IRISH W A"

DEMOCRAT [ No. 127 JULY 1955

U N S E A T T M * r V&WT i l T

S o w y

UNIONISTS TRY TO SACK

M.P. •t

T H E executive crouncil of the second

largest British based trade union

operating in Ireland (the Amal-

gamated Society of Woodworkers)

had no difficulty in persuading the

Blackpool conference of the Union

to demand that the Stormont Govern-

ment recognise the Northern Ireland

Committee of the Irish T.U.C.

Belfast man H. Moore proposed the resolution. Belfast man W. H. Sinclair said it was the Stormont Government's refusal to recognise trade unionism that made it impossible to take steps against unemployment in the Six Counties.

Mr. George Brinham. for the executive council, said they supported the resolu-tion and had made representations in the past along those lines.

They saw no reason why the Six-County Government should not recog-nise the trish T.U.C. (whose head-quarters are in Dublin) as the appro-priate body representing the interests of Six-County workers.

(Continued on Page Two)

RECOGNISE IRISH T.U.C

A.S.W. Demand BUT THEY LET HIM

STAND! C O R C E D by their own election bluff to

follow up the threat of legal action

against elected ' treason felons," the de-

feated Unionists in South Tyrone and

Fermanagh have filed a court petition "to

unseat" Philip Clarke, Sinn Fein prisoner

and people's choice.

(Continued on Page Eight)

T H E two Copa cousins who look l ike

' sisters flew to London from their

native Belfast to appear in "Rhyme

and Rhy thm" on the London Televi-

sion. Joyce on the left is 23. and

Greta (right) is the baby at 21.

CHANGED HIS MIND WHEN HE HEARD PAT CLANCY

A N O R T H E R N I R E L A N D former

partitionist changed his m ind

and joined the Connol ly Association

when he heard Pat Clancy explain

the " bread and butter nationalism "

of working class republicans at a

public lecture in Hyde Park.

" If only the official nationalists would

say what you are saying," he told Mr.

Clancy, " they would win the Northern

Ireland workers away from British

Imperialism and there would be a united

Ireland."

were the direct agents cf B r i h Imperialism.

When people asked how the Northern

workers would improve their lot by joining

the Twenty-Six Counties as It is to-day,

the Connelly Association replied that the

re-uniftcation of the country would make

possible a gigantic united effort of the

working class to do all the things that

Irish workers have fought for separately

for years, and which they could not get

except by combining.

LAW TO STOP SINN FEIN URGED y W O somewhat withered Orange Lilies, You would think from this that the

Messrs. Minford and Wilson made Unionists held elections In order to de-

the proposal in Stormont that there crease their mambership, and perish the

should be a law passed prohibiting Sinn thought that they used gerrymandering

Fein candidates from standing in elec- to get their men into the house!

tions in the Six Counties. British workers should note the charac-

Reason? "They only use th» elections ter of Tory-Unionist support for "Demo-

to increase their membership." cracy."

Decision to "go to law" to set aside

the democratic verdict of the people was

taken at a meeting of Tyrone-Fermanagh

Unionists, at which the ailing Six-County

Premier, Brookeborough, had to preside in

order to rally a semblance of unity.

TIM MOLONY

PEADAR O'DONNELL FLIES TO HELSINKI

INLYING to Helsinki on midsummer's day was the man who brought pros-

perity to the fishing fleets of Co. Donegal by securing orders for Irish herrings from Eastern Europe.

Now the small farmers' friend, Mr. Peadar O'Donnell. who helped Liam Mel-lows formulate his famous programme for Irish unity has gone to a conference to urge world peace.

Brigadier General Dorman O'Gowan was going but was prevented at the last

minute.

E X P L A I N E D

Mr. Clancy had explained how all the different sections of the Irish people had their place in the broad bosom of / the Irish nation, excepting ofily those who-•sieaaasksasai

A.S.L.E.F. |

Militancy 5

won

up to 3/- :

UERE ' S a man in Killyieag, Co. x x Down, who has been a black-smith for no less than 64 years. He is 78-year-old Mr. Robert Martin and we all wish him many useful years

to come.

2 THE IR ISH D E M O C R A T July 1955 July 1955

Left to r igh t :

MR . ATTLEE

MR. BEVAN

MR . ORBACH

MRS. J E G E R LABOUR NEEDS A NEW IRISH POLICY

DEFEAT IS AN OPPORTUN ITY TO L E A R N

EDEN'S IS A GOVERNMENT OF THE

tV POLITICAL r GALAXY i* ^ tV at ^

* W E S T M I N S T E R *

MILLIONAIRES says PATRICK CLANCY

'THE British people, we are led to believe, have the most perfect form of demo-

cracy in the world, that is, of course, when Uncle Sam is not within hearing distance-Outside the Anglo-American bloc any country that claims to be democratic is ridiculed with scorn.

That it is possible for different concep-tions of democracy to exist, and that those different conceptions arise because there are different classes in society with differ-ent interests would be flatly denied by the ruling class of Britain and the U.S.A. Nevertheless, those different conceptions have existed in the past and will con-tinue in the future.

Ancient Greece claimed to be demo-cratic. yet two-thirds of the entire popula-tion were slaves having no rights whatso-ever. Aristotle, who had no sympathies with the very limited democracy of ancient Greece, described democracy as the rule of the poor class. We doubt very much whether Sir Anthony Eden, Tory Prime Minister of Britain, would agree with Aristotle's definition. On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln described democracy as: "The rule of the people, by the people, and for the people." One can see that this

is a very broad generalisation and could be interpreted in various ways.

The present American Government might boldly claim to represent the rule of the people yet there is not one manual worker in that Government. Eisenhower's Cabinet are typical repre-sentatives of industrial and commercial capital—they are the wealthiest class in America.

EDEN'S DEFINITION

Sir Anthony Eden declares that the Bri-tish Tory Party stands for a "property owning democracy." He seems to be quite happy about the present distribution of property where one per cent of the popula-tion own fifty per cent of the wealth, ten per cent own ninety per cent of the wealth and ninety per cent own ten per cent of the wealth.

During the Tories' four years of office the average number of deaths per year was about 570,000 in the united Kingdom. Only 12,300 or 2.2 per cent of those dying left £20,000 or over. The number who died leaving £100,000 or over was 630 or 0.1 per cent. About ten persons died leaving over £1 million, and 69,000 (or one in eight) leaving over £1,000.

This is the true picture of Eden's "pro-

perty-owning democracy." Is Sir Anthony perturbed by this glaring inequality of wealth? Not on your life! He and his Gov-ernment put more and more money into the hands of fewer and fewer people. They gave the steel industry and road haulage back to private owners. They reduced taxation on Big Business, and "they gave £ 8 0 million to private landlords through their notorious Rents and Repairs Act.

TORY BIG BUSINESS In case anyone should doubt what social

class the Tory Government represents— the rule of the People or the rule of Big Business—let us examine the record of the Tory Cabinet.

Sir Anthony Eden, educated Eton and Oxford, formerly director of Phoenix In-surance Co. and Westminster Bank.

Harold Macmillan, educated Eton and Oxford, formerly director of the wealthy publishing house of Macmillan and Co., Monotype Corporation and Monotype Marketing Corporation.

Marquess of Salisbury, educated Eton and Oxford, formerly a director of West-minster Bank and National Provident In-stitution for Mutual Life Assurance.

Major Lloyd-George, educated at East-bourne and Cambridge, formerly of Super Heater Co.

Selwyn Lloyd, educated at Pettes and Cambridge, formerly of Alliance Assur-ance. Co.

Earl Howe, educated Eton and Oxford, formerly director of Bank of Scotland and Scottish Union and National Insur-ance Co.

A. Lennox Boyd, educated Sherborne and Oxford, married into Guinness fam-

ily, and formerly director of Arthur Guinness and Son.

Sir Walter Monckton, educated Harrow and Oxford, married to wealthy heiress of 9th Baron Ruthven. formerly of Bedford General Assurance Co.

Duncan Sandys, educated Eton and Ox-ford. formerly of Ashanti Goldfields. and other mining companies.

Viscount Woolton, educated Manchester Grammar School, formerly director of 19 companies, including Lewis's and Birming-ham Small Arms.

D. Heathcoat-Amory, educated Eton and Oxford, formerly of John Heathcoat and Co., and Lloyd's Bank.

Osbert Peake, educated Eton and Ox-ford. former coalowner and director of electricity companies.

These are the men who rule Britain at present—a Cabinet of wealth and privi-lege organised in the powerful Tory Party. Next time Sir Anthony Eden lectures us about democracy let us remember the type of democracy for which he and his class stand. It Is not the rule of the common people, but rather Government of the mil-lionaires, by the millionaires, and for the millionaires.

