The Dominion SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1921. THE VERDICT OF ULSTER

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 208, 28 May 1921, Page 6

The Dominion SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1921. THE VERDICT OF ULSTER

The result of the Ulster elections distinctly emphasises the fact that even from the purely Irish standpoint there are two sides to the Irish question. In the Southern elections the Sinn Feiners' captured 120 out of 128 seats,'but the people of the six northern counties have concentrated their support on the party which stands first and foremost for loyalty to the Empire and maintenance of the Imperial tie. The reported defeat of the Unionist leader (Sin James Craig) in County Down, where he was opposed bv De Valera, is a disappointing detail feature, but. as a party the Unionists are credited with a decisive victory. According to the latest information available at time of writing, it is ’expected that they will secure 38 of the. 52 seats in the Northern Parliament. The Unionist victory thus indicated is the more noteworthy since disloyal elements strove by every means at their command, including violence and fraud, to influence the election result. 'Whatever else may be obscure about the Irish question, it is well established that nowhere in tho Empire are there any more determined opponents of the. establishment of an Irish republic than the Irish men and women who have given the Unionists, on present indications, a majority of something like three to one in the Ulster Parliament. It has to be considered also that the Ulstermen are spokesmen not for themselves alone, but for all in other parts of Ireland who may be of the same way. of thinking, but are prevented by Sinn Fein terrorism from giving open expression to their real sentiments. Even if this were not the case, the. electoral verdict in Ulster would very completely demonstrate that Britain has not the right, even if she had the inclination, to allow the Sinn Feiners to accomplish their purpose of separating Ireland from tho Empire. It would be pleasant, if it were possible, to suggest that the election of the Northern Parliament marks an approach to peace and reconciliation in Ireland. Unfortunately tho facts of the existing situation afford no ground for any hope or belief of this kind. The talk of- negotiation which revived a week or two ago is fading away amidst an intensified nightmare of bloodshed and terrorism. The Ulster Parliament is an important element in the machinery, now set up, by means of which it is open to the people of Ireland to obtain the full measure of autonomy, short, of separate republican status, which is freely offered by the British Government. At present, however, there is no indication that the Sinn Feiners intend to make use of this machinery, or that the Ulster Parliament will be enabled to play the peace-making part which in other and happier circumstances it might very well undertake. What is indicated is that the Sinn Feiners are intent on wrecking the Government of Ireland Act, and took part in the Southern elections, as they havej since contested the elections in Ulster, only as a means to that end. The liberal measure of Home Pule which is now as far as possible being put into operation has been denounced by De Valera as the “Partition Act.” and on the eve of the Ulster elections he appealed to tho voters of the six counties to support Sinn Fein pretensions. How far he is sincere in this appeal and in attributing to British influence a “partition” which in fact reflects a clear-cut division of Irish opinion may be judged from the fact, that not many weeks ago he threatened, in a newspaper interview, a boycott of Belfast goods, of which the present boycott is only a preliminary shadow. Such threats, and the conditions in which they are delivered, make it difficult to accept tho view which has been expressed in some quarters that “a frank gesture of fellowship front Ulstermen would do more than any conceivable thing to bring peace.” In an article in the London Observer on April 3. Mr. Stephen Gwynn, a former Nationalist M.P., remarked that while De Valera will hear of nothing but

freedom for *an undivided Ireland, each day deepens old divisions.

There has not been a paper (his past week (Mr. Gwynn added) which did not announce the killing of some ex-Service man or some Protestant farmer iu cold blood—again, and again with the legend pinned to him, "Convicted spy.” And repeatedly there have been instances of attacks on both life and property in Ulster—attacks which are absolutely certain to bring on reprisals, of Protestant, against Catholic. There is the further pleasant assurance given that if such reprisals occur the Belfast water supply will be destroyed and the town rendered uninhabitable. My own feeling is that no very-grave injury will be inflicted on Belfast, but only because measures will be taken to guard against this possibility . . . but that enough will hapten to surround the opening of Ulster’s Parliament with sinister associations. . . Yet until recognition is secured lor the inevitable fact that there must be an Ulster Parliament there can be no progress towards peace in Ireland. > •.

Events since Mr. Gwynn wrote are ill calculated to dissipate his somewhat gloomy anticipations in regard to the immediate future in Ireland. If the Sinn-Feiners were sincerely intent on healing Irish divisions, the means are ready to their hand. In addition to the Northern and Southern Parliaments, the Government of Ireland Act sets up a, co-ordinating authority—the Council of Ireland—and it is open to the two Parliaments to substitute for this Council one Parliament for the whixle of Ireland. No doubt if the Sinn Feiners showed any inclination to utilise these facilities for promoting unity in Ireland they would find Ulster and its Parliament ready and willing to co-operate. li is impossible to hope for progress on these lines, however, while the Sinn Fein movement is dominated by men filled with a venomous hatred of Great Britain and ruthlessly determined to sever the Imperial tie, which the people of Ulster, as they have once again signally demonstrated, are resolutely determined to maintain.