e i n g e s p e c i a l l y ac t i ve .

Enlistment ^ U M B E R S w e r e f u r t h e r d e c r e a s e d

b y t h e " L o r d D e r b y a t t e s t a t i o n " P l a n ( E n l i s t m e n t A c t ) . M a n y m a r -r i ed m e n , t o g e t h e r w i t h m e n in G o v e r n m e n t p o s t s l e f t , w i t h t h e r e s u l t t h a t in N o v e m b e r , 1915, t h e v a r i o u s c o m p a n i e s w e r e c o m b i n e d in to a s i n g l e l a r g e o n e w h i c h d r i l l e d a t t h e S t . G e o r g e ' s H a l l , S o u t h w a r k , u n d e r J o s e p h C a s s i d y , of B e r m o n d -sey.

A T a m e e t i n g of t h e w h o l e c o m p a n y in D e c e m b e r , it w a s u n a n i m o u s l y

d e c i d e d t h a t a l l s i n g l e v o l u n t e e r s s h o u l d c r o s s t o I r e l a n d a s soon a s poss ib le . T h o s e w h o w e r e u n a b l e t o r a i se t h e f a r e f o r t h e j o u r n e y b e i n g s u b s i d i s e d b y v a r i o u s m e m b e r s of t h e c o m m i t t e e , i n c l u d i n g L i a m M c C a r t h y , A r t O ' B r i e n , R i c h a r d M u r r a y a n d F i n t a n M u r p h y .

A S a r e s u l t of t h i s m e e t i n g m a n y v o l u n t e e r s r e t u r n e d t o I r e l a n d

d u r i n g t h e w i n t e r of 1915-1916 w i t h t h e r e s u l t t h a t t h e s i ze of t h e c o m -p a n y w a s c o n s i d e r a b l y r e d u c e d a n d

by An Rathach

o r d e r s w e r e r e c e i v e d f r o m t h e H e a d -q u a r t e r s in D u b l i n t h a t a l l e n e r g i e s w e r e to b e c o n c e n t r a t e d in t h e s m u g -g l i n g of a r m s a n d a m m u n i t i o n i n t o I r e l a n d .

Arms Purchased A n i n t r o d u c t i o n w a s s e c u r e d t o a

w e l l - k n o w n firm of g u n s m i t h s in B i r m n g h a m , a n d a V o l u n t e e r e m -p l o y e d on t h e L o n d o n a n d N o r t h W e s t e r n R a i l w a y u n d e r t o o k t o p u r -c h a s e t h e a r m s . I n t h i s h e w a s v e r y s u c c e s s f u l , a n d t r a v e l l i n g to B i r m i n g -h a m t w o o r t h r e e t i m e s a w e e k b o u g h t s u b s t a n t i a l supp l i e s w h i c h h e e i t h e r t ook t o D u b l i n or d e s p a t c h e d v i a L i v e r p o o l .

F E W d a y s b e f o r e E a s t e r W e e k , a n u r g e n t m e s s a g e w a s r e c e i v e d

f r o m T h e O ' R a h i l l y o r d e r i n g t h a t a l l a v a i l a b l e a r m s be b r o u g h t o v e r to D u b l i n i m m e d i a t e l y . T h e r e is n o h a r m t o - d a y in s a y i n g t h a t e v e r y a v a i l a b l e p a s s e n g e r — a n d t h e r e w e r e m a n y — w a s u s e d t o c a r r y t h e " g o o d s . " I t d id m o s t v a l u a b l e w o r k in t h i s d i r e c t i o n a n d o n e gir l c a r r i e d a s p e c i a l l y r e q u i r e d w i r e w o u n d r o u n d h e r b o d y . E v e r y d a y d u r i n g H o l y W e e k o u r e n v o y t r a v e l l e d to B i r m i n g -h a m a n d b a c k b r i n g i n g s u p p l i e s .

Casualties r j ^ H E s t o r y of t h e a c t u a l fighting

m u s t b e w e l l - k n o w n to D e m o c r a t r e a d e r s . T h e m a j o r i t y of t h e L o n d o n m e n w e r e s t a t i o n e d in t h e P o s t Off ice , b u t one , t h e l a t e E a m o n O ' T i e n n e y w h o h a d c o m e f r o m L o n d o n t o fight, w a s t h e h e r o of t h e t h r i l l i n g i n c i d e n t r e c o r d e d in S e a n M c C a n n ' s " W a r b y t h e I r i s h . "

^ M O N G o u r ca sua l t i e s w e r e P a t r i c k S h o r t i s , B.A., w h o f e l l b y

t h e s ide of T h e O ' R a h i l l y , M i c h a e l M u l v i h i l l , w h o c r o s s e d o v e r w i th , t h e w r i t e r a n d w a s l a s t seen a t h i s p o s t in t h e G.P .O. , a n d D o n a l S h e e h a n . w h o los t h i s l i f e w i t h C o n K e a t i n g o n a spec i a l m i s s i o n to K e r r y , w h e n t h e c a r in w h i c h t h e y w e r e t r a v e l l i n g w e n t o v e r B a l l y k i s s a n e p i e r in a f o g .

^ E V E R A L v o l u n t e e r s b o r n in E n g -l a n d , i n c l u d i n g S e a n N u n a n , n o w

I r e l a n d ' s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e in W a s h i n g -ton, w e r e p i c k e d o u t of t h e i n t e r n m e n t c a m p s a f t e r t h e r i s i n g , a n d a n a t t e m p t w a s m a d e t o c o n s c r i p t t h e m i n t o t h e B r i t i s h a r m y , bu t d e s -p i t e i m p r i s o n m e n t a n d t o r t u r e , n o n e of t h e m e v e r w o r e t h e E n g l i s h u n i f o r m .

r J ^ H E a r r e s t , t r ia l , a n d c o n d e m n a t i o n of R o g e r C a s e m e n t , g rea t ly -

a f f e c t e d t h e I r i sh in L o n d o n , f o r h e w a s w e l l - k n o w n to t h e m . H e e x p r e s -sed t h e w i s h t o h e a r t h e s o u n d of t h e p i p e s a n d " G o d s a v e I r e l a n d " b e f o r e he d i ed . W h i l e a m o b h o w l e d o u t s i d e P e n t o n v i l l e p r i son , a g r o u p of s o m e fifty m e n a n d w o m e n g a t h e r e d a t t h e b a c k r e c i t i n g t h e r o s a r y , a n d a s t h e h o u r of e x e c u t i o n a p p r o a c h e d , t w o p i p e r s s t r u c k u p " G o d s a v e I r e l a n d " a n d al l j o i n e d in as l o u d l y a s p o s s i b l e h o p i n g t h a t R o r y of t h e G a e l w o u l d h e a r t h e m on his l a s t w a l k t o t h e sca f fo ld .

Self-determination ' J ' H E r e s u l t of t h e r i s i n g w a s t o w e l d

I r i s h p u b l i c o p i n i o n in E n g l a n d i n t o o n e h o m o g e n e o u s w h o l e so t h a t w h e n t h e I r i s h n a t i o n a l a i d f u n d w a s b e g u n t h o u s a n d s of p o u n d s w e r e s u b -s c r i b e d .

r j ^ H E v o l u n t e e r s h a d f a l l e n ou t of e x i s t e n c e b u t w e r e r e - o r g a n i s e d

in 1919. S h o r t l y a f t e r t h e g e n e r a l r e -l ease of C h r i s t m a s , 1916, G e n e r a l M i c h a e l C o l l i n s r e - e s t a b l i s h e d c o n -t a c t w i t h t h o s e w h o h a d b e e n in c h a r g e of t h e p u r c h a s e of m u n i t i o n s a n d t h e a r m s t r a f f i c w a s r e s u m e d a n d c o n t i n u e d u n t i l 1919, w h e n b o t h t h e v o l u n t e e r a n d t h e g u n s m i t h w e r e c a u g h t r e d - h a n d e d a n d s e n t t o p r i s o n .

r J p H E first po l i t i c a l o r g a n i s a t i o n t o be f o u n d e d in L o n d o n a f t e r t h e

r i s i n g w a s t h e R o g e r C a s e m e n t S i n n F e i n c l u b . L a t e r t h e I r i s h S e l f -d e t e r m i n a t i o n L e a g u e w a s f o r m e d a n d b e c a m e t h e g r e a t e s t I r i s h p o l i t i -ca l o r g a n i s a t i o n k n o w n in E n g l a n d , w i t h t h r e e h u n d r e d b r a n c h e s a n d t w e n t y - f i v e t h o u s a n d m e m b e r s .

^ H E y e a r s 1916-1921 w e r e g r e a t a n d g l o r i o u s yea r s . O u r p e o p l e w e r e

u n i t e d a s n e v e r b e f o r e o r s ince . I f t h e y w e r e b u t ha l f a s u n i t e d t o - d a y , t h e a b o l i t i o n of t h e b o r d e r a n d t h e u n i f i c a t i o n of o u r c o u n t r y w o u l d b e b r o u g h t a p p r e c i a b l y n e a r e r .

Highlights by 'Red HugV WAGE-FREEZE W A R M E D U P

i J I X COUNTY workers are fighting the ^ wage freeze imposed by the Labour Government. In doing so they are giving a heal thy lead to their fellows in Bri tain. The st irr ing fight pu t up by the linen wor-kers in the Lurgan area was an eye-opener for the Brooke Government . The hun-dreds of women who took p a r t in the strike generated fend radiated enthusiasm. T h e linen lords, who have piled up great for-tunes since the end of tfie war, selling the workers' product for high dollar prices, were taken by surprise. They were con-vinced t h a t the men and girls would go on indefinitely putt ing up with starvation wages and coolie conditions in the mills and factories.

The employers caved in to the extent of asking the Ministry of Labour to call a tribunal to consider wage claims in the linen industry. Now it is u p to the workers to bring their mil i tant spir i t along with them to the tribunal. But why is it t ha t the t rade union leaders a re not taking the lead in the struggle for a living wage? Do they need the Lurgan girls to inject a bit more backbone into them?

