November 22nd, 1944. The headlines are "Defence Pact with Britain After War: Essential to Security—General Mulcahy." The quotation is as follows:—
"The advisability of entering into a defensive military agreement with Britain was stressed by General Mulcahy, T.D., Leader of the Party, at the Fine Gael Árd-Fheis, which opened at the Mansion House, Dublin, yesterday. He asked the Party to consider, in the months that lay immediately ahead, whether such a step was not the key to national security, unity and prosperity. The question, he added, must be approached from the point of view of leading the national thought of all Parties along the road which the nation must travel if they were to be true to their tradition in a world which might have to struggle for freedom, or if, in a dangerous world, the Irish people were to become strong and happy."
Further down in the same paper, General Mulcahy is reported as having said:—
"A necessary preliminary to entry into any world combination for military security should be discussions and decisions with Britain for mutual defence."
General Mulcahy, again speaking at a Fine Gael Árd-Fheis, is reported in the Irish Independent of Wednesday, 6th February, 1946, as expressing these views:—
"Experience must convince them, General Mulcahy said, that Ireland's political liberties, military security and hope of ending Partition were firmly bound up with membership of the British Commonwealth."
Those are the references to which I referred last night. Those statements have been published in the Irish Independent. The Deputy's memory must be very much in error because in 1944 the Fine Gael Party got out a special pamphlet on the same issue of mutual security pacts——