LOBBY ON ISSUE OF UNSEATMENT

T H E British Labour Party, defeated during the third General Election

within five years, will need a new policy towards Ireland if it is to retain the support of the 750,000 Irish exiles in Britain.

It is, of course, debatable how far Irish electors In this country recently abstained from voting, or else gave their votes to non-Labour candidates, but it was clear in both the election manifesto and public speeches of Right Wing Laoour leaders that there was little to rouse th-r enthusiasm of genuine anti-Imperialists.

Attlee and Morrison continued to follow the Tory policy of ignoring Ireland com-pletely or accepting partition as a per-manent feature of Imperial policy. When pressed for a more clear-cut statement ot policy, some Right Wing candidates resorted to the old trick at claiming that partition was a matter for the Irish to settle between themselves — as though there were no British troops in the Six Counties or that Six-County foreign policy was not ultimately controlled by th$ Tory Foreign Office in London.

IRELAND ACT m m m m i i r t at

'Thinking Cap'

the

destiny.

Herbert Morrison, who is even further to the right of Attlee in his Imperialist views, is widely known in Northern Ireland for his friendly relations with Lord Brookeborough and the Unionist Party.

In contrast to this crypto-Tory pro-gramme, which bred disillusion among the workers, there was a refreshingly new and vigorous note struck by several pro-gressive Labour candidates who put for-ward a strong anti-Inipertalist policy against racial discrinwMXlon and inter-ference in other people's countries. Maurice prbach in East Willesden and Lena Jeger in South St. Pancras—both constituencies with large numbers of Irish residents—went out of their way to woo the Irish vote, winning these marginal constituencies after hard-fought cam-paigns.

ANTI-PARTITION L E A G U E The failure of the Right Wing leaders

to oppose partition undoubtedly lea to the mood of frustration—or even desperation -now affecting many Irish organisations.

The Anti-Partition League, after a mild flirtation with certain Labour Party elements, is now (God help it!) trying to woo the Liberals and Tories—as though the parties of Lloyd George and Churchill had anything constructive to offer Ireland.

Sinn F e i n , having ousted the reformist mlutba»edUsaart>• mevwwmt In

the Six Counties and launched for the

first time for many years a well-planned election campaign, is again vigorously propagating its isolationist policy ot " ourselves alone."

Its proganda implies little reliance on the British working class for help In the national struggle.

,UN ITY AGA INST I M P E R I A L I S M The Connolly Association, on the other

hand, basing its programme on the demo-cratic republican and internationalist principles of James Connolly, calls for a new Labour Party policy towards Ireland. Appealing for the maximum unity of all progressive forces against partition. It points to the tremendous possibilities now being opened up for a final onslaught upon Imperialism by the growing Left-ward movement in the British Labour Movement on both industrial and political fields.

This policy is already bearing fruit in the greatly Increased numbers of militant Irish trade unionists, and the friendly relations with an increasing number of progressive Labour M P s.

WHY MENTION NATIONALITY ?

r P H E following report appeared in the "Birmingham Mail" of June 27th:

"TWO FINED — THEN SEARCHED. — After fining two Irishmen £2 each for be-ing drunk and disorderly, Smethwick magistrates to-day ordered them to be taken outside and searched. Michael Hayes i aged 26). of Rosefleld Road, Smithwick, had £1 5s. on him, and Barry O'Mahony (aged 181, of Dollman Street, Vauxhall, 3/4. They were given seven days to pay the fine.

The magistrates were told tjiat when arrested, O'Mahony had £9 on him."

We do not dispute the accuracy of this " newspaper's reporting, but is it necessary to state they were "two Irishmen." Do we ever see "two Londoners" or "two Geor-dies?" It has nothing to do with the case.

A.S.W. says 'Recognise T.U.C.' Mr. M. Gibney (Dublin) said that no

measure of Industrial emancipation was possible in the Six Counties until they had got rid of the Stormont Government. Some delegates expressed criticisms of Sinn Fein standing against Mr. Beattie and thus losing Labour a seat; others dis-sented from this criticism:

from Page One

What emerged clearly was that

anti-partitionists could combine with

supporters of partition to advocate a

resolution which if backed by a

vigorous fight would help to weld ttte

unity of the Irish people, and weaken

the Stormont regime.

| lONNOLLY ASSOCIATION members ^ went into the House of Commons to lobby their M.P.s as soon as it was announced that the Unionists were trying not only to unseat Phil Clarke (Sinn Fein) but to have his defeated Tory opponent declared elected in his place.

It was pointed out that the legal issu", though doubtless interesting, is not the main one. The real question is whether the people of Fermanagh are to be repre-sented by a candidate they turned down

The lobbyists were told that there would be considerable feeling in the Hou.<e against such a proposition, even from non-Labour M.P.s, the precedent befng so dangerous.

Under the Government of Ireland Act, 19120, the British Parliament has absolute power to legislate for Northern Ireland, and if it becomes necessary for that power to be used. Irish people are likely to bring maximum persuasion to bear on the M.P.s to see that it is in fact used.

July 1955 THE IR ISH D E M O C R A T 3

A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A ^ I ^ ^ A A A ^

» * » > » » » * * * * *

« A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A * A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A «

IRISH DEMOCRAT 53 Rosoman Street, London, E.C.I

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OPPORTUNITY CTARTLING new ^ true it is—

fact it may be, but

Thsre are now more persons of Irish birth in Britain than in the United States.

Realisation of this fact, predicted years ago by the Connolly Association, is now penetrating wide circles both within and without the Labour movement, and we have yet to see the full consequences that flow from that realisation.

The Irish in Britain are now the most important body of Irish exiles, and it is not too much to say that they have an opportunity to serve their homeland even more effectively than those American-Irish whose name rings gloriously in history and legend.

There is one important advantage in the British location. That is that it is the Government of the country we are living tn now that is actively engaged in the violation of Ireland's national sovereignty. By playing a simple, straight role in the politics of Britain, Irish people can simul-taneously solve their own and help to solve Ireland's problems.

In America the exiles are tempted to foiiow the conservative trend of thought. It is to be doubted if that will ever take place in Britain, though attempts will not be wanting. The Irishman in the U.S.A. finds a young pushing imperialism, jealous of the possessions of British im-perialism, and this jealousy is oftentimes mistaken for concern for Ireland by inex-perienced people.

Liam Mellows and De Valera learned this to their cost when they conducted their famous American tour on behalf of the Republic. The dollar-dealers were happy to make use of Irish sentiment; they were ready to do a deal with Britain at Ireland's expense provided they got something from it.

The Irish in Britain are subjected to no such temptation.

Here there is a Tory Government which is pledged to maintain partition. There is a Labour opposition which when it was the Government passed the iniquitous "Ireland Act" with Tory votes, its own people largely abstaining.

No fear of the Irish here becoming satis-fied good boys!

The danger is that they may cry "a plague on both your houses" and have nothing to do with politics at all.

"What CAN we do?" they say.

If they always remember they are work-ing men as well as Irishmen (hey will have no difficulty in deciding. The Labour movement is a house of many mansions. It was founded to defend the working man against his employers and increasingly found it necessary to oppose their poli-tics as well as their Industrial greed. So successful did it prove that labour leaders became much sought after, courted and caressed, and some of them were won over in whole or in part to the employers' point of view, which they then passed oft as Labour's.

That is why the Labour Movement is the scene of debate-which the Tory press miscalls dissension.

Irish people should go boldly forward and take part In this debate. Convince Labour of the need for an anti-partition policy, a view it held till some leaders sold the pass in 19«9, and you ensure that a future Government will be anti-parti-tion.

To carry this out the Irish must orga-nise—both to convince the Labour move-ment, and to hold a Government to its pledge.

But the strength which will reverse Tory policy will be the strength of the Labour movement as a whole, and Irish workers should therefore do everything to contri-bute to its unity and power.

If only those whose hearts are with the Connolly Association in its efforts would take the plunge now and join it, not leav-ing it to the other man to be first, the progress already made in convincing the British workers eould be multiplied ten-fold.

The Connolly Association Is the only organisation an Irishman can join wMeh stands for unity with the British Labour movement, and a united front of all Irish organisations against Imperialism. From those two unities will come strength suffi-cient for victory.

EMIGRATION OFFICE.

MR. N O R T O N M A K E S P R O P O S A L S TO STOCK

CO. G A L W A Y W I T H G A M E

AW IttCRE&E M THE HUNTING, F iMG M) SHOOTING-TOURIST TRADE, WOULD DfVElGPE

THE WEST OF IRELAND

GO WEST YOUNG MAN /

SEE THE WORLD in the

LONDON STREETS

W w E V E R Y Irishman who comes to ^ England should take a trip to the City of London, before it is rebuilt.