The wage freeze will be the main topic at the Whi t sun conference of the British Labour Par ty . On the preliminary agenda there are no fewer t han 39 resolutions on the Government ' s White Paper on the wages, prices and pfaf l t s standstill . Even foreign a f fa i r s takes second place, with 28 resolutions. Some recent dividend an-nouncements of loading 8ix County Indus-

tr ial concerns demonstra te the coupon-clippers are taking bigger profits t han ever and paying no heed to Cripps's humble plea to the bosses to plough back profi ts into industry instead of announcing bigger and better shareou ts to shareholders.

Sailing Tickets Again Visitors and exiles who intend to spend

a holiday in the Six Counties this summer will have to endure the discomfort of gett ing sailing t ickets again. This was an-nounced at Westmins ter last month by an unsympathet ic Minister who had scan t comfort for the thousands who got .bilked of their visit home last year owing to the limited accommodation available.

The announcement means t ha t there will be the same scramble as before, with no extra shipping allotted, though there are plenty of luxury liners for car ry ing wealthy people to South Africa and the Bahamas, where they can sport themselves to their hear t ' s content . One would have thought tha t a Labour Transport Minis t ry would have done something for the many thousands of workers from the Nor th of Ireland who are on this side helping to boost Britain's export drive, but the r ich escapists cohie first.

Teachers Watch and Wait Six County teachers will keep a s h a r p

eye on the S to rmont Government, now considering s t rong recommendations f rom a committee presided over by Mr. Jus t ice Black for increases in their salary scales.

The recommendat ions will bring t h e teachers ' r a t e s up to the level now obtain-ing in Bri ta in . There exists the possibility tha t the Government will seize on t h e "wage freeze' ' to turn down the commit-tee's report , and incidentally give a lead to private employers, and also their o\vr» arbi t rat ion tribunals.

"Best Seller", on Shelf The appropriat ion accounts of the Comp-

troller and Auditor-General 's report ori Government expenditure in t he Six Coun-ties is not an ideal place to look for a. laugh, but how about this:

The report reveals tha t an i tem of £3,030 in 1946-47 was incurred in producing a 45-page, lavishly illustrated industr ial a n d tourist brochure, bound in cloth, ent i t led "Springboard for Britain."

The main purpose of this publication, which was the brainwave of the local Min-istry of Commerce, was to a t t r ac t indus-trialists and firms likely to be interested in the chances of establishing new fac-tories in t he Six Counties. T h e s t and ing practice by "Government depar tments or consulting the Stationery Office, which h a s an expert staff to advise on such publica-tions was, s ta ted the Comptroller, disre-garded.

"Of the 10,000 copies printed," the repor t adds, "1,269 were sent to overseas firms. A. few were sen t to firms in Bri tain likely t o be interested in the possibilities of new in-dustries for t he area—and 7,850 copies a r » still in stock."

3 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT

Connolly or Marshall? S l H A L L I l l - land m a r c h u n d e r t h e W banner oi' Connolly or that of Ma: .-hall ? This challenge now faces tl~u Irish people — thirty-two years a f t e r J a m e s C o n n o l l y a n d h i s f e l l o w patriots died to secure Ireland's national freedom, sovereignty and inrit-pondancc.

Whether I re land shall assist the ad-vancement of her common people: main-t a i n her nat ional sovereignty and her age-old alliance with democracy on the Con-t i nen t , or whether she shall voluntarily h a r n e s s herself to the chariot of an alien imperialism, is no academic question for c lo .s t ra l debate. I t is a subject for urgent actiofi , both personal and governmental.

Let there be no mistake, the challenge presented by Connolly's life work and philosophy is to-day being fought , not o n l y in Ireland, but throughout the im-per ia l is t world.

Precisely because of this challenge, no •weeK passes in Ireland without fur ther a t t e m p t to suppress or distort Connolly's Soc.al is t teachings. Why is this? It is be-c a u s e Connolly not only provided the Irish people with a weapon; he also pointed a way .

The Men of Easter Week sacrificed themselves to win the political unity and f r e e d o m of the country, advance the eco-nomic well-being of the people and to cre-a t e the conditions in which the national cu l tu re could flower.

T OW h a s Ireland fared since 1916? J 1 Whaf steps have successive govern-m e n t s taken to fu r the r the cause for •which these men died?

Ireland remains partitioned, and de-s p i t e the eloquence of Par ty leaders and t h e growing disil lusionment of t he rank-a n d - f J e , each day sees a new barrier r a i s ed between the peoples of t he North a n d South by the operation of the pre-vai l ing economic system—barriers which t h e workers of both sides are gradually u n i t i n g to surmount .

For years F ianna Pail, under the leader-s h i p of Mr. de Valera, cynically used the s l o p a n of Anti-Part i t ion, almost exclu-sively as an election cry, or to drown cri-t i c i sms of its economic policy voiced by t h e more vigorous of its young members a t the Ard Fheis.

" D U S I L Y building I r ish capitalism, these A * so-called "saviours of the count ry"

abol ished the Oath , the Governor Genera l a n d the Appeal to t he Courts of England. B u t having discarded these outward sym-bols of subjection, they appear to wel-c o m e the economic, financial and even Roya l servitude to Bri tain.

I t cannot be too frequently emphasised t h a t for all Dev's ta lk of a dict ionary Re-publ ic , nei ther he nor his uneasy succes-s o r s have yet dared spurn membership of t h r British Commonweal th of Nat ions un-d e r the Statute of Westminster .

T h e continuance of "High Commission-e r s " in place of Ambassadors amply p roves this and our consti tut ional position i s made even more ludicrous by the reten-t i o n of His Br i tannic Majesty 's s ignature o n t he credentials of I r ish representat ives a b r o a d .

I n t he same way t h a t Britain 's Labour G o v e r n m e n t is now side-stepping "class"

solutions of domestic problems in favour of a servile Junior pa r tne r sh ip with im-perialist America, so I r e l and ' s successive governments follow suit by favouring ever closer t ies with the rul ing class of Britain — the ' little fish' following in the wake of t he Big Fish'!

r l 1 H I S does not moan t h a t de Valera and 1 t he other Irish leaders do not sin-

cerely desire complete na t iona l freedom. But the i r acceptance — nay, encourage-ment of Ir ish capitalism a t t he expense of the I r i sh worker—coupled wi th their pusil-lanimous acceptance of t h e s ta tus quo re-garding Partition, r ende r s this desire completely ineffectual.

Proof of this is to be found in the con-tinuing stream of emigrants , the impera-tive necessity for trade agreements with

By

Liam Concannon ' the Enemy ' (sic) and t h e ruthlessness with which de Valera suppressed Republi-cans a t home by the dual method of buy-ing t h e m off with a pension or silencing them with a prison sentence.

So shamelessly have these apostates pei verted the heritage of Easter Week tha t youngsters in I re land, rising to de-claim aga ins t poverty, declare ironically: " . . . a n d I cannot claim to have been

in the Post Office with Connolly.'1

U VERY act, every word of Connolly's -* J was to help the plain people of Ire-land to resist exploitation, and to re-create the Gael ic ideal of th ings held In com-mon. F o r this he was hounded to the grave by the British ru l ing class and it remains the reason why clerical pamphlet-eers a n d Lenten lecturers to-day defame his memory, distort his teachings and— conscious of the reverence in which he is still he ld by the people—pronounce him to have been "a good man, but misguided."

Who in Ireland to-day da re give the clarion call, as did Connolly in 1913 and 1916? W h o exposes the proposed sale of Ireland's sovereignty, in collaboration with Br i t a in ' s mis-leaders, in exchange for the* meretricious gain of t he Marshall Plan?

The America which t h r e a t e n s world peace is no t tha t section of it now crown-ing de Valera with a headdress of feathers, but the close ring of all-powerful indus-trial tycoons now prepar ing a Crown of Thorns for the peoples of Europe. These tycoons a r e the gentlemen who 'took over' the Six Counties during t h e war, and who now repay i ts 20,000 shipbui lding workers by th rea t en ing them with unemployment because America demands t h a t Britain re-duce its shipbuilding in r e t u r n for Mar-shall dollars.

r P H I S is not the America t ha t wel-corned Wolfe Tone and t h e fight for

the l iberat ion of Europe. I t is t he America of T r u m a n which", following t h e war, still retains 434 war bases s t re tch ing from Greenland to Alaska; the America whose 'way of life' includes lynching, the Klu Klux Klan , tear gas for industr ial dis-putes, bosses' stooge unions, gerrymander-ing and the denial of political rights to

13,000,000 American negroes who, pre-sumably. are all equal in the eyes of God. if not in those of American employers.

Let us not fool ourselves. The Ameri-cans moan business. Neutral i ty decisions in the atomic war now being prepared will neither be effective nor respected.

1 V H A T part is I r i sh Labour playing in * ' this gigantic s truggle? Rejecting

Connolly's mil i tant philosophy, too many of Ireland's Labour leaders have nei ther socialist theory nor sound working-class instincts to guide them. Stumbling em-pirically forward, they bow before every storm, compromise on every challenge— whether clerical or lay—while unavail-ingly seeking to p laca te t he younger gen-erat ion whom poverty h a s sleeled and emigration has enl ightened.

The clarity of thought , purposive action and independent policy which Connolly strove to effect, is rare ly found in his suc-cessors who, called upon to lead, have been content—at best—to follow.

Nowhere is this more clearly shown than by Labour's par t ic ipat ion in the Coalition Government. On Foreign Affairs, Labour, lacking an independent foreign policy, or indeed, any policy a t all on t h a t subject, appears to be the passive pa r tne r in a Government commit ted to the Marshal l Plan. Thus they m a y find the disastrous harves t of a misguided Foreign Policy negat ing their good intent ions on the Home Front.

T N contrast, young Ir ish workers re-spond increasingly to the needs of

the times. Actions of t he t ransport , farm, turf , laundry workers and teachers in de-manding increased wages indicate the readiness of the common people to ad-vance under vigorous leadership.

