Vol. 4 No. 26
The following message has been received from the Seanad concerning the Dissolution of the Oireachtas:—
"The following Motion has been passed by Seanad Eireann:—That Seanad Eireann do consent to the conclusion of its present Session at the termination of the sitting of the Seanad on this, the 9th day of August, 1923, pursuant to the Resolution of Dáil Eireann this day communicated to the House by message from the Dáil."
Now, Sir, I have come to the final stage, to move the Adjournment in accordance with the Resolution, and in moving it I should like to say that I have the honour to thank every member of the Dáil. Since we first met here last September, we have experienced unfailing courtesy, cordial co-operation and assistance, and genuine efforts to help in the difficult and arduous task of the Government. We have not been able to complete the whole legislative proposals of which notice was given in the Governor-General's Speech. I think that something like eleven Bills were mentioned in that Address, and although much legislative work has been done during the period—something like forty-three Acts of the Oireachtas having been passed—there are three important measures which we were not able to produce in time to have passed into Acts of the Oireachtas. One of these, perhaps the most important, is the Judiciary Bill; the second is the Ministries' Bill and the third is the Patents, Trades Marks and Copyright Bill. Two of these have actually been prepared and are ready for introduction on the re-assembly of the Oireachtas. The third is almost complete.
During the last eight or nine months there have been stormy discussions here but, speaking on behalf of the other members of the Ministry, I should say that none of us has ever experienced a more generous assembly or greater efforts to help in the constructive work which we have had to perform during that time. The Dáil, since its first meeting, to some extent, had the same experience as the first Dáil. Much the same sort of dangers beset the members in attending here, or in coming to attend here and, as far as I can recollect, in no case was there a casualty in the first Dáil; we have had one case of a fatal casualty and one casualty which, happily, was not fatal. I appreciate the courage of the Deputies, and every member of the Ministry also appreciates it, and we wish to testify to the fact that danger did not prevent Deputies from attending to their duty here. I think, Sir, that we owe it also to those who gave their lives to make a more peaceful and orderly country that our testimony to their great sacrifice and our sympathy with their friends should be tendered, and in that respect I think that I would be expressing the views of every member of the Dáil and of the Oireachtas in tendering to them that sympathy in the great sacrifices that have been their unhappy lot to contribute, but which, in the circumstances, they willingly contributed towards making a peaceful and orderly country here. We have had the opportunity of seeing what hard work could be done by those who took up arms in defence of the State, both in the Army and in the other organisations which have made it possible for us to secure both life and property in the State.
I think, Sir, that it is also due that we should express to you, to the Leas Cheann Comhairle, to Mr. FitzGibbon and Mr. Nicholls our warm appreciation of the great efforts that you, one and all, have made in conducting the business harmoniously, with great dignity and decorum and with very marked ability, and I may venture to express the hope, Sir, that you may live to occupy the same position in the new Dáil.
