IRISH AFFAIRS.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 October 1922, Page 5

IRISH AFFAIRS.

THE DESIRE FOR PEACE. VOICE OF THE CHURCH. SUPPORT FOR TREATY, By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. London, Oct. 11. The Dublin Press emphasises the gravity of the pronouncement of the bishops in view of the expiration on October 14 of the amnesty offered by the Government. Freeman’s Journal says the defiance of the verdict given by the highest Irish ecclesiastical court will mean the repudiation of the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic Church, and must lead to ecclesiastical anarchy more disastrous than the present civil anarchy. Received October 13, 12.45 a.m. London, Oct. 12. • The significance of the Hierarchy’s pastoral cannot be over estimated. It is the strongest and most compromising church document in living memory, and it ranges all the powers and influence of the church definitely on the side of the Treaty. The Government thought that while the Bishops should have spoken long before the pronouncement now will be a definite contribution to the restoration of public order. ULSTER AND THE SOUTH. CO-OPERATION FOR PEACE. Received October 13, 12.45 a.m. London, Oct. 11. Sir James Craig (Premier of Ulster), in a message to Glasgow Orangemen, states he is prepared to act in friendly co-operation with the Southern Parliament towards peace for all Ireland. Mr. Higgins, in Dail Eireann, announced that the present assembly, after December 6, would function as the Parliament of the Free State, provided members took the prescribed oaths and that Parliament remained in existence for six months until the Adult Suffrage .Bill was passed into law. The committee stage of the Constitution Bill has been completed, and the treaty forming the second schedule of the Bill was also carried. REBELS FOUND DEAD. Received October 13, 1*2.45 a.m. London, Oct. 12. At Dublin the bodies of six young men, believed to be Irregulars,, were discovered at Westmeath. The postmaster of Sonna, on arriving to open the office, found three dead inside and the remainder in a nearby field. Two unarmed Free State officers were seriously wounded while leaving the Anniscorthy Cathedral.