Here, in the Aldersgate area, ten

years after the end of the war, he

wil l see an area as large as a substan-

tial ranch, acres and acres, of devas-

tation and ruins.

There is a boom on. There has been

ten years of frant ic rebuilding, and

workers have been urged to work

harder and not press pay claims. Yet

there lies the grisly monument to the

power of the blockbusters — the

pygmy, inconsiderable bombs of an

out-of-date method of warfare !

* * *

No wonder his Holiness the Pope con-

demned the hydrogen bomb.

Any thinking person surveying those ruins, and reflecting on the more recent horrors, would say to himself that he would spare nothing in his power to pre-serve humanity from devastation a thousand times greater. He would add that the very wickedest thing that it is possible to do is to take any deliberate step with the intention of bringing another war on humanity.

No Irishman would wish the horrors ol atomic war on another nation, even if Ireland could go free. But the latest reports are that a bomb has been made which would give out enough death-dealing radioactive ash to cover the whole of Britain; one dropped at Liverpool could cover the whole of Ireland as well.

This indeed is the first test to apply to world politics, the first Lest for the ordinary man. " Does this event contri-bute to peace or to war?"

* * *

Take Britain's occupation of Northern Ireland as an example. This makes war more likely, because Britain has seized territory which does not belong to her. The people are utterly disoontonted with the Government thus foisted on them. This Is ample basis for sparking on some trouble In tho future, and It IS to be hoped that the time will come when representatives of Inland will go to U.N.O. and tell them so.

Moreover, Britain has her own and American bases In the Six Counties—only a skeleton staff of Americans maybe, but the principle Is there. The occupation' of Northern Ireland is part of Britain's war

strategy. Britain has the bad foreign policy of occupying other people's coun-tries and bullying less powerful states, while kow-towing to more powerful America. A bad foreign policy is costly to the people by reason of its burden of armaments; it is a policy of quarrelsome in world affairs, and those who start quarrels don't always have the ending of them.

* * *

The London newspapers were all agog because some Cypriots had thrown bombs at " Britons." " Briton " is the unexpres-sive word used to conceal the stamping out of the individual nationality of the Welsh, Scottish, aye, AND English peoples.

Now if the Cypriots threw bombs, and

we're not saying we agree with that, is it

any wonder?

Britain is spending three hundred million pounds on setting up a tremen-dous military base in Cyprus. The coun-try is being made into an international hot spot. The Cypriots want to be neutral and join up with Greece,'because they are Greeks—and if British Imperialism is spending three hundred million pounds 011 every conceivable preparation for Using from and bringing on Cyprus atomic, hydrogen and hell-knows-what-worse bombs, who is setting the example? The idea might spring to the mind of en impatient young man that five bob spent on his own bomb might be less destruc-tive in the long run—not perhaps the best way of going about things, but who started it? Repression p r o v o k e s retaliation.

* # *

Then take the recent diplomatic moves on the part of Russia, In Austria, Ger-many, India, and so on.

When Russia Is mentioned some people immediately bridle, up, some even lose the power to reason calmly. However, we're not writing for peoplo with no brains, and we know our own readers are well able to think for themselves.

Thoee who get excited about Russian foreign policy, and begin to think peace is wrong because Russia wants it as well, are mixing two separate things up entirely. They are confusing the Russian Internal System of Government with Russian foreign policy.

Some Irish people do not like Russia's internal system of Government But that

is Russia's business. The Russian people are entitled to have Communism if they like it. And it is beyond question that they want peace so as to be undisturbed in their Communism.

In order that they should not find them-selves attacked they are trying to get agreements with all the states on the borders that neither will attack the other. Mr. Nehru has had a triumphal tour through Russia lasting fifteen days. Mr . Nehru has grasped the vital distinction.

Russia'4 internal policy is Communion. Her foreign policy is peace, in order to develop Communism. India's internal policy is capitalism, but as a vast undeve-loped non-Imperialist country, unlike Britain, she also is thinking that a foreign policy of peace would help her to develop capitalism.

So here is a chance of agreement, Russia and India sign a pact for f>eace, mutual good relations, and more business, the one in order to develop Communism, the other in order to develop capitalism.

To tell the truth, we think it's perfectly fair, and if Britain had the same outlook as India there would be a better chance of peace in the world.

Unfortunately, British conservatism is not content to let other countries have the system they desire. When the Irish had the Brehon laws, Britain wanted to impose the feudal Norman laws. When Kenya had tribal laws, Britain imposed capitalist laws. When the Guatemala people voted in a new Government by democratic procedure Britain oonceded to them, the Tories decided It didn't siiit them, and sacked the whole Government and put them in jail. When the Irish people votec^ for a Republic In 1919 Britain sent the Black- and Tans.

Now there are people in Britain who stand out against this continuous Inter-ference in the Internal affairs of other countries. There are people who think the only thing one country has any right to ask of aiwtfiw is to live ilka a- ' respectable nefghtoour, eaoti ratpactm* other's territory, and not in flkt a mischief-making mothortiMtW.

These people are mostly found in the Labour Movement, though there are some outside It. Imperialist ideas have bitten Into British Labour to only a limited extent. Just now non-intervention in the affairs of other countries becomes more popular as the disastrous results 'of Imperialism become apparent, and Irish people who Join in the work of the Labour Movement will be able to strengthen that beneficial current of opinion.

T O B E C O M E A R E G I S T E R E D R E A D E R A N D Q U A L I F Y

F O R ALL ITS A D V A N T A G E S (See Page Eight)

FILL UP T H I S F O R M A T O N C E !

N f i i n c

Address .• • •••••••• • e• • • • e•••

Poet this Coupon with 5 / 6 to:

53 ROSOMAN ST., LONDON, E.C.1

4 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT July 1955

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN THE REPUBLIC LABOUR'S

FOUR CANDIDATES B A R N E Y C O N W A Y

"Old J im's" crony

INA CONNOLLY-

HERON

Daughter of

James Connolly

PATR ICK C O L G A N

Citizen Army veteran

J A M E S DUNNE

Irish Seamen's and

Port Workers' Union

I U O T A B L E among the Labour can-

didates in the munic ipal elec-

tions in Ireland are the team in No. 9

area of Dubl in , which include one of

old J im Larkin's friends, Barney

Conway, of the W.U.I., and Mrs. Ina

i Connolly-Heron, daughter of the great

! James Connolly.

The programme on which ".hey are fighting includes: —

Speeding up the housing programme and eliminating slum tenements as quickly as possible.

Stepping up the present 2.000 a year target of the Dublin Corporation to one of 3,000 houses.

The building of modern well-equipped flats on central c:ty sites, especially for those whose employment keeps them near the centre ol the city. British city councils whose extraordinary policy it is to plant workers ten and twenty milfs from their employment, then ask them to

UNIQUE I SLAND IRELAND'S population problems are in

many ways unique. In contrast to the experience of most other countries whose populations have doubled, tripled, or even quadrup ed.

For example, Denmark, which is not by any means a naturally rich country, has had its population rise from one and a quarter millions in 1841 to just over four millions to-day. During the last one hun-dred years, Ireland's population has fallen by about 50 per cent.

This steady and relentless decline al-most every decade since the famine may be seen in the following tabie:

POPULATION OF IRELAND 1841-1951

Feargus O'Brien Studies Population

Ireland's rate of marriage is also one of the lowest in the world. For more than a century Irish bachelors and spin-sters have shown themselves more re-luctant to wed than almost any other people in the world.

In three measured periods. 1930-5. 1936-45. and 1946-51 the 26 counties (the six counties being close behind) had the low-

(In thousands)

Year Ireland 26 Co. 6 Co. 1841 . 8.175 6.529 1.646 1851 6.552 5,112 1.440 1861 . 5.799 4,402 1.397 ,1871 5.412 4.053 1,359 1881 . 5,175 3,870 1,305 1891 . 4.705 3,469 1,236 1901 . 4,459 3,222 1,237 1911 . 4,390 3,140 1,250 1926 4.229 2,972 1,257 1936 . 4,248 2 968 1.280 1946 . — 2,955 —

1951 . 4,332 2,961 1,371

Only between 1946-51 did the population of the Twenty-Six Counties rise, and that was by the tiny percentage of 0.2. A fur-ther ominous pointer to future trends--for, after all. the children of to-day are the potential fathers and mothers of to-morrow—is the fact that the number of children living in Ireland in 1951 was considerably less than half (560.000 as conjpared with 1.340,000) that of 1851.

HIGH BIRTH RATE

Ireland's birth rate is not abnormally low (in fact, at about 22 per thousand it is above the average for Western Europe), nor is the death rate abnormally high.

