Deputy Aiken has given notice of his intention to raise the subject matter of Question No. 2 on last Thursday's Order Paper.
Private Deputies' Business. - Adjournment Debate—Illegal Use of Arms.
I must confess that I was bitterly disappointed when the Taoiseach did not reply to my question on last Thursday, the 24th February, and appeal to illegal organisations to hand over their arms to the proper authorities and to disband these organisations. I had hoped that the Taoiseach would avail of the occasion to appeal to the young men of this country who were prepared to defend its rights with their lives, to join the properly constituted Defence Forces of this State. I have had a long experience of revolutionary organisations, both from within and from without, from the point of view of a volunteer within such organisations and from the point of view of a Government dealing with them. I joined the volunteers in 1913 at the age of 15½. I continued to be a member for 12 years, and for 16 years, in some of the most critical years in the history of this country, I was a member of the Government and the Minister particularly charged with dealing with the revolutionary organisations that were attacking this State. I had the experience too of fighting in the six occupied counties of Ireland, counties that are still occupied by foreign forces. I know the people there. I know the men there who want to get rid of the State that exists there and I know the terrain. I believe in the moral right of the Irish people to use force to obtain their rights. I am not a pacifist but with my experience I cannot believe that in the foreseeable future, I would vote in this House for the use of force for the achievement of Irish national rights in regard to the unity of our country, because I believe it would be the wrong method of approach. Whether or not it would be right at any particular time for this Dáil solemnly to declare war in order to vindicate the undoubted right of the Irish people to unity, I have not the slightest doubt in the world that it would be wrong for this Dáil or this Government to lend any countenance to revolutionary action fomented here for that purpose. It would be a hard job for the regular forces, the recognised forces of the State. As such I tried it. But the Government here in 1922 decided to withdraw support and my comrades and I were out on a limb on which we were urged to go out, and it was cut behind us. I believe that any attempt by a revolutionary force organised here to achieve the reunity of our country by force would only end in disaster. The temptation to use force for the righting of an undoubted wrong in face of British hypocrisy——
May I, Sir, on a point of order, submit that the Deputy's speech has nothing whatever to do with the question which he announced his intention of raising on the Adjournment or with my reply to that question?
Mr. de Valera
It has everything to do with it.
That is for the Chair to say.
I am giving Deputy Aiken a chance of developing the relevancy of his arguments. So far, I think, they have not shown any great relevancy.
The temptation to use force by an illegal organisation, for the disbandment of which I ask the Taoiseach to appeal, is undoubtedly great. If such a question is to be decided, it should be decided coldly, calmly and deliberately by proper constitutional methods. The temptation to use force is too much to put in the hands of young men with means to use force at their disposal.
I have given Deputy Aiken an opportunity to develop the relevancy of his arguments. I cannot see that he is doing so. The question asked of the Taoiseach was "whether in view of his repeated promises to take the gun out of politics through the repeal of the External Relations Act, he will now appeal to the illegal military organisation which is retaining and using arms illegally to disband that organisation and hand up its arms to the proper authorities". The Chair is not anxious to take up much time of the House as there is only half an hour allowed for this debate, but I suggest to Deputy Aiken that he should come to the point of this question very soon.
I am on the point. We shall not argue the question now but if the Chair will allow me to pursue the matter on the lines along which I have been proceeding, I have no doubt it will be satisfied of the relevancy of every word I have used. I asked the Taoiseach to appeal to these young men and his first answer was that he had taken the gun out of politics. The second leg of his reply was that these illegal organisations did not exist. The Minister for Justice admitted that in many parts of the country, including this city, a manifesto had been issued by a revolutionary organisation calling itself the I.R.A. in which it repudiated his repeal of the External Relations Act.
I did not admit any such thing or say it either.
The Minister said in reply to another question of mine: "I am aware that some leaflets purporting to be issued by the I.R.A. were posted up recently——"
"Purporting to be issued."
If the Minister for Justice or the Taoiseach is not aware of the existence of this document, the people of this country are. They have seen it. They have seen it not only in my constituency but they have seen it in the Taoiseach's constituency and they can still see it. Here is one taken from a wall here in Dublin. I believe many people in the city, who are politically alive, also know of the existence of an I.R.A. paper. They know that in the January issue of that paper an article entitled, "1948 in Retrospect" says that the paper was founded "as the result of a conference of ex-republican prisoners who saw the need for a voice to preach the republican gospel." What they call the republican gospel is partly contained in this paper. One writer of an article says:
"As there were men to step into the ranks of the Republican Army and take the places of those who fell in the fight, through all the years of struggle, so were there, and are there, men to man the ranks of the I.R.A. to-day."