But these signs of unifying political and industrial advance a re viewed with increasing misgiving by our political and cultural Lilliputians who are loath to re-linquish control over both the mind and body of our Irish workers.

Recognising the t r u t h of Connolly's s t a tement tha t "revolutions do no t always begin with rifles," they seek to exercise as repressive a control over t he dissemi-nat ion of ideas as did the i r mediaeval pre-decessors of the Inquisi t ion upon the ex-pression of an opinion. Because of this, our writers, enriching every l i terature ex-cept our own, flee f rom the absurdit ies of a censorship which is a s farcical a s it is outmoded.

Restrictions u p our cul tural develop-men t are reflected in the fac t t h a t the number of banned books from abroad al-most rivals the number of new titles pub-lished at home.

But the plain people of Ireland, sur-viving the political and economic suppres-sion of centuries, can a n d mus t surmount" the difficulties of the present . Guiding them in the modern Reconquest of Ire-land, none point a surer way t h a n James Connolly—the prophet of our time.

MOSCOW LIKES SHAW T h e citizens of Moscow are thronging

to see "Pygmalion," the famous comedy by George Bernard Shaw. The play has reached its 300th pe r fo rmance a t Moscow's Maly Theatre .

Dublin Co-ops. give O 'Fair Deal9 B

ECAUSE of h igh living costs, coupled with "under- the-counter" ra t ioning

a n d the shady "condit ional selling" tac-t i c s of the merchan t s during the years of t h e emergency, t he workers of Dublin t t a v r been for some years pas t engaged in t h e task of building consumers ' co-opera-t ive societies.

T h e first Co-op. shop was opened in Inch icore , where mos t of Dublin's locomo-t i v e workers reside. I t is a general grocery s t o r e , small in size, bu t big in prospects. T h e hon . secretary of its Committee of M a n a g e m e n t is Donal McGregor, son of a veteran woman I r i sh Socialist f ighter. His toother Liam was killed in action wi th the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Brigade on the River Ebro i n 1938.

Small Group

T h e largest coope ra t i ve shop is si tuated a t t h e Junction of D r i m n a g h and Crumlin, two o i Dublin's m o s t highly populated w a l k i n g class a reas . T h e society respon-flBito.fcr th is s h o p developed f rom the ef tats of A small group o f workers who used ftp f x O m a t the house of John D. Heery to

By

Michael O'Riordon — i — — study wi th him the principles a n d practice of co-operative trading.

They inaugurated their t r ad ing activi-ties by sell ing turf to the people of their area, and on the basis of t he service and example, hundreds flocked In to the Society, purchasing their £1 shares e i ther with their d iv idends on their turf purchases or by the m e t h o d of paying it in instalments of a shi l l ing a week.

With t h e development of the i r trade and an ever increasing membership there was, before long, a large amount of capital at the disposal of the Society." Unable to secure premises, a general meet ing decided to pu rchase land and build the i r own shop.

In t h e person of John D. Heery, the Society possesses a keen a n d energetic Hon. Secretary, who af ter h i s day's work as a Carj iorat iqn employee, tu rns his ability each evening to the a f fa i r s of the

Society. He is afso a s t a u n c h and active t rade unionist, being president of the Municipal Employees' Union, one of Dub-lin's oldest unions, founded in 1890,

Rochdale Principles T h e latest Co-op. _to emerge f rom the

building work done in m a n y pa r t s of the city is the Harolds Cross Co-op. Like its counterparts , the Inchicore, Dr imnagh and Crumlin Societies, it is a legally-registered co-operative society and has already secured a successful monopoly of milk distr ibution in the neighbourhood of its location.

T h e three Dublin Co-ops. are democrati-cally managed on the Rochdale principles. They have helped each other ' s develop-ment , bu t continue independent of each other . However, plana a r e now being dis-cussed for their ama lgama t ion into a cen t ra l city Co-operative Society. Wi th t he consolidation of these pioneer societies, t he way will be cleared for the fu tu re ex-tension of the movement Into m a n y other fields.

April, 1948

Athlone Starch, Cotton,

No Library \ THLONE nestles in a bowl r ight in the

hea r t of Ireland. On the East it bounded by the rich g rass lands of West-meath. To the west s t r e t ch the black bot; lands and the bare sheeprear ing hill coun try of Roscommon. Two miles north of t h town the island-studded expanse of Lough Ree merges into the d i s tan t horizon. Sever, miles to the South lie t h e ru ins of the holy city of Clonmacnoise.

The town is divided by the River Shan-non. It is a quaint mix tu re of old ami new, the tall thin houses towering over the narrow crooked streets. T h e three Catho-lic churches are imposing s t ruc tu res with-in the mellowed old-world atmosphere o; the town.

Historical Athlone h a s played a t rag ic but valiant

par t in I re land s story. Twice during the Williamite wars it was t h e scene of bloody massacre. T h e heroism a n d endurance of its defenders have been immortal ised in the ballad "The Bridge of Athlone."

For 300 years the town was garrisoned by Bri t ish troops. These occupied the stern fortress which overlooks t he Shannon.

It is not, however, general ly known that Athlone was the bir th-placc of the Volunteer movement. When Carson s tar ted to organise the Ulster Volun-teers, a handfu l of local factory work-ers met one evening on t h e fair green and founded the Midland Volunteers who were the forerunners of the Irish volunteers.

During the Tan war Ath lone suffered as much if no t more than mos t towns. Day-light shootings, reprisals, r a ids and street battles were a common occurrence.

Prosperity Since the end of the civil war peace and

a relative measure of prosper i ty have come to the old town which has r eaped the bene-fit of t he industrial and house-building programmes of the late F i a n n a Fail Gov-ernment. T h e slum areas of Irishtown, Pipe Lane and Patrick S t r e e t were de-molished and the inhab i tan t s installed in low-priced council houses on t h e outskirts.

Athlone h a s a sizeable co t ton industry employing seven-hundred adu l t workers whose wages compare favourably with those obtaining in Lancashire . S ta rch and glucose a re also manufac tured , th is indus-try deriving i ts importance f r o m the fact that i t provides an outlet for the surplus potato crop, t hus giving considerable em-ployment.

Setback The indust r ia l life of t h e town suffered

a severe setback when the woollen mills were completely gutted by f i re in 1940. The ruins of t he once busy mill now stand gaunt and ugly on the Eas t bank of the Shannon. I t is understood t h a t these will be rebuilt a s soon as mater ia l s and machi-nery become available.

Athlone h a s a number of schools, four national, t h r ee secondary—controlled by religious orders—and one vocational con-trolled by the Westmeath Coun ty Council. Many eminen t men have received their schooling in Athlone including the late T. P. O'Connor, John Count McCormack, and Archbishop Curley of Bal t imore.

Social life Is s t imulating by country town standards. Ballroom danc ing is Number One favouri te In the recrea t iona l life of young Athlonians. The c inema is a close second.

There Is, however, one big need in Ath-lone—a public l ibrary. I t is a sad thing t ha t a populat ion of 9,000 shou ld be en-tirely dependen t for its r ead ing ma t t e r on small commercial libraries. T h e t ime has surely come when the U r b a n District Council should live up to i t s responsibili-ties in th is ma t t e r .

J.K.

CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION i

West London Branch A series of fortnightly discussions

based on articles of current interest in the "Irish Democrat" is now com-mencing. Those interested should communicate with the Secretary, Michael McCormick, 374 Gray's Inn Road.

April , 1 9 4 8 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 3

R a l l y to Holborii H a l l ! AUSPICES OF THE "IRISH DEMOCRAT" IN THE HOLBORN HALL GRAY'S INN ROAD, LONDON, W.C.I, ON SUNDAY, APRIL 18th, AT 3 P.M.

Many prominent figures in both English and Irish political, religious and literary circles have expressed their support of the aims for which the meeting is being held. These include:

T. A. Jackson, the Dean of Canterbury & Sean O'Casey

Baile Athe Cliath

1 9 1 3 - 1 9 1 6 I ) HIOS im 'mhac le ighinn i mBaile A tha J ' Cl ia th i r i th na mbl ian 1913-1916. Ar feadh n a treimhse. sin gheuraigh ar luas mui!te De i n-Eir inn; bhiodhar d 'a gcasadh go tolgach t e a n n ar son n a tire, agus r inneadar bruscar de sheana-shao-ghal uiriseal na nGaedhea l .

Ag seo i m'dhiaidh cupla pictiuir a lean-fa idh go deo dluithe le smior agus le smusach m'aigne.

* * *

-I 913. Os comhair Hal la na Saoirse. An St&ilc Mor ar siublhal . An a i t plo-

duighthe le daoine—stailcoiri an chuid is mo aca, go bhfuil an t-ocras, b 'fheidir, ag luighe o r tha ; ocrasf a m h , a ta c u r t h a ar neamh-ni agan b h f u a t h ocrach do'n neamh-chomthrom a t a ag borradh i n-a gcroidhe.

Ta Bean-Ridire Markievitz ag cur dei-ridh le i>a h oraid. Eire 'na steille-bheath-aidh iseadh I'm h-eol d a m aon bhean a oirfeadh ni b ' fhearr do'n phearsanu san. Uan- leomhanacht ar ndu thcha i s ag dr i th-leadh 'na gnuis. Scaoileann si a cuid cainnte ua i th i chomh saoraideach soill-sen.ch le lasracha teine mona ag ea lodh suas an simleir doibh; agus ta binneas n a clairsighe ag ceoltoireacht ins an g u t h uasal san. ^ ^ .j. ' G E Seumas O Conghaile an ceud cha inn-^ teoir eile. Ni bha ineann aon o m a i -

deacht le n-a chuid ca innte . Tobar loi-ghice beoithe gle-ghlaine fior-uisce i seadh an fea r so. Eisteann an sluagh go h-aireach leis. Mothuightear go d tugann na daoine an t-omos do'n t sar - fhear so a t h a b h a r f a d h paiste tuigsionach do a tha i r gaoiseach. ^ £ % U E U M A S O Lorcain! Ni feidir leis la-k bha i r t go ceann tamaill , maireann an bualadh bas agus an fha i l t e chomh f ada san. Leic t reachas iseadh an laoch so. Teine ag cainnt . An mhuir ag cur go tonntach to rannach 1 gcoinne fiochmhair-eacht na stoirme nach muchfa idh choi-dhche i. Teigheann draoidheacht a phear -sanach ta i bhfe idhm go h-ae ar an sluagh. Ag eis teacht leis, deinid a gcuid tiiobloidi do thei lgean amach as an dteach, agus ruagald isteach i gcarcracha an lae amair -each iad. * *

-J 914. Me i leabharlainn na h-Iolscoile. ' T a g a n n fear ard l u t h m h a r isteach, ag

rastail go mileata leis suas an seomra. Deiiir air. Tar e:s tamail l in imthigheann se agus a tri no a cea thai r de leabhra fe n-a h-ascail aige.