It is emigration and the low marriage rate which are responsible for this sen-sational decline, forcing some pessimis-tic prophets to speak of the "vanishing Irish."

No country in the world has experienced such a heavy and prolonged emigration as Ireland. The Irish people are probably more far-flung and dispersed than any-one in the world but the Jews. There are more people of Irish descent in the U.S.A. than there are in the whole of the 32 Counties; there are more Irish-born people living in Britain at present than there are in the province of Connaught. London has more Irish-born residents in it than any city in Ireland with the exception of Bel-fast and Dublin.

F A M I N E

This wholesale flight from Ireland had already hegun before the Famine, but was enormously aggravated by that disaster. Between 184,>-52 about 1,495.000 people emigrated, or an average annual rate of 187,000.

In 1W1 al»n« ®*er one-quarter of a mil-lion toft their native land.

The rate fluctuated in later years, but in no decade did the average fall below Ifl.OOfrft yew as the following table shows.

Averse* annual number of emigrants f r * n

Year Number Year Number 1871-81 . . 52.000 1911-26 . . 27.00® lttl-01 . . M000 1226-36 . . 16400 UB1-91 . . 40.000 1928-46 . . 18.000

..3*000 1048-51 . . 34,000

WE SAY-Emigration is caused

by 1. AFTERMATH OF LANDLORD-

ISM.

2. PARTITION.

3. IMPER IAL IST INTERFERENCE

IN IRISH L IFE .

It can be cured by ENDING PART IT ION

TRADE U N I O N ACTION FOR

BETTER W A G E S .

3. AN ALL- IRELAND DEVELOP-

MENT PLAN .

4. A FORE IGN P O L I C Y BASED ON

PEACE A N D TRADE .

est marriage of twenty-two listed coun-tries. Ireland's feeble marital record dur-ing recent years may be seen in the fol-lowing table:

Annual number of marriages per 1,000 population—1946-51:

U.S.A 13.5 Eng.-Wales .. 8.7 New Zealand 10.1 Scotland 8.3 Finland 10.0 Spain 7.6 Canada 9.7 Six Counties 6.9 Australia .. 9 7 26 Counties.. 5.5 Denmark .. 9.2

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

A further peculiar aspect of Irish demo-graphy is that though the marriage rate is exceptionally low, the fertility rate is exceptionally high. For example, in 1950-2 the fertility rate per 1.000 married women aged 15-44 was 254 for the Twenty-six Counties, as compared with 111 for Big-land and Wales. The Irish fertility rate for women actually married, in fact, is one of the highest in the world.

Ttila extraordinary population record •rises from a combination of historical circumstances which are also in many ways unique.

In the first Instance, the development of a healthy and balanced economy, which WQuld be the best way of keeping our people at home, has been thwarted by a succession of political and economic dis-

asters. As result of the 16th and 17th cen-tury plantations the best land of Ireland was sequestered by an alien landlord class who neglected their estates and squan-dered their rents in extravagance and luxury, mostly abroad. In the late 17th and 18th centuries a succession of Navigation Acts wiped out much of Irish industry, this process being continued (except for the area round Belfast, where unusual conditions prevailed) by the cut-throat "laissez faire" policy of the 19th century.

Cheap manufactured goods from the Midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire flooded into Ireland undermining any in-dustry which had survived earlier Mer-cantilist legislation against Irish indus-try- Cereal-growing and crop-production became less profitable, and pastoral farm-ing, which requires so Little labour, and occupies so many fertile acres, replaced arable farming. British merchants, bank-ers, and ship-owners gained an ever-firmer grip on the country's trade and commerce.

EVICTIONS

Then came the knock-out blow of the Famine which starved hundreds of thousands to death within a few years, and compelled millions to emigrate.

Hunger was followed by evictions: it

has been estimated that between 1849-

1882 504,747 people were forcibly driven

off their farms.

Now that the majority of Irish farmers, as result of the successive Land Acts passed between 1870 and 191}. possess their own land it might be expected that some of these problems would have been solved, but instead there are new social and economic difficulties arising out of the present backward peasant economy.

The Partition of Ireland in 1922. which resulted in the separation of a largely industrial North from a largely agricul-tural South, further unbalanced and dis-torted the economy. British financial and commercial interests continue to domi-nate banking and trade to the detriment of both the Republic and the Six Coun-ties. Moreover, the fact that capital and labour can move freely without much legal hindrance within the various parts of the British Isles suits the convenience of the authorities on both sides of the Irish Sea. It is no accident that the Re-public has the largest emigration rate, the largest export of bullocks, and the big-gest outflow of capital of probably any country in the world.

work overtime on top ol travelling, might learn here from Irish enligh-tenment 1

Lower deposits and reduced interest rates for persons buying their own houses.

Rents charged under the differential rent schemes not to exceed one-tenth of family income.

An easing of the means test on the Health Act.

Provision of playgrounds and more amenities.

While not breathtakingly revolutionary, people say, this programme, if imple-mented, would make things better than

they are.

RESULTS Electorate, 25,700; Valid poll, 7,225; Seats, 5; Candidates, 13; Quota,

1,205. First count: C. Lehane <C. na P.) 1.133; Mrs. C. Lynch, T.D. <F.F.), 1,068. B. Conway (Lab., outgoing), 912.

M. E. Dockrell, T.D. (F.G., outgoing), 905.

L. Bourke (F.F.i 608. W. Norton (Ratepayers), 447. P. J. O'Brien (F.F.i 425. J. Dunne (Lab.) 397. M. J. Hoban (Ratepayers), 338. J. F. Dillon iF.G.) 311. J. Maguire 1 F.F.) 305. P. Colgan (Lab.) 224. Mrs. Connolly-Heron (Lab.> 162. On the fourth count Mrs. Lynch \Vas

elected with 1.220 votes. She was the first candidate to be elected to the Corporation and becomes an Alderman.

Dockrell was elected on the sixth count with 1,213 votes and Lehane on the eighth count with 1.222 votes.

Conway was elected on the tenth count and Bourke on the 12th.

Result; F.F. 2. F.G. 1. Lab. 1, C. na. P. 1. In a number of constituencies members

were elected below their quota, thanks to the low poll. There was no decisive swing.

L E T T E R S

CONNOLLY ASSOCIATION

EAST LONDON

BRANCH

Now Started: FIRST PUBLIC

MEETING on July 12

" W H Y PARTITION MUST

BE ENDED'"

1. PEACE I T is good news that Ireland's attitude

towards a possible future war should be thrashed out in public debate in Kil-kenny. The more our people talk about the problem of Ireland's role in inter-national affairs the more likely it Ls that a clear-sighted peace policy will prevail.

Capt. Liddell Hart, the famous British strategist, has stressed the need (and more power to his elbow for his humanity and courage in doing so) for Ireland to continue her traditional policy of neu-trality.

His speech obviously met with wide-spread sympathy, and only the reaction-ary Fine Gael, T. D. Costello, produced the threadbare Bolshevik bogy. But would it not be even better if the great majority of Irish people, who want to keep out of Imperialist intrigues, pressed the political parties for a positive policy towards peace? If war should break out (which God for-bid! i and hydrogen bombs were dropped on, lor example. Liverpool or Glasgow would these not inevitably affect Dublin and Belfast? We hear about the hydro-gen bomb "fall-out" which may devastate territory for a distance of 70 or 100 miles it the wind is in the right direction.

The Republic of Ireland should now be admitted to her rightful place in the United Nations where she should make her voice heard on the side of sanity and Christian peace. There are many neutral nations now emerging such as India, Austria and Sweden which are adopting a positive ix-ace policy? Will not Ireland follow their example?

W. SMITHERS (Dublin).

2. VIOLENCE INN FEIN has been blamed for intro-

* ducing violence into the anti-Parti-tion campaign. Does not the real violence come from Imperialist Britain which maintains troops in the Six Counties against the wishes of the overwlwlming majority of Irish people?

Get the British troops oul of the Six Counties and the violence will oe&MP. It is as simple as that. British Imperialism Is now engaged in armed combat with the peoples of Kenya. Guiana, Malaya, Cyprus and Ireland, und has only just stopped fighting the Egyptians.

Can there be any doubt where the blame lies In these circiimstances?

- 8r MtefcMr (dftafeowr: -

July 1955 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT

DUBLIN SKY V^EXT month astronomers from all over A the world will meat in Dublin.

The compliment paid to Ireland's capi-tal city is well deserved. Ireland has made many contributions to the progress of the science, and for many years the only source of the huge lenses necessary for big telecopes was the factory where they were made in Dublin.

'PALKING about Astronomy, what is the 1 good of it? The objects seen through

telescopes are so far away that they have

little enough influence here, and anyway

the events we can sae out in space often

took place millions of years ago. The light

has only just reached us.