Urging the youth to carry on I.R.A. activities, there is an article in Irish entitled "Um Nodlaig."
What is the name of the paper?
I do not want to give the name of the paper.
It is the practice when a Deputy quotes anything to give the reference.
The name of the paper is An t-Eireannach Aontuighthe, printed and published in this city, and it can be purchased for 3d. by anybody. One of the things that the youth of this day are asked to continue to keep in their minds, according to one paragraph, is “Um Nodlaig, '39 — Magazine Fort Raid.” In the leading article entitled, “A Rose by any Other Name,” they referred to the promise by the Taoiseach to take the gun out of politics. The Taoiseach told me on the 24th February last that the gun had been taken out of politics. The editor of this paper writes:
"What exactly is meant by the claim that the Bill ‘takes the guns out of Irish politics'? Is it intended that, for the future, acts of armed aggression against republicans will cease, and that spying upon them will cease?"
It goes on in that strain and winds up:
"If this be what is in the minds of those who state that the Bill takes the guns out of Irish politics then they can rest assured of the support and co-operation of all sincere republicans."
A few weeks ago a number of citizens in Cork got a circular asking for subscriptions for this so-called I.R.A. from the Cork No. 1 Brigade, Irish Republican Army, as follows:
"A Chara,
The Irish Republican Army has one primary object, a successful military campaign against the British army of occupation in the Six Counties. In view of the fact that any disturbance in the Twenty-Six Counties area would hinder the achieving of this object the army has definitely ruled out any kind of aggressive military action in the Twenty-Six Counties."
That proposition is not new to the knowledge of certain gentlemen who are now sitting on the Government Benches. The suggestion that the Government here should allow the organisation, the arming and equipment of revolutionary forces not subject to control by this State and allow them to carry on here in this part of Ireland with a view to making an armed attack on the Six Counties was made in 1932 by a gentleman who is on the Government Front Bench in this House, and again in 1939, and later in 1940 by a gentleman who is not here.
On a point of order. Is Deputy Fitzgerald-Kenney entitled to raise this matter now?
Clever.
There is nothing clever about it. These are Deputy Fitzgerald-Kenney's comments 17 years ago.
I ask the Taoiseach very bluntly whether or not the same proposition was made to him, whether or not the proposition was made that the I.R.A. should be allowed to organise here and equip itself with a view to a successful military campaign against the British army of occupation in the Six Counties. The danger is that a proper national ideal will be used for evil ends. Undoubtedly, there are young men in this country who would give their lives to see this country completely free.
Mr. Boland
And old men too.
It is a laudable and noble idea. I do not want to see it used for evil ends. In 1932 friends of the Soviet Union were using the I.R.A.
To put Fianna Fáil into power.
In 1935, when Germany became public enemy No. 1 to Britain, there was an internal revolution and the I.R.A. changed its whole outlook from being Reddish to being of another type. Then in 1940 there was another revolution within the ranks and the men who succeeded in that revolution were Reddish in hue. We have the dangerous situation here that a war is facing the world and only God can save the world from it. In that situation there is undoubtedly a temptation for foreign enemies of Britain to use Irish nationalists here against Britain. I do not want to see Irish nationalists being used as cannon fodder for any foreign country whether it is Russia, Germany or any other country.
I ask the Taoiseach to do what I urged him in my question, to give a lead to the young men of the present day, to urge them to join the National Defence Forces, the properly constituted forces of the State and have nothing to do with social revolutionaries who are merely the tools of a foreign Power. The danger at the present time is apparent to everybody who reads the daily papers. There are new methods in the world which have been brought in in recent years. We have had the confessions of Cardinal Mindszenty, of Stephen Hayes, and the Bulgarian Protestant clergymen, and I trust that no young men will put themselves in danger in that way. I ask the Taoiseach to make a clam but firm appeal to these young men who want to fight for Ireland to join the Defence Forces of this State. I ask him not to blind his eyes to the fact that these people exist because, if he does, his ignoring of them will be taken as a "wink as good as a nod" to them to carry on and organise here for a purpose which will bring nothing but disaster to the country.
This House has just listened to as dangerous, as inflammatory, and as unnecessary a speech as has been made in this House for many years. It was a mischievous speech. I charge that this opportunity was deliberately chosen by Deputy Aiken for the purpose of making political mischief in this country.