"Ce h-e fein?" a rsa mise le Sean O Broin, congantoir an leabhar lannaigh.

"Sin Eamonn de Valera." ar seisean. "Leabhra Matamait ice a bhi ag teastai l uaidh. Ni doigh liom go gcuireann se speis i n-aon rud ar dhrulm an domhain a c h t amhain i gcursai Matamai t ice ."

• * •

1916. T o m a s Mac Donnchadha , file agus ' leachtuidhe re Beurla san Iolscoil. E

geal-ghairiteach i gcomhnuidhe. A shuile ag p reabarna igh chomh h-uabhrach ma-ordha le n a buinn oir a r bhrollach r inn-coora La Peise. Bhi mac alia trean na duthrachta cumhra 'na ghuth , agus cloi-gini ceoil, breacuighthe go mogallach ann-to agus annsud ar nos noininl ann. I s annamh a lean se go seasmhach d 'a adhbhar ca innte—acht bhi cul-sraideanna a leigheachtaoi ni ba t ha i t hneamha tghe na an bothar mot.

* * *

"|V A meas ta r go dtugaim dall-omos do na • * laoich. T a r els an tsaoghail , cad is

duine a n n ? Galre agus osna agus dornan clusta! Ar an dtaolbh eile dhe, cad is pobal ann? Bea tha agus neart , a g u s meall de n t s ionaidheacht l Acht m a r sin feln, dao-tn<1 o i rdhearca do b'eadh lad san ata^lua-iflhte agam. Bhi fo l rgneamh sploradalta d'a thogail 1 n-Elrtnn aca, fo l rgneamh go raibh d u t h r a c h t agus d iomas agus mte-Bcach m a t chlocha ann, a g u s go raihh ful l m a r mhoir teal a n n I ndeifre n a ,dal»..

M. d'ANDUN.

While these figures have expressed their disapproval of the methods which were used in the past by the prisoners to attain their political objects, the unanimous opinion is that nine years in jail is a sufficient length of time to detain them, especially in view of the fact that it is unlikely that they will resume terroristic activities on their release.

Speakers at the Meeting will include: JOHN PLATT MILLS, M.P., EOIN O'MAHONY,

GEOFFREY BING, M.P., CYRL CUSACK (Abbey Theatre), HANNEN SWAPPER.

Sean O'Casey writes~ • p H E Committee organising

received the following lette Dear P. J. Clancy,

I am indeed sorry I can't come to your meeting. To "make a very special effort" I'd need a new heart and I can't get that anywhere. All who know me, and almost all who don't, know what I think about the continued confinement of our Irish com-rades in Parkhurst "Prison.

The De Valeras, McBrides, Nor tons, Cos-tellos, and Mulcahys should be there them-selves to see how they'd like it. When some of them were, they had all Ireland howling at the British to let them go; and now when as good, if not better, men are there, they're silent themselves.

Of course, with £600 as a Deputy, £500 as a pension and £1,000 as Leader of the

H Y D E P A R K MEETING

Connolly Association

RELEASE THE PRISONERS ! S U N D A Y , A P R I L Utti, 4 p.m.

Speakers :

W. Burke, Desmond Greaves

the Holborn Hall meeting has r from Sean O'Casey:—-Opposition, De Valera may well think the geraniums in his window are of more im-portance than men who are flesh of liis flesh and bon« of his bone, who tried in their own way to defend a Cause De Valera had sworn to and then abandoned.

To me, leaving these men in jail by the De Valera Government and now by the present Government is just cold, calculated political villainy.

May the curse of every Irish saint fall heavy on every Irish head that refuses U> lift itself and say a word for these fine men wasting away in jaH.

Yours very sincerely,

S E A N O ' C A S E Y .

(Continued from Next Column) the more virile section of the political Labour movement.

However, things are no t moving entirely to the liking of the presen t leadership. In foreign policy, there is more of the nor-mal Lef t -Right division of views, and a t the recent conference a resolution of the North Derry Labour P a r t y calling for Bri-tain and Ireland to pursue a genuinely in-dependent home and foreign policy by developing their own resources was passed despite t he opposition of the Executive.

POLITICAL TRENDS IN N.I. LABOUR

From SAMUEL POLLOCK

' p H E difficulties and complexities of Northern Irish politics are reflected in

the variety of t rends and opinions within the Labour Party. As well as t he more or less normal divergence of opinion between Left and Right, Northern Labour has the peculiar characterist ic of having within its ranks fu r the r cross-divisions of opinion on partition and the national question.

There is. on the one hand, a group which tends to follow a Unionist policy on the national question and, on the other , a nationalist policy, with an abundance of intermediate and compromising view-points, amply il lustrated by the variety of resolutions on the national question "dis-cussed at the Par ty ' s recent conference.

These resolutions show honest, if con-fused, a t tempts to reconcile the differing points of view despite which t he re is a general unanimity for the welfare of the Labour Movement as a whole.

Block Votes A virile and active Left-wing minori ty,

which fights for an independent Socialist policy on nat ional and in te rna t iona l issues, finds itself with comparatively little voice at the annual conferences when faced with the block votes of the mainly conservative large unions. This group feels t h a t the present confusion and lack of de-finite policy on important issues is par t ly due to the t remendous voting power wielded by the less politically conscious a n d apathetic membership of the unions.

Consequently a continual s t ruggle is going on within -the unions themselves to swing their mass membership behind pro-gressive policies and convert them into a tower of s t rength politically to the Labour Movement. T h e support of large unions such as the E.T.U., the A.E.U., the N.U.R. and the N.F.B.T.U., has often been gained for progressive resolutions at the Pa r ty conferences.

T h e Party 's Right-wing leadership seem quite satisfied with the present s t a t e of affairs , presumable because, if t he re was complete agreement on questions of vital political policy, there might be a demand for its radical implementation coupled with a demand for a more radical leader-ship.

A mass apathe t ic membership they re-gard as a bulwark against too Left -wing demands , and as long as they can hold th i s t rump card in their hands they can use it to stifle the progressive d e m a n d s of

(Continued in Preceding Column I

Critical Audience Hear Marshall Plan From P A U L O ' H I G G I N S

D U B L I N . " r j "HERE are some kinds of educatipn we

can very well do without" was the abrupt comment of one trade unionist a f te r at tending an educational lecture here on the Marshall Plan sponsored by the Irish T.U.C.

The lecture, which was given by Mr. J a m e s Meenan, National University lec-turer in Economics, -was followed by a critical and interested discussion from the predominantly t rade unionist audi-ence. Of the many questions asked, only two showed favour to Ireland accepting Marshall "aid."

The doubts expressed by many speakers concerning the motives of the American Government in sending aid to the Euro-pean countries were dismissed by the lec-turer with the phrase: "A drowning man cannot afford to question the motives of his rescuer." He though t himself t ha t the motives were both generosity and self-interest, but he did no t "feel it f ru i t fu l to analyse them."

Europe's Plight Mr. Meenan stressed t h a t because there

was no plan as yet, discussion of it would tend, to be vague. He described the pre-sen t state of Europe's economy and said t h a t because the countries could not af-ford to pay for the needed supply of food and raw ma tena l s from outside, the only solution was the acceptance of the Mar-shal l Plan.

T h f r e vypp n ? answer whep a member of t h ? audience asked why it was t h a t the

east European Nations should be able to increase industrial productivity without accepting Marshall aid.

The plan contained in the report of the 16 "Marshall" na t ions for the re-duction in' Irish tillage and concentra-tion on catt le raising was passed over as "an a t t empt to restore Irish agriciHtiral productivity to what it was in 1931.

Mr. Mecnan also glossed over the fact that the goods which America is so eager to supply to Europe did not include the row mater ia ls and machinery which the nations themselves consider necessary to their recovery.

Could Do Without It Ex-Senator O'Farrel who proposed the

vote of thanks was crit ical of America's disinterestedness, as was Senator Kyle, who seconded, and Mr. Arnold Marsh, chairman, thought it would be quite prac-ticable for Ireland to do without Marshall aid.

The lecture was the first of a series which are being held under the auspices • of the T.U.C. and the f u t u r e programme includes a talk by Mr. Green, secretary of the Bri t ish Workers ' Educational As-sociation. T rade unionists here are of the opinion t ha t lecturers should be drawn more from the Labour Movement itself.

Secret Agreement ? Speculation is rife In Dublin on the

possibility t h a t there is some secret de-fence agreement between Bri ta in and Ire-land, In view of the t ra in ing of Irish ofll-

Lecture cers in America. Pretences of nat ional in-dependence are being gradually dropped since the "inter-Party Government" came to power. f

On the home f ront they have adopted economic measures which threa ten the employment of young people. T h e ex-pected decrease In industrial develap-mwi t and concentrat ion on r anch ing In agricul ture will mean a certain increase In emigration f rom Ireland.

A series of false economics, such as a reduction in the a rmed forces and in t h e number of people employed by the Tur f Board are being proposed, but the new Government has taken no steps designed to improve the lote of the working people.