This is the kind of an occasion that I am ill fitted to take advantage of. Most of us, I suppose, would very much prefer not to have lived through the last twelve months, and I think, perhaps, the less said about the last twelve months the better. If it would be possible to blot out of Ireland's history the last eighteen or twenty months we would be pleased, but it is not possible. I think that, apart from any disputed questions, in ten or twenty years' time historians will be able to say that this Assembly has, at least, contributed something to the building up of the idea of Parliamentary institutions. The Dáil has had many shortcomings, and I think the members of it are as well aware of that as any critic. Nevertheless, I feel that a start has been made in the education of the people of Ireland in the importance of a legislative assembly which will conduct its business critically, but with some consideration for their opponents, or whoever is speaking on any question at the moment. I think that we ought to be congratulated upon having as our Ceann Comhairle one who has been able to keep us strictly to business, who has thoroughly mastered the rules of order and debate, and has helped us to follow the right track with regard to procedure. No one, I think, could have done better; I would almost say that nobody else could have done as well as Ceann Comhairle. I join with the President in saying that we all feel sympathy for those who gave up their lives for the ideals to which they subscribed. We regret, as I said, that the history of the last eighteen months has had to be lived through, and so many valuable lives on opposing sides have been lost. The country could ill afford it. The self-sacrifice that men showed for that cause had it been continued in the up-building of the civil plane, I venture to say we would be looking upon the next year or two, with very much more confidence than we dare look upon it now. Further, I hope the new Dáil and the country will steel themselves to facing difficulties and problems that require deep thought and study, and boldness in the tackling. If that is the characteristic which is shown, I still have hope that we will get through the period of the next year or two without the calamity that at the moment seems to face us. If one can speak a personal word, and I think I am expressing in this the views of many members of the Dáil it is that our experiences since September last have meant a considerable advance in our education. We have all learned a great deal of each other and of each other's failings, and of the necessity for a close consideration of questions that are brought forward. I am sure many of us have learned very much of such questions as agriculture, land tenure, constitutional questions, educational questions, police administration, and public safety. Perhaps, with that education whoever is responsible during the next few years will be better able to conduct the administrative and the legislative programme that the Dáil of the future is faced with, than those of us who have tried to do it in the past year. It has been, of course, not merely an educational experience but an interesting episode in some of our lives, and though we, probably, will not all meet again on those benches we may be able to shake each others' hands in the Strangers' Gallery.
I suppose that I might as well avail of this, probably the last opportunity, of making a speech in the Dáil, to express my regret, also that pressure of events have made it impossible for me to get through my legislative measure, but if it should be my fate to come back to this Assembly you can rest assured that the cause of Sweepstakes will be carried to triumph before the next Dáil terminates. I do not want to strike a controversial note on this occasion. I do not think that all the events of the last twelve months have been such as we would like to have blotted out of our country's history. There have been sad episodes. There have been things that made us doubt, perhaps if sanity would eventually reign supreme in this country, but there have been things which will live, not only in the ordinary way of history but as land marks in the nation's progress. The main reason why I have intervened at all is for this, that we who are bringing to a conclusion the final stages of this assembly's procedure should not forget who it was who made it possible for this nation to be carried into safety from the dangers through which it passed. The rank and file of the Army have done that. They have given this nation stability and security and they have given it a chance of being a place in which it is safe to indulge in the Ten Commandments, and they have made it unsafe and unfit for the assassin and bandit. They have given this country the benefit of sane Parliamentary institutions, and when we congratulate ourselves upon the great things that have been accomplished I think we should not forget who made it possible that these things should be done and we should not allow them to think that we did not appreciate fully the great work that they have done for the nation. I hope that when the history of this period is written the fidelity, the valour, and the steadfastness of the rank and file of the national Army will be remembered as one of the brightest things in this period of Irish history.
I, too, like other Deputies, wish to pay you, Sir, a very deserved tribute for the dignity and courtesy with which you have conducted the business of the Dáil. Some of us, I am sure, have been at times trying to your patience, but I think the thanks of all of us are due to you for the courtesy and kindness with which you have dealt with us and especially for the dignified and high tone upon which you have always maintained the proceedings of the Dáil.
