LONDON COMMENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 November 1940, Page 5

LONDON COMMENT

ON MR DE VALERA’S REFUSAL OF PORTS FOOD TAKEN TO EIRE AT COST IN BRITISH LIVES. ALLEGED CHARGE NOT MADE BY GOVERNMENT. Two main comments are made in London, the 8.8. C. states, on Mr De Valera’s declaration that ports in Eire will not be made available to Britain. One comment is that Mp De Valera was silent on the fact that much of the food on which the people of Eire live is taken to Eire at a cost in British lives and ships—a cost which would be much reduced if bases on the west and southern coasts of Eire were made available to Britain. The second comment is that the British Government has never made the statement that German submarines were being fuelled and provisioned in Irish ports. The statement was made by an M.P. from Northern Ireland. Last month the British Minister of Information said that so far as he was aware there was no foundation for the allegation.

Irish people living in the United Kingdom are raising money to buy a Spitfirei

DAIL DEBATE MR DILLON’S MILD PROTEST. CONSULTATION SUGGESTED. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, November 8. In the speech in the Dail in which he said there was no question of handing over Irish ports, Mr De Valera recalled his declaration that he would never allow Eire to be used as a base for an attack against Britain. An extensive system of observation had operated since the outbreak of war to ensure that the ports were not used illegally. All parties applauded Mr De Valera’s declaration that there was no question of leasing the ports. Mr J. M. Dillon, Deputy-Leader of the Opposition, referring to Mr De Valera’s statement, said that as far as he was aware no demands had been made on Eire, no threats made and no violence forecast. In the circumstances were the terms of Mr De Valera’s statement best calculated to promote calm preparedness among the Irish people in the unforeseeable future? It seemed odd, he said, to hear men- j tion of the possibility of bloodshed, ■ even as a remote contingency, between two neighbours who had been at peace for centuries. He was certain any difficulties could be surmounted by consultation. He did not believe that Britain calculated or designe any demand or action prejudicial to the sovereignty of Eire. LORD CRAIGAVON’S VIEW. The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Craigavon, said: “However deeply the attitude of Eire rnay be deplored the student of the successive stages of Eire’s policy cannot be the least surprised. It was always evident that Eire, while accepting concession after concession from Britain, intended to give nothing in return. “Eire clings to neutrality in the midst of a war in which the Empire is fighting for its existence, simultaneously creating difficulties for the Power to which she owes her immunity from attack by Germany,” he said. “Mr De Valera’s announcement marks the culmination of a process y/e in Ulster have foreseen for 40 years.”