T h e announcement by Dr. Browns, Min-ister for Health, of his fu ture p l ans caused disappointment when it was rea-lised t ha t they went no fur ther t h a n the p l ans already announced by the P i a n n a Pail Government in their white paper on the Public Health Services.

Hopes t ha t the participation of bo th Labour and National Labour in the s a m e Governmen t would Improve the c h a n c e s of T r a d e Union uni ty were expressed to me by Mr. Roberts, secretary of the T.U.C. While he said t ha t a s yet no steps h a v e been taken by the T.U.C. to take advan-tage of the situation, I was told by t h e secretary of the Congress of Irish Un ions t h a t the initiative o n this question w^s being lef t to the T.U.C. Wc declined to make any s ta tement on the unity questlofa.

S

-

-I

6 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT April, 1948

The Return of the Stranger ^ MILE outside the village he sat

on an old stile by the road. He looked around at the brown lulls. Most of the village was up there loot-ing t un . There were dozens of threads of smoke rising and dissolv-ing in the dusk. He wished he were up there working with the laughing, chatting girls and men, and drinking black smokey tea every hour.

He icoked beyond the hills at the sombre pin pie mountain, called Lugnaquilla. I t sent night down into the valley, his mother used to tell him. Now it seemed to be mocking him, mocking his pale face, his g:ey striped suit and tight suede shoes; mockftig the last ten years of his life, which he had spent making money in Eng-land. He had wanted a triumphant home-coming. Instead he felt uneasy and full of vague regrets.

The sound of footsteps made him look down the road. It was a woman about his own age. She was tall, with a shapely-figure and wore a blue cotton frock. Her head was bent as she hurried up the hill. Suddenly she raised her head and stared at him. He gave a violent start as he recognised her.

"It 's Mary Byrne," he grasped. "Hello, Eamon! What a surprise seeing

you again?" she said, stopping in front of him. O'Donnell stared at her intently. He sensed she was much more mature than ten years ago, though he couldn't detect any change in her features. She had soft, black hair, humorous, restless eyes, a thick sensuous mouth which protruded slightly. The irony of the mouth contrasted with the frank eyes. It was the face of a per-son whose vague ideals were continually clashing with reality.

"A T OU certainly don't look like a prodigal anyway," s h e r e -

marked caustically, having examined him from head to foot. He blushed. He decided to try to thaw her out a bit.

"Still teaching?" he asked politely. "Yes, on holidays at the moment. My

little scholars are all up there," she said gesturing up towards the turf banks. "They might as well be there as in school," she added cynically.

"Would you like to come for a drink in Murphy's lounge?'' he asked without much confidence.

"You ought to know Irish women don't drink in country villages, except rich visitor from Dublin. Besides, what would my husband say?"

"You're not married?" he said, sud-denly disappointed.

"Yes, this ten years, to the same Murphy as owns the pubs, and I've got three chil-dren. Why not come up and see them?" As she said this, her smiling eyes darted away from him as though she were enjoy-ing some little joke of her own.

"I'd love to," he said, pretending enthu-siasm. ^ F T E R a few minutes walking in

silence, she began to speak in a low voice.

"It 's strange the way people change. Ten years ago I never dreamed you'd be-come a big nob of a Sassenach. Remember

the night we climbed Lugnaquilla and when we came to the top you took me in your arms and talked a lot about me help-ing you to achieve a turned and free Ire-land."

"That was a lot of nonsense." "I don't think so." "We're all idealists when we're twenty,"

lie defended. "There was no future in being a poetic rebel. After all, I've made a success of life."

"Have you now?" she taunted. "Are you really satisfied.

"Of course," he said, looking away from her eyes. "You could have gone abroad and done the same."

His last sentence made her smile bitterly. They walked on in silence. It was almost dark now, and the fields and hills seemed to breathe and sigh around them. At the top of the hill they took a sharp turn to the left, up a narrow lane. After going about 100 yards they came to a rough cobbled yard with a few hens searching

"An old friend," she answered. She was a bit uneasy now.

"Let's go inside," she said quickly, turn-ing to O'Donnell. For a moment they looked intently a t one another. Mary had wanted a few moments of revenge. But the man could only see in her eyes a tired, sad expression. He felt a sudden rush of feel-ing towards her.

As they went quickly towards the house, the boy tripped along behind, s taring all the time a t the man. When they got to the door, Mary turned suddenly.

"Run off and get some stamps in village, Eamon," she said, searching nervously in her bag for money.

"I want to stay." The boy looked ap-pealingly at the man.

"Mr. O'Donnell will be here when you come back." said his mother, giving him the money and a push away from them.

Reluctantly the boy left them, meander-ing across the yard, looking back over his should every few seconds.

SHORT STORY By

Gerald Outran for food and strewn with bits of straw and cow dung.

J^EFORE they reached the small door in the whitewashed wall of

the house, the man stopped suddenly. Mary looked up at him. He was star-ing along the side of the house where there was a boy of about ten playing with a cat by a trough of water.

In the dim light it was impossible to see the boy's features. He wore a big, rough shirt and tattered, dirty trousers. His curly hair was black and untidy. He was forcing the ca t into the trough.

"Come here, Eamon," Mary called. A look of surprise came on the face of the man beside her when he heard the name. The boy ignored her, pretending not to hear. He pushed the frightened cat into the water. Mary ran over and pulled it out. Then she turned furiously on the boy.

"You're a bad, cruel boy." "A sure Ma, I wanted to see could it

swim," he said, smiling insolently. Then he turned to look at the man, walking slowly towards them. His eyes opened wide in wonder as he gazed at the th in features and black, curly hair flattehed out with oil. With his as tu te child's mind, he immedi-ately saw the close resemblance to his own face. The man could hardly conceal the shock It caused him. The boy had the same sharp, deepset eyes, the same prominent cheek bones. The difference was in the ages and complexion; the boy's being deep red from Sun and wind, con-trasting with the man's pallor.

is he ?" whispered the boy, clutching at his mother 's hand.

Mary had been watching the encoun-ter like a hawk.

r F H E two went into the dark kitchen. O'Donnell was struck by the dis-

order of the room, the coats and chil-dren's clothes scattered on the chairs, newspapers strewn on the floor.

Amjd the disorder, sitting by the table having tea, was an eldfiiy man. The room was partially lit by the red glow from the turf fire. I t shone on the man's face, em-phasising the thick, red features which sprouted a large snow-white moustache.

T h e visitor now remembered Murphy from his youth. He owned two pubs in the village and a lot of land. He had a repu-tation for cunning, shrewdness and had always been a bit of a miser. A more un-suitable husband for Mary, O'Donnell could no imagine.

Mary introduced them. The visitor noticed Murphy didn't stand up when they shook hands.

" I put the children to bed," he said to Mary.

"So I see," she said sarcastically, look-ing a t the scattered clothes. She went over to the bucket by the door.

"You might have got some water in for the night, John," she said irritably.

"I asked that divil of a boy to get some. But sure I might as well have asked one of the hens."

Mary picked up the bucket impatiently and flounced cut of the house."

"If Mary didn't go galavantin' off to all these farm wives' meetin's the place wouldn't look so much like a jumble sale," Murphy complained to the visitor. O'Donnel, very ill at ease, sat down by the fire.

"You've done very well," commented the old man, after gazing in awe for a few minutes at the other's clothes.

'Not too badly," said the visitor, frown-ing a t the fire. He was thinking about ti.< boy in the yard.

"You were wise to get out of that orgar.. isation." said Murphy.

"Um." O'Donnell still frowned though;, fully a t the fire. The other suddenly sto. up from the table.

"Well, I must do a bit of clearing round the yard.' ' He was a bit hur t by t!. other's silence. He left the room.

AFTER a few minutes Mary came bac:; She began to get ready the tea, igno:.

ing O'Donnell altogether. She was ]i ^ confident now. O Donnell's shock at s<, ing the boy had unnerved her. They \\ i not so fa r apar t .

Impatiently he waited. When at !a-r they were sitting together a t the table, , said; "Will you let me pay something irr the boy's education?" His tone was pleading.

"For ten years you haven't given us thought. Why this sudden generosity,' she flared. She mustn't give in to him.

"Did you bring me up here to tornicr,: me?" She was taken aback. She frowned, staring a t the table.

"He seemed w r y wild," said O'Donnel) after a few seconds. "Does he go to school?"

"Sometimes. I don't press him too hare: because I don ' t believe in what I teach. It 's not practical, and . . ."

She stopped, confused. She hadn ' t meant to confide in him.

"So you don' t live up to your ideals either. You're no better t han I."

She was silent, knowing it was true. "But he won't be like us," she began.

"I teach him different things. "The wrongs of Ireland." "Yes. He's a rebel already."

VDONNELL looked earnestly into her ^ ' eyes, gripping her hand.

"I'd like to see him again," he added. Mary frowned, embarrassed. She shook off his hand.

"You don't want me to?" said the man. It seemed as though his life depended on seeing the boy again.

"It would upset him very much if he dis-covered you were his fa ther ."

"I'd have a bad effect on him," he said bitterly.

"It would be best if you slipped away before he came back. She looked at him sincerely, hoping he would take this as final There was an awkward silence. Her game was over now, he thought bitterly. He looked around him. He longer to see his son again, to stay here. Then, realis-ing how futile it was, he decided to po quickly, to get out of the village tha t night and never come back. This place was too disturbing.

"Good-bye, Mary," he said, gripping her hand. He looked into her wide, blue eyes, to see was there any understanding there. They were completely blank.

"Good-bye," she said vaguely. Reluc-tantly he released her hand. As he let himself out of the door into the yard, she began tidying up the tea things as though he was gone out of her mind already. She continued doing this till his footsteps had died away. Then she suddenly slumped into a chair and began to cry like a cli:id.

Irish 'Triple Crown9 Triumph Ends Grand Rugger Season

I R E L A N D rounded off a a great rugby season last month when, after 1 beating .Scotland by two tries to nil in Dublin, she followed up with

Belfast, winning the Triple Crown a great 6 to 3. victory over Wales in for the first time since 1899.