The answer to this question lies in the

curious interlocking of the two worlds of

the infinitely large and the infinitely

small. Study of astronomy has thrown

light on many of the problems of physics

and has helped to develop atomic energy,

to take only one example.

rFHE recent eclipse of the sun visible in

Ceylon was a case in point. It was a

terrible pity it was obscured by clouds.

Eclipses are caused, as everyone knows, by

the moon crossing in front of the sun and

hiding it. But if tha moon is far away

and the sun nearer than usual (there is a

slight swing in both distances) the moon

does not quite obscure the sun. If the

moon is at its nearest and the sun at its

farthest (which it is during the Irish sum-

mar) the sun is thoroughly obscured for

quite a long time, even minutes. This

eclipse was the longest for a couple of

hundred years.

THE FLAG OF PATRICK PEARSE

W ' THAT did the astronomers want to see?

According to Einstein's theory the light from the stars is liable to be slightly bent, or pulled out of its track, as it passes a huge heavy object like the sun. The moon is not heavy enough to produce any noticeabb effect. But of course no-body can look directly at the sun, and thus cannot see anything just behind it. The moon at Eclipse time acts as a huge natural sunshade.

Einstein worked out the amount of bend-ing on the assumption that light did not weigh anything. The last eclipse that wa» long enough to b« of any use showed that light was bent more than Einstein had bargained for. Astronomers are very anxious to have another go and make sure, because this extra bending would mean that not only was the sun pulling the light to one side, but that the light had a weight of its own, and was, so to speak, helping the sun by falling into it as it went past. Many people think this is more likely, anyway.

* * *

•yyHAT does it matter?

It is obviously Important to know whether Einstein's conclusions are entirely right. Any surprises might pave the way for great new discoveries as startling as atomic energy, and Indead atomic energy is small beer in comparison with dis-coveries which will be made in this very century, we need not doubt.

By watching light pass by an object big enough to affect it, astronomars will un-lock the secrets of the airiest and tiniest particles known to man. By splitting atoms came the great power-source of this generation. By understanding even smaller things, fresh benefits will come to science.

Coal and uranium fttay be found in only a few lucky countries (in the case of Uranium, Ireland seems to bi lucky for once!) but the tiny things are every-where.

\ CORRESPONDENT m Glasgow who is a regular reader of the "Irish

Democrat" > but does not wish her name published) writes asking for an explana-tion of the colours of the Irish flag.

Simply stated the facts are: the old Irish colour was blue, but the United Irishmen pursuing their idea of "replacing the separate titles of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter by the common title of Irishman" decided to make a green flag which would be hallway between orange and blue. Hence the particular shade of green formerly used.

But after the defeat of the United Irish-men the enemies of Ireland, forever try-ing to pretend that nationalism and re-ligion are the same thing, and to spread the lie that Irish Catholics want inde-pendence only because they are Catholics, succeeded < with O'Connell's help we are sorry to say) in getting it accepted that green was Catholic (not just a symbol of unity as it was intended to be).

The Young Ireland movement strug-gling against O'Connell's sectarianism had to try to symbolise the idea of the differ-ent religions united as Irishmen. While in Paris Thomas Francis Meagher had the idea of a tricolour. The French tri-colour is blue, white and red; the women of the Paris Commune of 1848 made him

DUBLIN WORKERS WANT WAGE HIKE

than one mil l ion out of a

total popula t ion of three mi l l ion

in the Republ ic of Ireland could spend

only about 3d. per person per meal ,

said Mr. E. Browne, vice-president of

the powerful Irish Transport and

General Workers ' Union, at the

union's annua l conference at Mosney

last month.

"That shocking state of affairs," he went on, " has been confirmed by the National Nutrition Survey conducted „by the Department of Health, which revealed that in respect of most rural workers and their families and lowly-paid workers in the city and urban areas, a high percen-tage of the meals consisted of ' bread and spread.' "

It was clear, he said, that that posi-

tion condemned a big proportion of the

people to semi-starvation, ill-health and

early death.

D E P L O R E L O W W A G E S

Mr. W. S. Keenon, National Executive Council, said that the Government had failed to keep down prices, and therefore they must terminate the 1952 wages formula. He seconded a resolution, which was passed unanimously, deploring the very low standard of living of many thousands of wage-earners, and urging a campaign lor higher minimum wage rates and improved social benefits for them.

NEW PAMPHLET

A special pamphlet entitled "What the Irish m Birmingham can do" is being published in connection with the Connolly Association's " Ir ish Week," and will be on sale m Birmingham from July 9th on-ward.

It's that landlady again! UNDER the genial presidency of

Eamonn MacLaugtil in, West

London Connol ly Association dis-

cussed the " Irish Democra t " pro-

posals that a " lodgers* c h a r t e r "

should be drawn up, and housing

departments be urged to take steps

to have it implemented.

Mrs. Kathleen Duffy, of the North Kensington Labour Party said that Labour councillors were only too pleased to take up any cases of special hardship which arose. People were often hesitant about doing so, but they should make use of all the rights they had.

As an Irish woman, she was sorry to say that Irish landladies ran to type— they were landladies before they were Irish women and knew how to exploit their own people as well as the English ones did.

\N English visitor mentioned the ques-

tion of lodgings for catering workers

in seaside towns, for many of these

workers were Irish, mostly girls. I n

same way in the new towns where there was a shortage of accommodation, those who were building houses for others were not given proper accommodation lor themselves.

Patrick Galvin, the well-known poet and ballad recorder, said It was not necessary to go to the seaside to find badly-lodged catering and other workers. Lads came to London and got employment easily enough at Messrs. Lyons at Cadby Hall; they then had to find digs. He knew of a lodging house in the Westbourne Grove area where there were thirty such workers at Umes. They paid £3 a week for bed only and the notorious "box-and-cox" system was operated, so that the beds were never cold. He knew what he was saying, as he had experienced such conditions himself until he found better, but there were new arrivals coming at hundreds a Week, and the landladies throve on these.

|"]t|R. BRENDAN O'REILLY, just over

from Ireland, h»«l been-lueky him-

self, but, knew of otters who were, not.

REPLY TO C O R R E S P O N D E N T

a beautiful .specimen of a flag in the colours orange, white and green, starting from the staff.

The orange represented protestantism; the green (though originally denoting unity) represented Catholicism for which it had come to be accepted, and the white

well that is the most important colour! The idea of eliminating the differences

in Ireland by "mixture" had not worked. Now there was the idea of leaving the two religions separate but finding a way to UNITE their members as Irishmen for secular purposes.

But what was to unite them? In France white had stood for Jacobinism, and Wolfe Tone had got many of his ideas from the French Jacobins with whom he was asso-ciated. White, the Jacobin colour, stood for Republicanism, the rule of the com-mon people. This same colour was in the suppressed English tricolour (red, white and green, the white uniting the worker and the farmer i and so the flag meant that provided there was liberty, equality and fraternity then Ireland could be united for ever.

When Pearse adopted the flag in 1916. the colours were reversed so our present tricolour is green, white and orange, not orange, white and green.

As soon as it was adopted, the process of trying to alter its meaning started afresh. The white of Jacobinism was con-veniently dropped and is never mentioned —some people say it means "peace"—it does, but it is the kind of peace that is "not peace but a sword," or William Blake's "mental strife." It was peace founded on justice and principle, on demo-cracy. Then the unionist bigots started

to pretend that the orange was "yi how" (yellow being the Papal colour*. On tlit other hand the Hibernians so much hated for their sectarianism by Pearse and Con-nolly, tried to make the orange into 'gold,' in order to disguise its significance. In Glasgow, people Honestly believe it is a "Papish flag" and Connolly Association, speakers have been interfered with by the police (on various pretexts) when they were flying it as a non-sectarian flag, the flag of Ireland.

While we are on the subject of flags we might mention the "Plough and the Stars." This is different from the starry plough, which is the seven main stars of the Great Bear on a dark blue back-ground; this flag probably originated in unconscious imitation of the Irish "South-ern Cross" raised on Eureka Stockade in Australia, on whose corner Imperialism unceremoniously and insultingly stamped the vulgar Union Jack. The plough and stars was a red plough on brown earth, under a sky full of stars. It originated in Fintan Lalor's saying, "Ireland her own, from the sod to the sky," and only one remains, in the possession of the Trans-port Union in Dublin.

D . R .

CURIOSITY WON'T KILL YOU WHY NOT ASK A QUESTION ?

Actual Questions Answered

1. H Y D E P A R K

If you are against partition why

doh't you support the Irish Govern-

ment?

