VOLUNTEER DEMONSTRATION IN DUBLIN

New Zealand Tablet, 3 June 1915, Page 43

VOLUNTEER DEMONSTRATION IN DUBLIN

The great parade and review of National' Volunteers in Dublin on Easter Sunday constituted a historic demonstration of National unity and strength (says the Freeman's Journal). From all parts of Ireland, from the remote villages of the West and South, as well as from the bigger centres of population, representative contingents of Ireland's National Army assembled in the city to take part in a demonstration as historic and perhaps no less significant than that of 1782. Fully twenty-seven thousand National Volunteers assembled in the Phoenix Park, and subsequently marched through the streets of Dublin amid the enthusiastic cheers of crowds estimated to number some 200,000 people. Though the ranks of the National Volunteers have been greatly thinned since the beginning of the war, and some twenty-five thousand of their enrolled members, and at the same time the best disciplined and best trained of them, have joined the army, the great gathering- demonstrated the strength and spirit of the forces of Nationalist Ireland and the fitness for defence of the country and its free institutions against all enemies. In the words of Mr. Redmond, it is inconceivable that after the spectacle in the Phoenix Park and in the streets of Dublin that the Government will any longer hesitate to use this splendid force for the defence of Ireland. "Unable to Travel. The full strength of the contingents who had intended to take part did not reach the city. The railway arrangements, though excellent in some cases, were found inadequate, and corps who had intended to travel to the city found themselves at the last moment unable to obtain the necessary travelling accommodation. This was hot the fault of the railway companies nor of the local organisers, but was entirely due to the fact that the numbers who decided to make the journey were so great as to be wholly unexpected, with the result that the railway officials were unable to cope with a rush that was not anticipated by anyone concerned. Were it not for unfortunate hitches in this direction a much larger number would have taken part in the parade. They would have added to the imposing array of numbers, but even in their absence the display in the

part and in the streets was so strikingly impressivve that its. significance and its moral cannot fail to» be. appreciated by all whose interest it is to consider and improve the present situation. > The Demonstration's Significance. The proceedings had a special message for the Government, to which, at the outbreak of the war, Mr. Redmond offered the' services of the Volunteers •in a memorable speech in ' the House of Commons. The demonstration was in the nature of a display of " the material which Mr. Redmond had offered, and a number of military officers present at Sunday's proceedings were unanimous in declaring that the material was of the very finest, and all that could be desired by the most exacting military necessities. There are probably available for home defencefor garrison duty and the guarding of bridges, railways, stores, etc., —some 30,000 Irish National Volunteers, of whom those who paraded the city yesterday were excellent types. Representative Gathering. Sunday's muster was not, of course, a gathering in full strength of the Irish National Volunteers, but rather a representative assembly of the men of which the Volunteers are composed. Practically every town and district of National Ireland was represented. Long and tiresome train journeys were made to take part in the National demonstration. Trains from the remote districts had to make a very early start to reach the city in time for the review, and there were hundreds who, in order to make the journey had to leave their homes as early as 3 o'clock in the morning. Special arrangements had been made for the attendance of travelling contingents at early Mass in their own districts, and thousands of the Volunteers marched direct from the churches to the railway stations. Many of the country contingents will not reach their homes again until the small hours of Monday morning, and it speaks well for the spirit and enthusiasm of these that they did not hesitate to do their part even under the most trying conditions, to make the review and parade thoroughly representative.