After starting off what turned out to be a grand international season with a piti-lul display against the Wallabies, the Irish XV went to France, and the victory there produced the tonic which was much needed. (

With England and Scotland beaten, Ire-land had won the international champion-ship, but until last month's grand display a t Ravenhill, Wales stood between her and the Triple Crown.

Touch and Go However, the Irish team rose to the oc-

casion, and threw themselves into the game with a vigour which will long be remembered. v I t W B tpuch and go right up to the final fhlBtie , Bhd, although most of the play in

' (he second half" was in the Welsh twenty-' * f e , t M . ' t y f e h movements nevertheless iaarrted plenty of threats and painful

moments for the Irish supporters. Ireland took the lead after 15 minutes,

when the pack heeled from a scrum in the Welsh twenty-five, and Kyle passed to Mullen, who dashed over for a lovely try in the corner which he failed to convert.

Then Wales had their bad luck, Bleddyn Williams had a grand score and James missed an easy kick at goal. Jus t after the interval, Ireland got their winning score when Daly touched down. Mullan again missed with the kick.

After thi6 the Irishmen fairly well pinned their opponents into their own half.

All the Iri6h team without exception played well, and Jack Kyle, as usual, was brilliant. His accurate kicking did much to win the game. The pack showed amaz-ing speed and endurance, and I 'm sure the Welshmen were sometimes left wondering if we had a couple of extra men on the field.

THE GAME IN DUBLIN

T H E match in Dublin between Ireland J- and Scotland was by no means a

classic display of Rugby, but it was at all times a very keen and hard-fought game, with the defence mastering the attack.

There was no score in the first half, which was very poor. Scotland had slightly the better of it, but lacked the thrus t to beat the very good defensive tackling by the Irish team.

Matters «yere completely changed in the second half. Almost from ttie start the Irish forwards began to dominate the game. Then furious all-out attacks on the Scottish line began to soften up the Scot-tish defence.

After 15 minutes the first Irish score came. McKee made a burst through, shak-ing off several tackles, to send out a long pass over the head of an intervening defender to Barney Mullan on Ireland's left-wing. Mullan streaked for the corner flag to score a fine try, which wate not con-verted.

Fought Back Scotland fought back now to good effect,

and obtained a penalty in front of the

Irish posts, but the kick went wide. In-land came back to the at tack with re-doubled fury and Scotland faded cut gradually. Kyle made the Issue secure when from a quick heel, De Lacy sent him the ball, and he raced through the Scot-tish defence to score a magnificent try. The kick again failed.

The highlights of the game were the magnificent Ir ish forward rushes, which seemed to sweep the ball and the Scots-men irresistibly before them. It was un-doubtedly the Irish forward who won the match, for in loose and tight play they beat the Scottish forwards to a standstill, as well as preventing the Scottish backs from getting many opportunities.

These looked fa r more dangerous th.m their Ir ish opposite, and one felt it lucky for Ireland tha t ' they so seldom the ball. Murdock, the Scotland full-buck, played a superb game. The Irish barks were very good a t times individually, but were never able to combinc.

CHAMPION CUEIST

JACK BATES completed a unique double In winning the Six Counties

billiards and snooker championships last month. He In the first player to win both In the same year.

April, 1948 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT 3

BOOK, STAGE and SCREEN edited by A l a n L e o n a r d

Hollywood Does Well

' T H E new Orson Welles film. THE LADY J- FROM SHANGHAI, featuring that

ravishing creature Rita Hayworth, is inter-esting chiefly for its technical brilliance. The story is obscure. It concerns itself with a thoroughly decadent bunch of rich psycho-paths whose main occupation is murder.

One tires of the story's obscurities after a while but the lovely things Welles does with a camera are always exciting and Democrat readers will, at least, have the ad-vantage over most of the critics of being able to understand Orson Welles. He is the star and the commentator and his comment-ary is done in a soft Irish brogue. The act-ing throughout is first class.

THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH is directed by Jean Renoir and stars Joan Bennett,

Robert Ryan and Charles Bickford. A simple story, this, and very well direc-

ted. The characters, however, are by no means simple. But here no complexities of plot interfere with the characterisation. Ryan gets involved with the attractive wife (Joan Bennett) of a blind artist (Bickford) who, h e ' is convinced, is only shamming blindness. He tries to prove this so that he can take his wife away. An interesting sequence proves the inaccuracy of this theory and the developing tussle between the two men moves to an exciting climax. It is an interesting film with many moments of great pictorial beauty; here and there it tends to drag a little, but It is well above the average American offering.

r P H E BIG CLOCK features Ray Milland, J- Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Maureen O'Sullivan, George Macready and Rita Johnson. It is exceptionally good enter-tainment—slick, well-acted and well-produced. It seems that the best films lately have come from Hollywood none of the recent British films come up to the stan-dard of the three American features under review this month.

Elsa Lanchester is a joy as a somewhat batty surrealist artist who gets Involved in this story of an attempted murder frame-up. Charles Laughton is the bosfe of one of those colossal business enterprises that abound in

FILMS OF THE MONTH reviewed by

FRANCES BARRY

FINE IRISH POEMS Y D M I R E R S of E w a r t Milne 's poet ic

gifts will find in this new and tastefully-produced volume, 18 care-fully-wrought lyrics which show his vision and expressive power have gained added maturi ty since his last work , "Jubilo."

T h e folk lilt and regular melodic style to which he so subtlely led up, in the last two poems of that collection, are here de-veloped with absolute sureness and control. His use of the refrain, familiar terms of Anglo-Irish balladry and other repetitive elements found in our t r a d i t i o nal songs is applied to themes and ideas very much of our own time. It is this ancestral romantic-ism coming to grips with the social and

— L E S L I E DAIKEN — reviews a new collection

of the poems of

EWART MILNE just published at 7/6 by Frederick Mulier, under the title "Boding Day."

M even tenor suddenly breaks: the regular line buckles; there is a jolt, a wobble, and like an engine derailing, we realise that the journey does not always finish in cosiness and comfort. The signal has de-ceived us. It is not "all clear." We have been shocked out of our daydream. "What next?" the broken rhvme-scheme seems to ask.

* * *

HPHEN we appreciate the poet's intention. This sense of rupture, so characteristic

of our Uves to-day, is intentional. He con-veys to us, even

the States — an enormous publishing organisation owning numerous magazines with circulations that run into millions.

This is a brutally honest portrayal of the ruthless American capitalist, slave to efficiency in the interest of his profits, and of his organisation in which human beings are so many cogs in the machine and God help those who occasionally move out of itep. The flimsiest mistake is sufficient rea-son for dismissal; the atmosphere of con-tinuous apprehension Is brilliantly main-tained.

The publishing boss commits a murder and the film deal6 with his attempts to frame an innocent man for his crime. It would be a pity to teil you more of the plot. I can as-sure you it is flrst-rate entertainment, so go and work it out for yourself.

( 'ORKIDOK OF MIRRORS, with Edana Romney and Eric Portman, is an ex-

tremely boring piece of pretentious non-sense, chiefly made as a vehicle for showing ofT Miss Romney's charms.

Incredible flap-doodle. It is infuriating, too, when one thinks of the enormous sum of money spent on this film. I'm afraid Miss Romney's charms left me stone cold. One had so much of them. She was never off the screen for a moment; each shot of her seemed to go on for eons—and so did the film.

* [ TS silliness has been surpassed this * month though, and that by another

British film, which I personally think the worst film ever made. THE IDOL OF PARIS (made by the "Wicked Lady" team) Is (lie last word In film inanity and there we can leave it.

EASTER WEEK I I AVE you read the full story of what

' happened in Dublin 32 years ago this month?

The best account is contained in EASTER WEEK by B r i a n O'Neil l .

• one oat of print in England and Ireland, * few copiea of this Important book are a>ailaWt, prtce 2/9 post free, from IRISH

MOCHA* Book Dept., 374 Gmys Inn R°a<l, London, Vt.C.l. Cash wiyi order

artistic problems of his generation, tha t distinguishes him from the Irish poets who pretend to be outside of, or above, conflict.

"VTET this very self-knowledge enriches such poems as Organ Grinder, The

Cobbler Who Lost His Shoes, Boding Day, which ring in the memory. The full recognition of romantic symbols herein does not entice the poet from the market square to the ivory lower or the chapel. The world's clamour is not shut out but the wings of poetry and the high hopes of youth grow invisibly on the old boots which commercialism heaps at the cobbler's last.

Many of the poems move along within an easy rhythmic action, half-drugging the ear with their melody, wheh, suddenly, the

through the most golden and silver imagery, the reflec-tion of plans that are cancelled, un-settling insecurity, and of war-torn re-construction which

some boding intervention always cuts In a long, dramatic poem, Since Tuesday

was a Week, Milne reveals a deep under-standing of Irish social stalemate and literary in-growing. Though this is not so successful as the rest, it contains some highlights of observation and expression: When coastwise over continents A pirate moon was rising, And in the night's black-market trading A bloodshot crew brought fortune. It was then as the lillles wilted That the Wild Geese drummed the centuries, And the westering wings came answering . . The pirate moon has come and gone, Now whatever days and seasons bring The Wild Geese as they homeward turn Know their work is carried on. Look up, look up, see in the sun Their pointed wings of snow and fire. Look up, look up. salute their funeral pyre.

Plays, Pictures and People T P H E full development of the film awaits

the day when the energies of millions now directed towards the destruction of the enemy are freed to turn from matters of destruction and death to matters of con-struction and life.

Speed the coming of that day!" The above quotation is from a foreword to

"The Film Sense" by Sergei Eisensteln, who died last month. The small courtesy obituaries in the National dailies can give no indication of the loss, not alone to the Soviet Union, but to the world at large, of a genius of film.

Together with Pudovkin and a group of co-workers, Eisenstein contributed more both to film technique and revolutionising of con-tent than any other individual with the pos-

sible exception of the American, D. W. Griffith. It is only a brief season since his latest work achieved a tour-de-force in Lon-don.

