IRISH NEWS

New Zealand Tablet, 6 March 1919, Page 31

IRISH NEWS

■■ ■ ' - -■» The Daily Mail's New York correspondent, telegraphing, says:—The Bishop of Birmingham, Dr. Russell Wakefield, who has just completed a series of very effective speeches in the West and Middle West, is returning home filled with the profound conviction that “until the Irish question is settled friendship between the United States and England cannot be perfectly cemented.” Fie tells me that wherever he went , he encountered the ghost of Ireland in some form or other. The bishop left in the Mauretania. He said to me just before his departure that if the Irish sore were healed no propaganda by other nationalities against Great Britain would be effective in the United States.

RICHARD COLEMAN; PUBLIC FUNERAL IN DUBLIN. The body of Richard Coleman, Sinn Fein prisoner, arrived in Dublin from Usk Prison on Thursday, December 13, and was interred at Glasnevin on the following Sunday, the body meanwhile lying at Westland Row Church. Fifty thousand mourners followed the hearse, including delegates from all parts of the country. The cortege was headed by GO Volunteers in uniform and wearing bandoliers. Fifty priests followed, including many members of the religious Orders. Then came the firing party, the mourning carriages, the Sinn Fein Executive, the Lord Mayor, companies of Volunteers numbering 4000, mourning coaches, taxis, motors, etc. A prominent feature was the Fingal Volunteer Battalion, 400 strong, of which deceased was captain. During the passage of the funeral procession through the streets rain fell very heavily, and it is stated that never before were so many umbrellas seen together in O’Connell Street. Along the way shops were closed, blinds drawn, and draped Sinn Fein flags hung from many windows. Save for the melancholy Irish dirges and funeral marches, not a sound was heard except the measured tread of marching men and women. A large number of soldiers who watched the procession at many points respectfully saluted the remains. On arriving at Glasnevin the body was received by the chaplain, the Rev. J. Fitzgibbon, who recited the customary prayers to which the other clergy made the responses. The Rev. Father Augustine, 0.5.F.C., recited the Rosary in Irish. Then the firing party fired three blank volleys and the “Last Post” was sounded. Richard Coleman sleeps in the Martyrs’ Circle, besides O’Donovan Rossa and Thomas Ashe. To the end, beside the grave , in addition to the chief mourners, were Mrs. Pearse, Mrs. Eamon Kent, Countess Plunkett, Mrs. Joseph Mary Plunkett, and the Lord Mayor. The Irish Independent slates the Sinn Fein prisoners in Usk Gaol are confined in the oldest portion of the buildings, which consists of dimly lighted and badly ventilated cells and narrow corridors. The exercise ground is of exceedingly small dimensions. On the other hand the new portion of the buildings, occupied by convicts, is one of the most up to date in England, and has an extensive exercise ground. One of the internees swore at the inquest that Coleman’s death was due to insanitary conditions and want of proper care. The isolation ward had only accommodation for five patients, and on one occasion a patient was removed from the ward back to his cell to make room for a worse case! This will give the public to understand that Irish prisoners against whom no definite charge has been made, and who never were brought to trial, are treated in England worse, than convicted criminals. ■ „ . THE GENERAL ELECTION IN IRELAND INCIDENTS OF THE POLLINGS. The police authorities state that the country had rarely witnessed a general election, generally speaking, so free from disorder and disturbance. “A most orderly election ” was the official summing up. In

Waterford a mob composed partly of soldiers attacked the Volunteer Hall and the houses of prominent Sinn I einers, and Dr. White, the Sinn Fein candidate, was injured. In the case of the eight doubtful Ulster seats Cardinal Logue was appealed, to and decided that four (which he named) should go to the Irish Party and four to Sinn Fein. This decision Was generally acted upon; the supporters of the Irish Party and the supporters of Sinn Fein voting for the selected candidates. In some cases, however, and notably in North Derry and North Armagh, many prominent supporters of Mr. Dillon abstained from voting. Matters were worse in East Down, where they flouted the award of the Caidinal, thereby causing the loss of a Nationalist seat. The Most Rev. Dr. Walsh, exercising the franchise for the first time since his appointment to the Archbishopric of Dublin (nearly 40 years), voted for the Sinn Fein candidates in Clontarf and North Dublin. It is stated that the members of his household worked for the Sinn Fein candidate in the St. James’ division.

Cardinal Logue, in his fight against dismemberment, voted for Professor O’Brien, the Sinn Fein candidate in Mid-Armagh. The newly-enfranchised women went to the poll in large numbers. It is a fact of extraordinary significance for the future of Ireland that they voted Sinn Fein almost solidly. Two old couples who were illiterate polled in one constituency, the men for the party candidate, the women for Sinn Fein. in constituencies where there were no Unionist candidates the Unionists polled strongly for the party candidates, even in cases where their leaders asked them to abstain. In Dublin they voted openly for Mr. D. J. Nugent (general secretary A.0.H.) and Sir P. Shortall, the party candidates for St. Michans and Clontarf. In South Derry, Mr. Walsh, the Sinn Fein candidate, received the votes of an old woman of 105 and of a girl of 7, who had got on the register by mistake. At Clonmel an old woman walked three miles on crutches to vote for Mr. McCann, Sinn Fein. In South Derry a Unionist lady over 100 years of age voted. In East Mayo, many old men and women had to be assisted to the polling stations, and a number of invalids,' wrapped in Vugs and shawls, also voted. Similar incidents occurred all over the country. The London limes asks —“ When will people realise that Ireland is not a question of domestic politics only, but a permanent disturber of the compass in our foreign and colonial policy too?” The Times made Lloyd George Premier, and is generally regarded as his chief organ. The Sinn Fein triumph in Ireland is evidently not without its effect.