We do support every action of the Irish Government calculated to help to end partition. So does De Valera, leader of the opposition. But if in order to support one point of a party's policy we must therefore support every other point, then we would never rise above the level of political babies.

15,000 VOTE STRIKE IN

DUBLIN I T NIONS representing 15,000 tradesmen ^ and labourers in Dublin city and

county building industry have told em-ployers that the men will strike on July lst next unless negotiations are opened on wage claims before the end of this month.

Recently, the unions, through their joint negotiating committee sought an in-crease of 5d. an hour for all members. The claim was served on the Federation of Builders, Contractors and Allied Em-ployers of Ireland.

EAMONN MACLAUGHLIN (Fr. Duffy in background)

The chairman said he had just met a girl from his native Coleraine who was living with her husband In one room for which she paid £3 a week, and had to share a pas cooker with five other tenants.

The business of the meeting being con-cluded, a group of actors read a script on the subtect -of • Wolfe Tone, specially wr)tten for the oc^slo? by, ttye chairman,

2. N O T T I N G H A M What kind of * state do you want to see in a United Ireland?

A state where the will of the majority of the Irish people would be paramount. Those of us who return are prepared to fight for democracy and accept its respon-sibilities. We oppose all foreign attempts to interfere with the free will of the Irish people. We believe they will not solve the problems of Ireland without bringing the working people to the fore, but nobody in the world has the right to force them to do that.

3. B I R M I N G H A M Do not some people say you want to give Ireland to Russia?

If they do they are either fools or liars. Even if Russia wanted to have it, we would be opposed to give our country away to anybody. Such talk is only a cheap trick to blind people's eyes to actual British occupation by blathering about hypo-thetical Russian occupation which has never been proposed. Fine Gael asked De Valera this same question. He gave the same answer. I t is a trick to try to upset Irish neutrality.

Obituarp A LINK with the struggles of the Irish

1 * and African peoples for freedom and independence was severed last month by the deatl^ of Dick Beech.

Dick Beech had close associations with this country, having lived here from 1923 to 1926. He was married to Dr. Moira Connolly, a daughter of James Connolly.

He went to sea in his early teens a*id played a leading part in the struggles of the National Union of Seamen at a time when the seamen's conditions were little better than slavery.

He also spent some years in Canada, Mexico and the United States, where he worked with the I.W.W. (the Wobblies).

Throughout his life, his greatest activity was on behalf of colonial peoples whose cause he constantly championed. He was a member of the Central Council of the Movement for Colonial Freedom.

It was typical of Dick Beech that one of his last acts was to give the M.C.F. the free use of his office at Fleet Street, where he worked as a Journalist.

Among the floral tributes at his funeral was one from his friend, K w ft m'* Nkrumah, now Prime Minister of the GoM Coast. ' ' 1

i i i <

6 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT July 1955

Teaching politics 1855=1955

" W h e n you ask for more

wages, that 's pol i t ica l .

When I say you can ' t

have 'em that 's non-

pol i t ica l . "

EMMET O'CONNOR (of Wa te r f o rd )

THE RECENT ARR IVAL W ITH BR IDGET AND

HER HUSBAND, PETER.

SNAPPED IN THE INTERVAL Maggie Larmour (Belfast) now in London ; Mary Lindsay (Kilkenny)

now in Wolverhampton.

RACING by

M c G I N T Y

AFTER a neck and neck battle for the

national hunt jockey championship,

Tim Molony Just beat Fred Winter by a

-fchort head—in fact two short heads. Fred

was unlucky only to have one mount on

.the last day whereas Tim had three, two

Of which wan.

Now to our tips. We had a mixed bag

this month. Ski Mnld won at 13/8 and

was also beaten. Durante was placed at

7/1. Anton won at 100/30. Blue Comet was

beaten and was unplaced. The Rabbi was

also beaten. Our profit for the month was

£ 7 Is. M . and our losses were £0. which

JraT«s us fil Is. 8d. for the month to be

added to our total profit of last, month's

£44 13s. 6d.. making a total of £45 15s. 2d.

Here are my ten to follow for Ju ly :

Brarura, Valhalla. Lady Scarlett,

Durante, San Domingo. Snow Baby, Fly-

tag Story. Fair Fight, Sw» . « J «w , ! 3 r f r a .

RESEARCH (OMWITffE

ON F u r n i t u r e

Feargus O'Connor The great Chartist leader, who founded the Northern Star and was Nottingham's

first >I.P. He opposed Daniel O'Connell's sectarianism, and stumped Britain,

speaking in Birmingham Bull King, Nottingham Market Square, etc., calling on

his fellow-Irishmen to join with the British working class against the British

employers. The Chartists included Repeal the Union' among their demands.

On September 10th, 1855, 50,000 people marched in his funeral. The Connolly

Association is arranging a ceremony on September 10th, 1955, at Kensal Green

Cemetery. A fund may be raised for the restoration of the monument.

NORTHERN FLASHLIGHT

BITING OFF MORE

THAN HE CAN CHEW

AND THEY'RE STILL

MOANING! C T U P I D I T Y of par t i t ion cont inues

^ in unusua l ways to boomerang ON the heads of the Ulster Unionists .

The Belfast newspapers have been

waxing indignant over the disqualification

of a Belfast girl, 19-year-old Merle

McCarley, from standing as " Miss Ire-

land " in an international beauty contest,

because she does not come from " south

of the Border.''

Unionists almost choked with indigna-

tion when a committee organising a con-

test for "Miss Europe " In Helsinki barred

Miss McCarley because it said "Northern

Ireland" was in Great Britain, and they

almost had apoplexy when the committee

said the Belfast girl should have competed

lor the "Miss Eng land " title.

Miss McCarley said, " I'm as Irish ft*

anyone could be "

But the Helsinki organisers can perhaps

be forgiven for failing to understand how

or why—the Six Counties can be part

of Ireland and part of "B r i t a i n " at the

same time. They say they have to recog-

nise international boundaries.

July 1955 T H E I R I S H D E M O C R A T

Edited by Cathal MacLiam

PERSONAL CHOICE

(By E w a n MacCo l l , W.M.A . ,2 /6 )

1AM afraid that I tend to feel that folk-

songs, unlike children, should be heard

and not seen. Still, more and more folk-

songs seem to be published regardless of

my feelings, and most people seem

pleased with the idea; so, like a true Cork-

man, I find myself out on a limb. To

write against such publications would be

sectarian and snobbish; to welcome them

svith untempered enthusiasm would be in-

sincere and humbugging.

All the same, I can in fact recommend

this collection of Scottish songs and bal-

lads; with this proviso (as the preface to

the book itself says), that they are recom-

mended to singers as something to sing

lx>cause people like to sing. I am passion-

ately against such a work being used as

a reading-book, as if it were a collection

of poems. (Poetry is quite another matter

—poems should be heard as well as read).

My hackles also rise in the presence of

earnest-minded "progressives" who de-

votedly intone folk-songs in a self-con-

sciously arty, or even, God help us. folksy-

manner because they believe it to be their

duty.

TiHOSE: who genuinely delight in the re-

viva] cf interest in folk-song that is

now going on will find much pleasure in

this collection. Scottish songs tend to

stress the harshness of life, the bitter

overtones of love, the barrenness of the

soil, the weariness of labour and the op-

pressive .sadness of the natural scene.

For all otu' traditional melancholy, this

sort of Song does not as a rule appeal

strongly to the Irish. We prefer our love

to have charm and grace and our heroes

to be on an epic and impossible scale. Yet

we can learn much from the direct blunt-

ness of the Scots. We are inclined to over-

do the charm, even to trade on it, and we

are capable of lingering and loitering our

lives away in musings on the glory of the

past embodied in our cherished songs, for-

getting the present and ignoring the

future (It goes without saying, of course,

that Cork is an exception . . . >.

As I have said, so long as this collec-

tion means that the songs will be widely

sung and enjoyed, not drily analysed and

discussed by the all-history-and-no-heart

boys (counting up the hairs on a goose-

berry and overlooking the fruit), it is a

valuable contribution to the pleasures of

life; at 2 6 it is within almost everyone's

reach, and the W.M.A. are to be congratu-

lated on making it available.

PATRICK GALVIN.

Patrick Galvin is to go on tour

for the

Conno l ly Association

w i th his

S O N G S A N D R E C O R D I N G S

w w Lecture-Recitals M A N C H E S T E R , 12 J U L Y

Labou r Rooms, Oxford Rd.

N O T T I N G H A M , 13 J U L Y

Trades Ha l l , Thu r l a nd St.

B I R M I N G H A M , 18 J U L Y

Impe r i a l Hotel .

A L L AT 8 P .M.