Sufficient, perhaps to say that whatever pieces of effective cinema continue to escape the moronic bans and restrictions of the money-bags, the major portion of the credit will be due to the painstaking research and patient formulation of principle of Sergei Eisenstein, citizen and great man of the Soviet Union.

Dublin Film Society SPURNING our eyes back to the »reen and -L tender hills and ignoring beefsteaks,

rashers and eggs, but trudging firmly down Camden Street, you will from time to time have an opportunity of seeing these master-pieces of past great directors like Eisenstein shown by the Dublin Film Society at the Camden Picture House. Inspired, held to-gether and finally welded into an audience of some 1,900 people, the Dublin Film Society owes most of the credit for existence to Wexford's Liam O'Laoghaire. author of the first Irish contribution to film-study, "Invitation to -the Film."

There is a rival organisation which seems to owe most of its cohesion to the principle that Catholics and Protestants should not mix too freely, even In cultural circles, but my spies tell me that many of the earnest young theologians who compose this organi-sation are regular enjoyers and in fact season-ticket holders of the Dublin Film Society's very well selected presentations. Naughty!

More Trouble at the Abbey

AND now a quotation from "The Bell," that much-appreciated, much-abused

Dublin literary magazine. "Frankly I had no Illusions when I en-

tered the Abbey. Productions I had seen, had disappointed me; acting was weak and showed inexperience. Teamwork, which was once the pride of the theatre, seemed de-cidedly uneven. Technical work often seemed tawdy.

"The Gaelic Department of the Theatre had reached a new low in the quality and number of Its productions."

by ALEC DIGGES You've guessed it? The subject of the

foregoing is the Abbey Theatre, and the author is Liam O'Laoghaire—yes, the same as above.

Liam, who acted as Gaelic producer for a trial period of six months, has resigned. The above is what he thought when he started and when he ended.

Coming on top of the recent walk-out-ln-the-middle demonstration at an Abbey pre-sentation, by poet Val Iremonger and play-wright Roger McHugh, this seems to indicate the delayed action explosion of the long smouldering resentment of young Dublin in-tellectuals at the marked deterioration of theatrical standards of the over-famous Abbey theatre, a theatre which once led the world in content and form.

The recent tragic deaths of some of the more outstanding figures of the old school and the continued cocking of Celtic eyes at Elstree have accentuated and demonstrated clearly what was previously felt by many to be a complete lack of adequate training facilities to ensure at least a continuation of the accepted Abbey technique. An un-official censorship and the grubby hand of finance have already seen to it that play-wrighting for the Abbey is the hobby of in-come-assured true Gaels.

Polemics or Productions ?

UNDER the title "What's Wrong With the Abbey Theatre?" Mr. Greacen, one of

the younger generations of Irish writers, re-cently announced in the "Irish Review" the formation of a "Friends of the Irish Theatre" movement, led by and including such outstanding figures in Irish Theatre as Sheila Richards, Ria Mooney, Dr. Loma Rey-nolds and ex-Gaelic producer O'Laoghaire.

The revolt would seem to be a healthy symptom, but in the opinion of the present writer, the most effective blow against the present deplorable conditions would be the establishment of an independent venture basing the main brunt of its attack, not on critical theatrical polemics and diatribes but on hold experimental and competently acted productions.

The Gate Theatre was never so significant as when it commenced in the tiny Peacock Theatre and one often sighs for the con-sistently brilliant and interesting work of this period. With such influential writers as Frank O'Connor, Paul Vincent Carroll, Sean O'Faolain and, might I venture to suggest, Sean O'Casey. such a movement would not be without friends at Court. Possibly Liam Redmond, playwright William Healy and some or the pioneers of an earlier revolt might rally to the colours. And surely some of the sLragglers from our own workers New Theatre Group, for which 1 once had the great pleasure to produce, will not baulk at a renewed assault against Blythe and the "thawshays."

Was it not A.E. who wrote: " . . . our lips would gladlier hail The first-born of the coming race Than the last splendour of the Gael."

MARTYRS AND MEN

' T H E English people have their heroes and martyrs no less than the Irish. Perhaps

the best-known and most significant figures in the history of the British working-class are those six agricultural labourers of Tol-puddle in Dorset, who in 1834 received savage sentences of seven years transporta-tion for the enormous crime of organising a branch of an agricultural workers' trade union. Huge protest demonstrations eventu-ally secured their freedom.

The whole inspiring story is well tcld in a convincing chronicle play by Miles .Malic-son and H, Brooks, "Six Men of Dorset." now getting a very warm welcome from audiences at London's Unity Theatre. Des-cendants of the original "six men" were present at the first night and members of the Dorset and other branches of the N.U.A.W. have come to town to see ihis fine play. You have still time to follow their example.

UOME readers may remember the Glasgow Unity company who came to Lendon in

1945 and gave such a fine rendering of Gorki's "Lower Depths." Now they have come back to Town with a vcngeance. Their productions of "The Gorbals Story" by Robert McLeish were so successful in Scot-land that the company has now secured the Garrick Theatre for a West End run. This fine play of life in a Glasgow tenement is not a sordid, muck-raking affair. The auihor has spent most of his life in the Gorbals, and his characters are real people, ordinary decent working-class men and women trying to make the best of life under terrible con-ditions. The dialect is fairly broad, but the essential humanity of its theme makes the play full of meaning for Irish and English theatre-goers alike. Maybe you don't often patronise West End theatres, but you can get a good seat at the Garrick fairly cheaply, and this is something you should not miss.

Books in Brief

ONE MAN'S HISTORY

A S one might expect. The Rolling of the Thunder (Lawrence and Wishart, 15/-)

by William Gallachir, M.P., is something out of the ordinary run of political memoirs.

Gallacher's life has been spent as a Com-munist propagandist and organiser, and all his activities have been so closely entwined with the struggles of the British working-class movement that the history of those fateful years "between the wars" really does come vividly alive again through the pages of this book.

Gallacher writes as he speaks, in simple, blunt terms, enlivened by vigorous shafts of wit and penetratingly bitter comment. One does not need to agree with all he says to recognise the author's sincerity and force-ful personality that has won respect from even his most bitter opponents; his book is particularly timely in view of current at-tempts to use the bogey of "foreign-controlled subversive agents" to split the workers' unity, their only weapon against the bosses.

* * *

ALLACHER recalls that attacks on ' Communists were the prelude to at-

tacks on workers' conditions in the twenties, and he gives an inspiring account of the campaigns carried on by the1 unemployed in face of indifference and hostility on the part of the "respectable" Labour leaders. Arthur Horner, now secretary of the N.U.M. got fifteen months imprisonment for "plotting violence and revolution" in 1932—his real crime was resisting the eviction of an un-employed family. Words are wonderful things!

Continuing the best internationalist tradition of the British labour movement, Gallacher has always championed the cause of colonial and oppressed peoples, recognis-ing that freedom is indivisible. He has taken a lively interest in Irish affairs, both the fight for national independence and the struggles of the workers for better conditions.

Fifteen shillings is a lot of money for a book, even for a well-produced and illustra-ted library edition, so most prospective readers will probably have to badger their local library. It is to be hoped, however, that it will soon be possible to produce a cheap reprint at a price within reach of the workers for whom this book is Intended . . . and when .paper supplies permit. It would be good to see Gallacher's first autobiographical volume. Revolt on the Clyde, back In print again

A.G.K.L.

s THE IRISH DEMOCRAT April, 1948

The Truth About Prague From• Our Central European Correspondent

IRIS URWIN I A S T m o n t h , I m e n t i o n e d t h e o u t -

J spoken anxiety in Czechoslovakia about the progress of r e f o r m s through Parliament, and the more and more open efforts of the reaction-ary parties to go back on their elec-tion promises and turn the tide of progress back.

By the time my words were in print, the people of Czechoslovakia had taken the matter into their own hands, and were (irmly reminding t h e i r representatives that in a People's Democracy politics is not a professional game in which the slick-est wins, but the carrying out in a realistic fashion of the just demands of the people, from whom power derives.

Much has been written and shouted about recent events here, for the eyes of the whole world turned to Prague on February 20th. Now that the grue-some speculations of certain sections of the Press have failed to material-ise, the real importance of this blood-less revolution for all democratic peoples can be clearly seen.

NO EXPLANATIONS The battle opened with a violent at tack

(in the newspaper of the National Social-ist Party! on the Minister of the Interior, who was called upon by this pa r ty in Par-liament, to revoke certain decisions taken in his depa r tmen t ; on Friday, February 20th, Pa r l i amen t met to hear the Min-ister's s ta tement , but eleven Ministers of

the three right-wing part ies sent in an u l t imatum: they wanted no explanations; ci ther the decisions mus t be revoked or— they would resign f rom the Government .

But they had badly over-reached them-selves; this step, which was mean t to break up the National Front Government, drive out the Communists , and set up a new Government of the Right, proved to be a step in the opposite direction.

On Saturday vast meetings throughout the Republic called upon the President to accept the resignations of the react ionary Ministers, and expressed their determina-tion to go forward to Socialism behind the Prime Minister, Gottwald. On Sunday the Congress of Trade Union representatives passed a resolution in favour of a token one-hour general strike.

FOUR PARTIES On Monday, 23rd, the people began to

take action; if the Minister wants to g o -let him go! and the railwaymen politely asked the Minister of Transport to leave his Ministry; he was followed by others . Among the political part ies the air was clearing: the Right-wing leaders recog-nised tha t they had made a false s tep (later revealed as the i r own, taken with-out consulting their Executive Commit-tees) and, as the days went by without t h e declaration of support they expected f rom the Social Democrat Party, they found too t ha t they had miscalculated there.

Members of Par l i ament of the four Czech parties met a n d formed the Cen-tral Action Committee—while the reac-tionary forces put on the streets the only expression of public support they could muster : a few hundred students.

