THE IRISH DELEGATES IN THE PRESENT NEGOTIATIONS

New Zealand Tablet, 8 September 1921, Page 27

THE IRISH DELEGATES IN THE PRESENT NEGOTIATIONS

The Irish delegation contains some names unfamiliar to the English public (says the Sew Witness, London). But it is well constituted so as to embody the strength of Sinn Fein, It is young and able. All the members are Ministers of Dail Eireann. De Valera and Arthur Griffith are sufficiently known here, Austin Stack and Robert Barton less so. Austin Stack is about 35 years of age, born in Kerry, which claims with some justice to produce more brains than any other Irish county. "He was in charge (writes an Irish correspondent to me) of the Volunteer organisation in Kerry before the 1916 rebellion, and was then arrested and got a life sentence. He was elected Secretary of Sinn Fein at the first Sinn Fein Convention at the Mansion House. He was the leader of the hungerstrike in Mount joy Gaol when Thomas Ashe died, and was subsequently prison leader in Belfast Gaol when that- prison was wrecked by its inmates before political terms were promised to/the prisoners—terms which were subsequently withdrawn. Finally, he escaped from Strangeways Gaol in Manchester, and since then he ranks as a leader of the Republican left wing. Yet his friends speak of him as a man of cool judgment, considered and,measured in thought and speech. Certainly he is intimately in touch with the country. And he has indubitably captivating manners." Mr. Robert Barton is a different but also an agreeable type. Minister of Agriculture in the Republican Government, he was a captain in the British Army during the war, and came into close contact with Sinn Fein when in barracks in Dublin after the rising. He is a Co. Wicklow landowner, with his seat, Glendalough House, in its most beautiful region. On one side he is of Scottish ancestry, connecting him up with the Earl of Mar. For generations his family have been progressive and popular agriculturists in Wicklow, and of himself it is not too much to say that he is the idol of his countryside. As well as being a Commandant in the Republican Army, he has .been associated with much of the business side of Sinn Fein activities. Sentenced to three years' penal servitude early in 1920 for a. seditious speech, he has been released after serving eighteen months of his sentence in penal association with criminals. His fine and essentially temperate mind has not suffered from these experiences. -