T O M M Y D O Y L E

Irish Classic THRILLS Paris

YITHEN the Abbey Theatre presented a " programme of Sean O'Casey's plays

at an international drama festival held re-cently in Paris, the whole city was agog with delight at the first acquaintance with Ireland's modern classics.

"Why are these not translated into French?" they asked.

The Abbey company did a further ser-vice to Ireland. Ireland was made known to companies which came from far away China as well as all European countries.

TIPP! HPHERE are few players who have such

a long and distinguished career in

hurling as the famous Tommy Doyle of

Tipperary, and he has recorded his memo-

ries of over twenty years ol first-class

games in a book, "A Lifetime in Hurling"

(Hutchinson, 10 6).

In these pages are found the names of all the greatest wielders of the caman from Antrim to Kerry during the past 25 years. Games now almost forgotten are vividly recalled and are recounted stroke by stroke—games whicn are never for-gotten at least by those who played them. Tommy Doyle has met them all; five of his vast collection of medals were won in all-Ireland finals playing for Ins country. He has played in Ireland, England and the States.

Tommy considers Christie Ring as one of the best forwards ever in the game and few will differ. But how many will agree with him when he picks as the best 15 from all counties during the past 25 years the following:

T. Reddan (goal), J. Leahy (captain), S. O'Murphy, J. J. Doyle, J. Keane, P. Clohessy, P. Phelan, J . Hurley, L. Meagher, C. Ring, M. Mackey, P. Cahill. E. Coughlin, M. Kennedy, M. Power.

He considers that the Irish in England should get at least once a year a match from the best county teams. "Nothing but the best should be good enough for our exiled brothers," he declares.

There are many photographs some of which are fine action shots showing the grace and style in the game of the clash of the ash.

It is a book which all hurling enthusi-asts will want to reatl, especially those who actually play the game, as there is a chapter on "The key to success"—by one who succeeded!

C. MacL.

X T b e ffiarb o f H r m a o b

A H ! list to the lay of a poor Irish harper, And scorn not the strains of his old withered hand,

But remember the fingers could once move sharper To raise the merry strains of his dear native land.

It was long before the Shamrock, our greerf'lsle's beloved emblem, Was crushed in its beauty 'neath the Saxon lion's paw,

I was called by the colleens of the village and valley Bold Phelim Brady, the Bard of Armagh.

How I long for to muse on the days of my boyhood, Though four score and three years have flitted since then,

Stiil it gives sweet reflections, as every young joy should, That merry-hearted boys make the best of old men.

At a pattern or fair I could twist my shillelagh, Or trip through the jig with my brogues bound with straw.

Whilst all the pretty maidens around me assembled Loved Bold Phelim Brady, the Bard of Armagh.

Although I have travelled this wide world over, Yet Erin's my home and a parent to me,

Then oh! let the ground that my old bones shall cover Be cut from the soil that is trod by the free.

And when Sergeant Death in his cold arms shall embrace me, O lull me to sleep with sweet Erin go bragh,

By the side of my Kathleen, my young wife, 0 place me, Then forget Phelim Brady, the Bard of Armagh.

ONCE MORE BEYOND THE PALE

POEMS "Hand* That Move Mountains" is a col-

lection of poems by Prances Moore (price

9d„ from Central Books, 2 Parton Street.

1-ondon, W.C.I) dedicated to the working

men and women whose hands make every-

thing. There are 18 poems In all, two of

which have alieady appeared in 'Daylight.'

The title is taken from "Hands Wanted."

This and the other poems express the

author's indignation at the drabness,

waste and misery of wage-slavery and be-

!'ef that to-morrow the world will be the

workers'.

" I F one begins by recognising the in-

* dividuality of a country separated by

sea from even its nearest neighbours, the

geographical way may be made plainer

both to the autlior and to the reader."

This was stated a few years ago by T.

W. Freeman of Manchester University

when he wrote his Physical. Historical,

Social and Economic Geography of Ire-

land This work is still-one of the best re-

ference and text books on Ireland. The

author has said that when he was writing

It he "learned beyond doubt that Ireland

is a fundamentally different country from

either England, Wales or Scotland."

It was within this "individuality of a

country" that he treated "the two poli-

tical entities," even though he thought

them "to differ so radically In policy and

outlook on many social questions that it

is hard to see how they may eventually be

united."

Of course there are certain differences

between the North East of Ireland and the

rest of the country. Tt would be foolish and

unrealistic not to recognise them. Ulster

was the province of O'Neill and tlie Great

Rebellion, where the Plantation was orga-

nised to reinforce English Government. It

became the birth-place of Irish Republi-

canism and the United Irishmen. It was

the area where there was an accumulation

of native capital, where the linen Indus-

try developed because it did not compete

with English cotton. Part of it became the area where the new Pale was estab-lished during the partitioning of Ireland. Over 30 years of Imperialist-backed Stor-mont rule cannot but have left its mark.

Differences of development require spe-

cial study and understanding, especially

by Irish nationalists. But they must be

studied within the framework of a coun-

try and a nation which is one country and

one nation, and not as Ulster Unionism

wishes them to be studied, with the em-

phasis on the differences. Thus the poli-

tical way may be made plainer.

Bearing this in mind, thfc publication

of twelre talks given last year on the

Northern Ireland service of the B.B.C. un-

der the heading "Ulster since 1800: A Poli-

tical and Economic Survey," provides some

useful material on a subject which is too

little dealt with by Irish historians.

Although there is a tendency in some of

them to declare in a polite B.B.C. man-

ner as the French National Assembly pro-

claimed enthusiastically on a famous occa-

sion "Vive la difference." these talks are

a survey which Ls, however limited and

Incomplete, well worth critical study.

The editors are Mr. J. C. Beckett, of

Queen's University. Belfast, and Professor

Moody, of Dublin University. The price is

3/6.

E. MacL.

THE VICTOR'S SMILE. Tommy Do>lt\ his hand on Christy King's shoulder, holds the Monaghan Cup after he had led Tipperary to a 2—7, to 2—6 victory over Cork at Mitcham Stadium, London,

on Whit-Mondav, 1953.

Plays and Pictures rpHEATRE W O R K S H O P of Stratford in J- East London is a rare phenomenon of the English stage. Cold-shouldered by West End managements, poorjy-financed, and often ignored by the national Press it has nevertheless gone from triumph to triumph with a succession of first-rate plays and productions.

Recently, the organisers of the Festival of Paris wanted to invite some representa-tive British theatrioal companies to visit France. Only Theatre Workshop eventu-ally accepted the invitation, and after a series of fatuous efforts by British offi-cialdom to disassociate themselves from this lively and enterprising group, Theatre Workshop scored a resounding sueeess in competition with the best national drama groups of Europe.

UNANIMOUS PRAISE The French Press were unanimous in

their praise of the acting and production of the two Elizabethan plays, Arden of Faversham and Volpone, selected.

"A miracle . . . these actors burn up the stage," said Carreforur.

"A magnificent lesson in Elizabethan in-terpretation," said Franc-Tireur.

"The actors of Theatre Workshop have had a well-merited triumph," said France-Soir.

"The characters are created with superb energy," said Le Monde.

"Let us pay homage to these actors and thank them for the rare pleasure they have given us," said Liberation.

"What life, what ardour of youth," said Figaro.

Londoners who do not already know of this theatre, should take the oppor-tunity now that the company is back ^n England, to find their way quickly to the Stratford Theatre, which can best be reached from Stratford Underground Sta-tion.

Joan Littlewood, producer, and Harry Corbett. leading actor, provide something new and exciting on the London stage.

F. C.

PERIODICAL "THE IRISH LEADER"

A FTER over twenty yews holding / V the fort alone the "Irish Democrat" is now joined by a weekly contemporary published by the County Associations of Irish people in London.

The significance of the event is that the days when people thought of thO Irish in Britain as "exiles" here for a short spell are now gone, Many people have wondared wtaft the result of emigr&tion weuM be. it is in fact the emergence of an Irish population in Bri ta in comparable with that in the U.81&, and the British-Irish may some time be .as familiar to the tongue as the American Irish.

That such a fact la now widely recog-nised Is further shewn by the fact that practically every Iriah provincial news-paper now carries material on the Irish in Britain every week, though the British Labour Movement is Slow to grasp the new position.

The County Organisations, are founded on the principle used In America. Man of various occupations and status, bound toy their common birthplace In one county, -come together Irrespective of class status. There are now fourteen of them m Lon-don, and prominent among their promo-ters is the weiHmown G.A.A. enthusiast. Rev. Fr. P. O'Tooie. of Kilburn.