On Tuesday the token strike revealed the s trength of public opinion behind the Prime Minister; in factory a f te r factory only a hand here and there was raised in opposition. Everywhere, in factories, offices, businesses, progressive members of all part ies got together, and the Action Committees they formed began to carry out a purge—not the bloodthirsty busi-ness it sounds, but a mat ter of a few words, and unreliable, anti-socialist wor-kers find themselves given a week's leave while their case is considered. I n the evening spontaneous demonstrat ions filled the streets of Prague—and most enthusi-astic of the slogans sounded s t range : "Long live our police-force!"

CLIMAX On Wednesday, February 25th, came the

climax. Pres ident Benes accepts t h e re-signations and named the new Govern-ment—still a Government of the National Front, headed <as the President had as-sured the people it would be) by the Com-munist Pr ime Minister Gottwald. T h e people—workers, peasants, office workers, shopkeepers—the mass of the nation, had emerged victorious. The new Govern-ment has a l ready started its work, the task of carrying through the reforms de-manded in 1946, perfecting the work of the Revolution of 1945, when Prague was freed f rom the Germans .

The sett ing up of Action Committees everywhere guarantees tha t in every walk of life obstacles -to progress- will be re-moved. The great congress of 130,000 re-p r«en ta t ives of the farmers and peasants , meeting in Prague on Sunday, February

29th, could rest a ssured tha t their de-m a n d s would be l is tened to; land reform and the farmers ' r e l i e f ' f r o m taxation an among the first quest ions to be settled. T h e townsman finds h i s bread rat icn go-ing up, and a th rea t ened cut in his m i -ra t ion averted by p r o m p t action in secur-ing he lp f rom neighbouring countri. Progress towards a be t te r s tandard of !r. ing has been speeded u p again.

NEW OPTIMISM The mood of renewed optimism with

which the Czech people now face the fu tu re has been, however, sadly marred by a great tragedy. One of the best-loved figures in public life, t h e Foreign Min-ister J a n Masaryk, took his own life.

A member of no par ty , Masaryk too* h is place in the new Government with genuine enthusiasm, saying, "I have al-ways been oil the side of the pecple. and I 'm with them now." His s tand earned h im many reproaches f rom his- former f r iends abroad—letters, anonymous and signed, reproachful a n d venomous, piled up on his desk; a g rea t democrat who did no t desert his people, he heard him-self called a trai tor . Overworked and suf-fer ing from overstrain and persistant in-somnia, he took his own life, a f ter a sleep-less n ight leaving on his desk—amorg the "fr iendly" letters—his nex t speech, never to be finished. T h e whole nat ion mourned him, waiting all n igh t to see his body ly-ing in state, and following his coffin in a procession two miles long. Son of the liberator and first Pres ident of Czeeho-slovakia, T. G. Masaryk, he served his country well.

—Prague, 17th March, 1948

AFTER THE ELECTION j ^ I A N N A FAIL'S defeat in the recent

General Election and the format ion of the Coalition Government ar ise directly from the widening r i f t between F ianna Fail and the organised workers and urban middle class on the issue of the s tandard of living, involving as a consequence, the whole question of the distr ibut ion of the national income.

The proof of this is J» be found in the growth of b i t ter opposition to t he late Gov-ernment by the Labour P a r t y politically, and a parallel movement among trade unionists on wage and salary demands to meet rising living costs.

1.—FIANNA FAIL'S COLLAPSE

In its two previous periods of rule—the pre-war a n d wax periods—the F i anna Fail Government was able to mobilise the popular forces of nat ional and progressive opinion beh ind it, because in bo th periods it had defini te and clear objectives set be-fore the nat ion, and these were under-stood by the masses.

In the years before the war the political independence of the Twenty-Six Counttes, the cessation of the land annu i ty tribute and the objective of an economy based on extended manufac tu r e and tillage farm-ing, together with such basic development as electricity and turf, were clearly under-stood objectives for which even sacrifices in the shape of increased living costs were accepted.

During t h e war years neutral i ty personi-fied nat ional resistance to outside dicta-tion, and not being disputed by any party, enabled F i anna Fail to remain at the head of the oountry.

In the p o s t w a r period, instead of bring-ing something approaching to the position <5f 1939, we have witnessed the coal crsis intensified in Britain, a general stagna-tion in the basic Industrie^, a disruption of the in ternat ional market by tire dollar-sterling crisis and the imperialist versus democratic Socialist cleavage.

The F i a n n a Fail Government faced this position w i t h ' a n "austerity" policy for the masses, res is tance to wage and salary ad-vances, resul t ing in a series of strikes ( t ransport , f a r m labourers, turf workers, laundries, t eachers ) , a n d resistance to in-creased expendi ture on social services, such a s old-age pensions, together with appeals tor Increased production.

As » "na t iona l objective" to marshal the country f a r austeri ty and ha rd work,

F i anna Fail had no th ing better to offer t han collaboration with Britain and the Marshal l Plan, into which fitted the recent t rade agreement with Britain.

The objectives of political freedom, eco-nomic independence and the undoing of Par t i t ion were now replaced by economic and political collaboration with Bri t ish imperialism, conflict wi th the Soviet Union and hosility towards the new democratic s ta tes of Eastern Europe. This s i tuat ion found the country without any force to challenge the Government on any nat ional issue whatsoever. F ine Gael, for the first t ime in a General Election, found no th ing to object to in F i a n n a Fail 's na t ional policies. Mr. MacBride was in the same position and Labour h a d no point of view.

T h e election contest in consequence re-solved itself into p a r t y manoeuvring be-tween F ianna Fail, Clann na Poblachta and Fine Gael, wi th no serious issue of

I t was only because the Labour leader-ship had no policy on national and inter-national affairs t h a t Labour could enter a Coalition with such incongruous elements as iri&ke up the present Government . And it is on the continuance of this s ta te of affairs t ha t Fine Gael depends to d rag on the Coalition, with the Labour Ministers immersed in tire routine of their depar t -ments and expressing a view only when immediate social questions are under dis-cussion, while Costello and Dillon decide everything of importance, including the very fate of the nation.

The Irish workers and the nat ion as a whole must unders tand the position t h a t faces them with such a Government in» such a th rea ten ing international si tuation as exists to-day. Fine Gael and Dillon will seek to link the country lock, stock and barrel to the political, economic and stra-tegic plans of Bevin and Marshall . Wi th in

This important statement is abridged from the " Irish Review," well-known Dublin Socialist organ. Once again we draw the attention of our readers who wish to follow Socialist opinion to this vital contemporary Irish organ.

principle or policy in question, while Labour 's fight for the elementry needs of the workers was divorced from any policy to solve the economic and political problems of the country as a whole.

The present unprincipled Coalition had its parentage in the whole post-war policy of Pianna Fail, is surrender of nat ional objectives for the Bevin-Marshall policy and support for a crusade against Social-ism in Europe. F i a n n a Fail cannot escape their responsibility.

Mr. MacBride's dubious "Republican" group could never have played a serious role in a healthy si tuation, with a Govern-ment carrying out a genuine national and progressive social policy.

2.—THE COALITION CABINET

We say plainly t h a t Labour s entry in to such a bloc as t h a t now led by F ineGae l was a mistake in t he first place. But t he mistake was the logical outcome of t h 5 activity of a party pollcyless on everything except immediate social and economic Issues.

a few minutes of the election of the new Taoiseach, Dillon was on his feet to make a warmongering speech, and nei ther the Minister for External Affairs nor any other Minister has since repudiated him.

The Labour Movement must make clear to Dillon and all others concerned t ha t this country wants nothing to do with "Western Unions" or military blocs of any kind and t h a t we are determined to keep Ireland out of war.

Despite all demagogy about social ser-vices and despite the presence of Labour Ministers in the Cabinet, this Government will be in conflict with the vital interests of the mass of the people over a whole range of issues, as well as with the objec-tives of a heal thy , independent nat ional economy.

Dillon has abolished compulsory wheat growing, a l though it is obvious t h a t if the wheat acreage fal ls below approximately 400,000 acres the country would be a t the mercy of American supplies in any emerg-ency. Our agricul ture must not be driven back to its old rancher basis. Labour mus t press for a revitalised agriculture, bal-anced as to livestock and tillage, and based

on securing supplies of machinery and fer-tilisers and on improving technique. Live-stock must be increased on the basis of improving the soil (dra inage and grass manures and seeds), a n d on imports of feeding stuffs f rom all sources, not at the expense of tillage.

The Fine Gael ca tchcry of "reduced taxat ion" contains m a n y dangers for the workers and the na t ion . I t could do irre-parable ha rm to t h e nat ional economy, jeopardise our na t iona l independence and lead to widespread unemployment. The working-class movement should keep a specially close eye on those branches, where "economies" a l ready have been h in ted at.

3.—THE TASK AHEAD On every issue involving a clash between

the interests of t he working masses and the interests of the propert ied classes, on which this Gove rnmen t essentially leans (price control, wage-pegging, etc.) the ut-most vigilance by the Labour Movement will be needed.

T h e Government, pai t icular ly in Its first Budget, will strive demagogically to throw a sop to all sections of the country and will be able to please none. Tire working class cannot rely on the presence of Labour Minister in the Cabinet to secure even the ten-point programme of social reforms promised. There mus t be constant pres-sure f rom the t rade unions, Labour Party branches ; from T r a d e s Councils and from all popular organisa t ions to enforce the claims of the people a n d to prevent the Labour Ministers f rom becoming a smoke-screen for Fine Gael .

Above all, the Labour Movement mus t oonstantly keep In mind and prepare lor ttie next General Election. It Is vital that

the country Is not lef t with F i anna Fall

as the only al ternat ive to the policies of Costello, Dillon and Co. It Is essential, therefore, tha t Labour s tands out »» » par ty of s trength and principle, with the

objective of recovering f rom the mistake

of short-sighted leaders and regaining Its Independence, e i ther In opposition or «s t he main force within a Government based

on forces with principle, policies and in-teres ts genuinely In ha rmony and not an-tagonistic. ^

Pr in ted by Ripley Pr in t ing Society Ltd-(T.U.), Ripley, Dcrbys., and publLshcd by t h e Editor, 374 G r a y s I n n Road, London, W.C.I,