CROWN SUPPORTED

Chronicle (Levin), 14 February 1949, Page 5

CROWN SUPPORTED

-Mmri

Repiiblicans Revtr'Se In Ulster

Reeeived Sunday, 7 p.fn. BELFAST, Feb; 12. , fhe &6Kfiefrf Ireland UtlicJnisf Goverriineitt f'afLjr wfis refiirfietl to pOwei with Sfi itie'teased mkjority as the re sdlf of the ge'nerai eiebtiohs. The result of the postai vdtihg for the ftiitr seats of thd C^heexi'S Uhiverslty; whidh^ wil1 hot be lthdivii iyitil Februar'y 20/ is expected tb fkise the GdVernme'nt 's sttength tb 38 seatS; Go'verhmeht supporterS tfS expe'tted to Wih three' tlni versity sfiatS- and an Indepbndent the bfhbr one. Slr Basil Brboke, Priihe Ministei polled 5593 vofeS to hiS Nktiohajisr opponent's '4173. All other Caf/inet Ministers were re-elected. The people, voting on t-he issue of King or Rfepiiblic, thUs demonstrated in slrikiiig fashion their lQvaJtv to the. Brilish Crown, tliei i* elbsire to retnain an integral part of the Uiiited King dom, aiiel their solidaritv with the Brjtish Commonwealth. Tlie poll was one of the heaviest or. record. Twenty candidates were re turned unopposed. They were 14 EnioniStS, twO independent Unionists, two nationalistSj oue lrish Labour and ohe Sol-ialist Republiean. The Xorthern Ireland Labour Party was wiped out. In the Belfast consti-tuent-ies all its nine candidateS were defeated, two losing their deposits. The Oommunist candidate in one Belfast division also lost his deposit. The Unionists gained three seat3 in Belfast. The Government had a majority of 17 at the time of the dissolution. Lord Glentoran, president of the Elster llnionist Council, said today that the election had shown "our belief in tlie Bfitish way of life. It is a victory unequalled in our history." Sir Basil Brooke, Speakmg on thi victory, said that in no previous elee Lion in L'lster had there been such a concenirated and coordinated attack from across the borddr. ' ' I repudiatt the monstrous claint that Eire, which calls his Alajectv a foreign monarch and walked utiL of the British Comifion vvealth, has any right to interferfe witii rister affairs. Tltis intcnsive barrage would not have been hurled against us if tlie politicians of the south had not attai-hed exceptional imporlanee to the elcclion.s. U is impossible to reconcile tliis all out atlack with their latest plea that the election, after all, was of he consequence. The issue has been King or Rpp.ub.lii* and, Elster has givea the answer. " Tlie llaily Telegraph 's Belfast correspondent savs tliui even opLimistic Ehionists were surprised, at the iide oi loyalist voting. The Time.s' Belfast correspondent SfCvs tlie gn-aiest blow to the Xational ists was. the 1 all m their vnle in the Mouyne arai Easi Tyrone divisidns witere support for anti-pai Lition was reported -to be growing. Tlie state of the parties, excluding the l'our Eniversity seats, is: — Unionists 35, Indepenleut LnioniSts 2, Nationalists 9, Socialist Republiean 1, lrish Labour 1. Patriotic Onthurst. To mark ihe Umonmt victory, crowds lit bonlires in Belfast streets, women wrapped tlicinselves in I'nion' Jacks and danced. Crowds sang "Land of Hope and Glory, " "Rule Britannia'* and other patriotic songs. There wbre victory parades with bands and banners.