One feature of the County Associations as described In Hie "Ir ish Leader," is that

from the fact that the -Leader" Is opposstf to partition. It may b e t k a t partition is not segaaded as political In the usual sense of the word.

in that event the County Associations wlH have a n opportunity not only to keep r» nirtleli niiia Im nedlnit -A.— jkdAstlcg r' t.lllfcl

neignDOftre m c o m H i i n a provfar Boom life where U Is i n o O o * to* they eao en» courage young Ir ishman to regar* them-selves as militant ambassadors lor the Irish National oauae. This task af the emi-grants is one of the most Important if It provides a fresh generation of outspoken anti-partittonistt T i M M % Its supporters the "Irish Leader may preve of the greatest value and ooon- result m feeding fresh Mood Into the amende body of the Antf-Partttkm League.

. In any event, we salute the new and trust Its growth Wilt be as i as Its ohrlttenlng.

8 THE IRISH DEMOCRAT July 1955 July 1955

LECTUK Outside the

Bartons Arms

ASTON EACH EVENING from

JULY 11th to 15th

7.30 - 9.0 p.m.

MONDAY, 11th: THE IR ISH NAT ION

TUESDAY, 12th: THE IR ISH F L A G

WEDNESDAY, 13th: THE IR ISH IN B I R M I N G H A M

THURSDAY, 14th: I R E L A N D IS R I C H

FRIDAY, 15th:

I R I S H M E N , O R G A N I S E !

OUTSIDE

AUSTIN'S Longbridge

M O N D A Y , 11th:

Irish arid Trade Unionism

T U E S D A Y , 12th :

Partit ion causes emigration

W E D N E S D A Y , 13th :

The Irish and Housing

T H U R S D A Y , 14th :

The Irish and Politics

F R I D A Y , 15th: United we stand

PATRICK CALVIN in

BIRMINGHAM " Songs of '98

T H U R S D A Y , J U L Y 14th, at 8 p.m. Imperial Hotel, Temple St., New St.

JIM CAMPBELL N.U.R. General Secretary

LABOUR THANKS CA.

PHIL CLARKE Could, from Page One

TO BE, O R . . .

Divisions of opinion over whether

to act against the elected Republican

prisoners flared up in Unionist ranks

almost immediately after the results

were declared.

Those who advocated that no action should be taken feared the result of such action would expose the blatant lies put out by the Unionist during the campaign.

Those who held that legal action should be taken feared that failure to pursue their threats would mean calling the big bluff by which the Unionists kept some opposition voters away from the poll.

B I G G E S T LIE

Biggest lie of the campaign was that votes for the Sinn Fein4prlsoner-candidate would not even be counted. Biggest fraud was a document put out by the Unionist agent, couched in legal language deliber-ately to give the impression that it was an official and lawful^paper, announcing that Republican votes would be "null and void."

It is significant that in South Tyrone and Fermanagh, where these unscrupulous methods were exploited to the lull, the Unionists have felt compelled to continue their political bluff to the point of legal action.

"But in mid-Ulster, where the same methods were used, but not £0 loudly nor so vociferously, the Unionists have thought wiser and decided it best to let their lies die quietly.

" D E M O C R A T I C ! "

Origin of the idfea to twve d* defeated candidate declared elected—typical of the " democratic " outlook of the Ulster Tories —lies in a decision taken at the last meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council.

There a resolution was passed urging that candidates picked by the people in elections to Stormont should be unseated if they refused to take an oath of loyalty, and the caodidaLe rejected by the people should take- the seat Jie was voted out off.

, • it, ••»•• • .

IABOUR M P s Mr. Maurice Orbach J and Mrs. Lena Jeger have written to

the Connolly Association offering thanks for support during the election.

In Moss Side, Ken Marks was not suc-cessful in defeating the Tory, but he in-tends to keep at it. Dropping in to the C.A. meeting at the Labour Party Rooms, Oxford Road last Tuesday he told the members;

" I am sure that the policy of the Con-nolly Association is right and it will al-ways have my support."

He invited the members to come to "joint social evening" with the Moss Side Labour Party where the two organisations could further improve their relations in Manchester.

Following that a unique meeting was planned for Piatt Fields the following Sunday. Youth will predominate. Two young Irishmen, Shankill Road Protestant anti-partitionist Bobby Craig will join forces with Catholic anti-partitionist Tommy O'Connor of Cavan. Bu£*!!?iat is not all, three young members of the La-bour Party, one Irish i Pat O'Hare) and two English Tony Williams and Fred

THE TEACHING OF CONNOLLY

PUBL IC M E E T I N G

Thursday, July 21st

8 p.m. 262 Corporation St., B'ham 4

First Floor

Grumbley will speak, together with J. Pearlman of the Manchester University Socialist Club.

What other organisation could provide such a wide unity against the imperialist partition of Ireland?

POLICE BEAT HIM UP

—Irishman alleges

A YOUNG Irishman who pleaded not ^ * guilty to being drunk and disorderly but was fined £1 alleged that police offi-cers used violence on him and called him names in a Birmingham police station.

He was subsequently advised to have himself medically examined and follow-ing an X-ray his trade union (N.U.V.B.i promised to make enquiries into the alle-gations.

A policeman making an arrest, or keep-ing a man in custody, is entitled to use no more force than is necessary to carry out his duty, and if he exceeds the amount of-, force necessary, then he is ex-ceeding his duty, and may find himself in difficulties with his superiors or the Watch Committee, which is the final arbiter in matters concerning the police of a city.

NOTTINGHAM Old Market Sq.

August Sunday

31 JULY, 7.30 p.m.

DESMOND GREAVES

CHRIS. MAGUIRE

For other Meetings see local

announcements.

(1) STRIKES SPEAKING in Hyde Park, Mr. Eamonn ^ Lyons said the railway strikers were fully entitled to the increases thay had won and he was glad they had won them. The N.U.R. was benefitting from the mili-tancy or the A.S.L.E. & F. man and he did not grudge that either. The power of the organised working class was obvious when events like this took place.

They had the power, did they care to use it, of paralysing British Imperialism. When they downed tools against the sail-ing of the Jolly George in 1920, British Imperialism was unable even to export a pop-gun. Yet some of our middle-class so-called self-styled anti-partitionists did everything they could to belittle and get at cross-purposes with the men and women who held this mighty power in their hands.

(2) AUTOMATION

In Birmingham Bull Ring Mr. Desmond Greaves said that all accounts were that automation would be pushed ahead with, and that it was the employers' reply to wage-claims among lesser skilled workers. The sami-skilled work of towns like Cov-entry could over a few years be almost done away with, and it would be the Irish immigrants who would find themselves on the road. Such a situation need not come about provided men insisted on working shorter hours for the same pay. Otherwise the increased production would ruin those who gava it, as it had in the past. He ad-vised as many of his hearers as were in a position to do so to study at technical schools and learn as much as they could. There would be opportunities for trained men, and Ireland would want them back in due time. Things were not always going to be this way.

(3) EMIGRATION

The Emigration Commission had sat, he went on, and produced what was in effect a petition in bankruptcy. The policy was not to do anything about emigration. In so many words they said that in order to get emigration stopped everybody would have to take lower wages and there would be more unemployment. Yet

^unemployment arrtfN jrw wages were the main d m s oi emi|ration, and these would/tynain JjJ^titths government broke with tot? policy of collaboration with Bri-tish Imperialism, whicrt\was a fallacy.

Hefcatefeori&aiy denleftlthat our choice was eithfir emigration OR low wages and high unemployment. What was needed was a vigorous effort to end partition, the development of all Ireland under a single plan, and a strong united trade union movement to enforce the people's will.

More might be wanted as well, but if that was got we would be well on the road.

REGISTERED READERS ONLY

printed „by Bipley Printers Ltd. (T.U.), Nottingham Road, Ripley. Dcrbys., and published by the Editor fct 53 Rosoman Street. London, E.C.I.

5/ T. A. JACKSON'S CLASSIC

"IRELAND HER OWN"

The Best History of Ireland so far published

Cut out this Coupon and post with 5/- Postal Order

to: Irish Democrat Book Department, 53 Rosoman St.,

London, E.C.I

State Name of your Democrat Suppl ier

N A M E .

A D D R E S S

D E M O C R A T S U P P L I E R

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • I

BIRMINGHAM BULL RING •

Sundays 3.30 p.m.

and 6.30 p.m.

July 3—Desmond Greaves

July 10—Tom Henry

July 17—Pat Clancy

Joe Deighan

July 24—Pat O'Sullivan

July 31—At 3.30 only

MANCHESTER PLATT FIELDS

Sundays 3 p.m.

JULY 3rd:

M t t H A E L W E A V E R

D A N I E L K I L C 0 M M I N S 'I

JULY 10th: J . D C I G H A N

LEO C U R L E Y

JULY 24th: K E N M A R K S

(Prospective Labour Can.,

F Moss Side)

I

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