I do not want to refer to the past at all. I prefer to look to the future, and, knowing something of the Irish character. I think we may look to that future with confidence. Irishmen, as I know them, are not remarkable for nursing the baser feelings and the baser passions. There is a generous side to the Irish character, a noble side to the Irish character, and I think that in the near future that that side of the Irish character will show itself and that the men who have been fighting for the last 12 or 18 months will forget, as we hope to forget, the bitterness of the past. The next year, or the next year and a half, will I hope see those barriers that have kept us apart, removed, and the whole nation, the whole of the Saorstát, and every man and woman within the Six counties working for the common good of this country of ours. Some of us at all events acted according to our lights. We had certain judgments, certain convictions, and every man in this Dáil, I believe, with very few exceptions, acted up to those convictions and was not afraid to take what was coming to him. Some of the men we met coming into this Dáil are not with us to-day. One great man in particular—Séan Hales—I am sorry to say, is not here this evening. I remember the words he used on the evening before he was killed and the words and feelings in his heart ought to be a comfort and a message to us all. I remember the kindly words he used in connection with the men politically against him. I remember the tears in his eyes when he said "these men are not against Ireland; their judgment only is wrong." I shall never forget that evening, and I shall always regret the passing of one of the noblest men I ever knew. To come to the present, the President has proposed the Dissolution of the Dáil, and all I have to say is that I hope it will be a happy dissolution. The Dissolution means an election and I hope it will be a happy election for all of us, and I wish you all a happy return to the Dáil. One thing I am sportsman enough to say is that I hope the best man will win in every case. Deputy Johnson says that the debates here and the life of the Dáil have been educational, especially in agricultural matters. From those benches we have done our best, at any rate, to educate the Dáil, and I hope those lessons we have tried to teach are not lost. I do not know that there is any use in carrying on any further. On behalf of the Party I belong to and of myself I wish to tender the President our tribute. The President and the Executive Council have stood up in time of danger like men to play a man's game, and the country will remember it for the Executive at least.
There was one matter I wished to refer to—first, the case of Mr. Noel Lemass, and secondly, the case of Mr. McEntee, who apparently was murdered during the last few days. I have to say that we condemn those acts unhesitatingly, and we wish to exhort all sections of the State to remember that there are means provided for dealing with any such cases, and it will be the duty of the Ministry to make every effort to bring to justice persons who contravene the law; that in securing life and property here we have to secure it for no one section more than another; and that the life and property of those who differ politically from us, or who may take extreme measures, will be dealt with according to law, and only according to law. Those acts have got no sanction, direct or indirect, or in any way, from us, and we will do our duty to every citizen regardless of what section he belongs to.
The Minister for External Affairs has received from the American Consul at Dublin a copy of the following message received from the Secretary of State of the United States:
"The Government and the people of the United States deeply appreciate the resolutions of sympathy passed by the two Houses of the Parliament of the Irish Free State on the occasion of the death of President Harding."
With regard to the conclusion of the proceedings of this Dáil, I think that the Deputies who have taken part in our proceedings since last September may be proud of having taken part in an Assembly which met with the Authority of the Irish people, and which conducted its business in an orderly and proper way and where, as Deputy Johnson pointed out, men had an opportunity of learning how to bear with other men, even though those other men differed from them. Our proceedings have been orderly, and there is another word sometimes applied to them—they have been dull. At a very early part of our proceedings I gave an admission ticket to a lady, who came and sat in the gallery for three hours. She came to me in the Dining Hall and said, "Your Dáil is terribly dull." I said "I have been praying night and day that the Dáil will continue to be dull." The hallmark of a Parliamentary Assembly where real business is being done is what some people would call dulness, but what is really the atmosphere of work. We have succeeded in carrying out our business without undue excitement and without any incidents which could be chronicled as proving the excitable temperament of the Irish people. With regard to the things said about myself, I have only to say that I took up this duty first with great feelings of diffidence, but I have found the duties not by any means so hard as I thought they would have been. That they were not so hard is due entirely to the reasonableness which I found in every member of the Dáil with whom I had to deal, and I had to deal with them all, not only Ministers and heads of parties, but private members. I had not any example where I could complain that unreasonableness was shown to me in any of the various duties which devolved upon me, and I had to take different views from time to time from members. The credit of the way in which our proceedings have been conducted should be shared by every member of the Dáil, and for my part I take this opportunity of thanking members of the Dáil for the way in which they have always treated me, and especially to thank them for what they have said this evening about me. The Dáil is dissolved in accordance with the resolution passed yesterday.
The Dáil dissolved at 5.15 p.m.
