MONEY FOR DE VALERA.

Shannon News, 24 April 1923, Page 3

MONEY FOR DE VALERA.

PARIS BANK USED. A CHANCE DISCOVERY. How De Valera’s money supplies have been cut off was revealed by a chance discovery at a French port. It was known that the funds came from America, but how they were got into Ireland was a mystery. It appears that the instrument was a young girl enthusiast of the Republican cause, Mary Comerford, otherwise Doyle. Posing as an art student, she made frequent trips to Paris, where remittances were handed to. her by a man named Massey, who had an account at the Paris branch of an American Bank.

At one of the French ports Mary was challenged regarding the possession of more money than the law allows visitors to take out of France —a little detail she had overlooked. In some confusion she disclosed the possession of a good round sum in Irish band notes. She was detained pending inquiries, the Customs’ searcher not having had any experience of that kind of note before. In due course she was released, but information was passed on to the British authorities, and the inquiries then made revealed the whole story, with the result that the trips of Mary to Paris have now ceased, the account of Mr Massey has been closed hurriedly, and he has returned to the United States, after causing a warning to be sent to be Valera that for the time being, at least, supplies must cease lest they fall into the hands of the Free State or the British authorities.