Is it correct to say that Deputy Byrne and Deputy Thrift have come to an agreement on item 6 on the Orders of the Day? If so, we could take that matter now.
PRIVATE BUSINESS. - PETITIONS TO THE DÁIL.
I move:
"That the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of the City of Dublin be admitted to present petitions of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of the said city before Dáil Eireann."
I am asking the Dáil to confer upon the Dublin Corporation and the Lord Mayor of the city the same privilege that they had of presenting petitions at the Bar of the House in Westminster. Within the last ten or twelve years the Dublin Corporation, through its Lord Mayor, availed of this privilege on two occasions. One petition was presented by the then Lord Mayor, Alderman Farrell, in support of women suffrage. The other occasion was when a petition was presented on behalf of the citizens of Dublin in 1916, to protest against what was described at the time as the brutal murders in North King Street, and it was proved that British soldiers raided the house and shot occupants in their own bedrooms, and so that the crime could not be detected they buried the victims in the cellar. This matter leaked out. It was conveyed to myself, amongst others, by persons who heard the digging during the night. A visit was made to the house and it was discovered that bodies were buried there. The matter was then brought before the Dublin Corporation and, having heard the details, they decided upon availing of the right to present a petition at the Bar of the House of Commons. Sir James Gallagher was Lord Mayor at the time and he, with the officials of the Corporation, were received by the Speaker and the petition was accepted, with the result that a sworn enquiry was held into these shootings and, if I am not mistaken, a very reasonable verdict was brought in by those who held the enquiry, condemning the shootings and proving up to the hilt that certain actions had taken place which would not be allowed by any military authority in the world. I forget who held the enquiry, but I know that some time later, following it up, Sir John Simon visited this country to enquire into the death of, amongst others, the late Mr. Sheehy Skeffington.
In view of those two important occasions in which the Corporation succeeded in getting fairly satisfactory results in consequence of their right to present a petition, I ask the Dáil to accept this Motion. Arguments have been put up to me to-day that should it be carried there is nothing to prevent every other Deputy who had an interest in a county council or urban council from asking that the chairman of such a body should receive the same privilege. With reference to that, I might say that I think it is up to every Deputy, no matter what his pride in the area he represents may be, to remember that Dublin is the capital of the Irish Free State. I am satisfied to let this matter go before the Committee, but I would ask that Committee to consider the points raised by me and to remember that on the two occasions on which the Dublin Corporation presented these Petitions it was not so popular to attack that body as it is to-day. I quite agree that we have now a Parliament that can investigate all matters, but at that time it was admitted that the Dublin Corporation did good work when they presented the Petition which resulted in the enquiry into the terrible murders in North King Street. I move the Motion.
I second the Motion.
I gather from what Deputy Byrne has said that he is prepared to accept the amendment which stands in my name and therefore I do not think I need do more than to say that it seems to me to be illogical to proceed to discuss part of this question. We have now appointed a Committee on Procedure to go into such questions, and therefore I simply content myself with moving the amendment, "To delete all words after the word `That' and to substitute therefor the words: "all questions connected with the presentation of Petitions before Dáil Eireann be referred to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges for report to the Dáil."
In seconding that I take the opportunity of stating that in connection with the first pilgrimage mentioned by Mr. Byrne I objected to the proceeding—the first occasion on which he states that the Dublin Corporation presented a Petition on behalf of Women's Suffrage. I think that the Party, of which I was a member at that time, also opposed it and I think what they said was that it was not Women's Suffrage at all but that it was certain interested women who got a particular chance of having certain advantages from the Parliament of Westminster, and we opposed this procession of the Lord Mayor's up the floor of the House. I understand he went up when the House was empty and that no notice was taken of it. The Committee on Procedure and Privileges is the proper body to regulate these matters. As far as Dublin City is concerned it has a fairly considerable representation in the Dáil—fifteen Deputies out of 150; one out of every ten—and I think what the City of Dublin may require in the future will be very well attended to by these Deputies.
If we are to allow the Dublin Corporation this privilege I am positively certain that the Postmaster-General would immediately stake a claim for Cork and that we would have every other local authority claiming the same right. To some extent that might possibly interfere with the independence of Deputies. We have recently seen an attempt by the Dublin Corporation—or certain members of it—to feature political propaganda. Certainly if that be the motion behind presenting Petitions here I will oppose it. It is not for the purpose of giving play to that kind of thing. We have no time for demonstrations of feminine excitement, and I hope we shall not have them.
Amendment put and declared passed.
Motion, as amended, put and agreed to.