Mr. de Valera
Nonsense.
Deputies
Order, order!
This is part of a series of incidents during the last few days of the Dáil sittings by Deputy Aiken, in the presence of his leader, Deputy de Valera, to indulge in cheap sibes and vulgar sneers at me and at my professional appellation.
What about the professional politicians?
He is welcome to any advantage, political or otherwise, that he may, with the consent of his leader, get from these cheap sneers. So far as I am concerned, he is welcome to any damage that he may do to me politically by these methods. His leader was present when these cheap gibes were made in the House. I will do everything I can to save the country from the damage that is being done to it, and I do object to methods, actions and speeches which are deliberately calculated, I believe, to bring national damage to this country and to break the national peace that we have had in this country in the last 12 months.
What was the suggestion in Deputy Aiken's speech to-night? Amongst the primary objects for which this Government was formed was to get the gun out of Irish politics, and the insidious suggestion made here by Deputy Aiken was that I and my colleagues in the Government were allowing some unspecified, unnamed armed organisation or group of young men——
It was named.
——to band themselves and to arm themselves for the purpose of going to the North and of making war on the North. That is a dangerous and an insidious suggestion, a suggestion that plays right into the hands of Sir Basil Brooke and the people in the North. I want to make this statement as clearly, unequivocally and as emphatically as I can, that neither I nor my colleagues nor anybody who supports us in this House wants the gun in Irish politics on this side of the Border or on the far side of the Border. Is that clear enough?
It is time that you said that.
I would suggest to my interrupter, Deputy MacEntee, that he should speak to one of the youngest members of his own Party who, according to the Irish Times of Saturday last, said, when speaking at Fahan in Donegal on the 21st February this year:—
"If constitutional means are not enough to end Partition then we will have to fight."
Clean up your own house before you try to clean up——
Mr. de Valera rose.
Deputies
Sit down.
I repeat again in this House that I joined this Government, that I accepted the position of trust that was given to me—that was imposed on me—for the primary purpose of getting the gun out of Irish politics——
You are not doing your job.
——and the greatest testimonial ever given to an Irishman was, under God's mercy and providence, given to me by my colleagues to lead them in the House. I will do the job that I was put here to do. I am proud and happy, and I thank God, that notwithstanding the effort that was made on the 15th of last April to bring destruction and disturbance in this country by a question very similar to this one—arising out of circumstances very similar to the circumstances out of which this question arises—that, notwithstanding, as I say, the attempt that was made to disrupt the peace of this country and to bring damage between the people who had come together to fight for the peace and benefit of the country—that effort failed. Now, we have had 12 solid months of peace such as has never existed in the last 50 years, and that is going to continue under this Government. There are going to be no guns in Irish politics or on this side of the Border unless Deputy Aiken and his supporters by provocative speeches deliberately attempt to bring the guns out and to inflame those young men.
All that we want to do is to end bitterness in this country. The present Government was formed to end bitterness in the country—to bring unity between Irishmen of all sections many of whom had fought in the last 25 years. There is only one section of the Irish people standing in the way of complete unity and of the end of all bitterness and that section is represented by the Deputies on the opposite benches. They are the only people who are fostering bitterness. So far as I am concerned, I will bend every energy that I have, so long as I am allowed to sit here as the head of this Government, to continue in the way that we started last February 12 months, and that is to end bitterness and to bring peace and unity amongst our fellow countrymen in this part of the country. When we have that completely done, and it is nearly done, then we will try to end bitterness in the North. We will try to bring unity amongst our fellow countrymen, Protestant and Catholic, in the North. I said at the Fine Gael convention a few weeks ago that we had a headline for our policy here—to end bitterness between sections of the Irish people.
That was the headline we set ourselves—that our policy was to end Partition. We will have to live with those people in the North when Partition ends. We do not want to have them coming in with bitterness in their hearts and with past wrongs seething within them. We want, by our policy, to end Partition, and to end it in such a way that they will merge and coalesce with us in a united Ireland. The only people who are preventing that are Deputy Aiken and those who follow him in the opposite benches.
Major de Valera
Who put up the manifestos in Dublin City?
Does the Taoiseach repudiate the use of force for the abolition of Partition?
Yes.
Well, if you do you are flying in the face of Irish tradition and of Irish nationality.
The Dáil adjourned at 10.30 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Thursday, 3rd March, 1949.