The matter which I have already notified you, Sir, I intended to raise on the Adjournment is as follows:—
To call the attention of the Taoiseach and of the Minister for External Affairs to the fact that Ireland, although a member of the U.N.O., has not yet contributed a contingent to the United Nations Emergency Force entrusted with the preservation of peace and order in the Middle East.
I have put down this matter in no tendentious spirit, but simply and purely in order to elicit information and partly in order to express a view which I think is the view of a considerable number of people in this country at the present time. That body of people to which I refer perhaps was divided originally about the advisability of Ireland's entry into the U.N.O. and perhaps was sceptical in recent months when at first it looked as if the U.N.O. would achieve very little except talk, when confronted with the Middle East situation and subsequently with the Hungarian situation.
Since then, I think this body of opinion recognises that a historic thing has happened in the formation and despatch to the Middle East of the U.N. Emergency Force, charged with the restoration of peace and order in that area. It seems to me, and I think to a good many other people, that the experiment of the U.N. Emergency Force in the Middle East is really going to be a test of the Organisation. It seems to me also that there is something about it that appeals to the imagination as well as to the practical reason of peace-loving nations, tired of the imperialistic warfare which periodically is thrust upon them in one or other of its modern forms. I quote the words of Mr. Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the U.N.O., when he referred to the U.N. Emergency Force: "It is the first truly international force; let us hope that it will succeed, let us hope that we will succeed in establishing peace and order."
Up to the present, there is at least a reasonable hope that the experiment will succeed in the Middle East. If it does succeed, the moral effect of its success will be tremendous. The eyes of the world can then be turned to the prospect of using such an international police force—as it is, in effect—to restore peace and order in Hungary. Hungary, like Egypt, has been the victim of a form of imperialistic aggression, in this case, Communist imperialism. If the U.N. Emergency Force succeeds in the Middle East, it may prove effective one day in Hungary—for, remember, it went into Egypt against the wishes of two of the Great Powers.
I have been reading in the debates of this Seanad the discussion that took place on the League of Nations Bill. I recall that you, Sir, made an excellent speech on 13th November, 1935, which is reported in column 1111, in which you expressed your doubts about the League of Nations, which indeed did prove eventually to be dancing to the tunes of the Great Powers. You cast some doubts upon Britain's boast as the moral leader of the world in imposing sanctions and you, Sir, inquired had Britain not been responsible for giving a lead in the imposition of sanctions against Italy, would there be any question of the imposition of sanctions at all. I do not wonder that you, Sir, were sceptical, but in this case, Sir, I would point out that it was the smaller Powers that took the initiative, despite the opposition of the Great Powers. So there is at last some hope that small Powers like ourselves can exert that influence in the councils of the nations which they should exert.
As regards Hungary, I should like to say—and in order to relate it to the terms of my statement—that I am proud that Ireland has played a part, within the limitations imposed upon her by hard fact. She has protested in the U.N.O.; she has provided financial aid and medical supplies; she has offered to take 1,000 refugees—a number which I think is still far short of the number we should take in this country. The vital remedies for Hungary are the vital remedies for Egypt: the withdrawal of foreign troops from her soil, and, secondly, the holding of free elections. This can best be done, under present circumstances through the U.N.O.
I should like to point out also that, already, Britain—aware of the influence that this small country can play in international affairs—has invented a mythical race called the "Eireanns"—a term which has a basis neither in etymology nor in political fact. This is to play down our reputation as "Ireland" in "the councils of the nations".
I would like to point out further—it has been commented upon by several of my friends—that the B.B.C., either through its newscasts or through its telecasts, in certain messages from the British troops in the Middle East home, has always been careful to include a couple of Irish soldiers serving with the British forces from, say, Down, Antrim or Derry, or another of the occupied counties, thereby creating an erroneous impression, that Ireland is in some way a party to the British aggression in Egypt. An admirable counter-move would be the contribution of a contingent force to the U.N.O. Emergency Force; coupled with that, a continual demand for justice for Hungary, and to pave the way for a favourable reception in the U.N.O. towards the ending of our own great injustice, the ending of Partition.
It may possibly be argued that there is some constitutional barrier in the way of our contributing a contingent to this U.N. Emergency Force. I have looked carefully, through the Constitution—carefully, if rather hurriedly. The only Article which I have found which might be quoted against me is Article 16, Clause 6, paragraph (2), and it reads:—
"No military or armed force, other than a military or armed force raised and maintained by the Oireachtas, shall be raised or maintained for any purpose whatsoever."
If that argument is used against me, I should like to point out that this token contingent, an earnest of our own people's desire for international peace, would be raised and maintained by the Oireachtas. It would help perhaps to benefit our own soldiers to serve in such an international force.
To conclude, I would say that to-day it is a question of Egypt, to-morrow it is a question of Hungary, in relation to this international force; and perhaps some day it may be a question of Ireland. I believe that it is a great experiment and that Ireland should play her part in helping it.
