In the House of Commons on Thursday, March 2nd, the
Committee stage began on the Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill. We must content ourselves with choosing particular points and shall naturally choose the discussions which turned upon Ulster, as the protests of the Ulster members dominated the debate. Captain Craig said that the inclusion of Ulster in the Treaty was only a continuation of the Prime Minister's demand to coerce Ulster. Mr. Ronald McNeill complained of the persistent refusal of the Government to answer the simple qutstion which had been addressed to them. What Ulster wanted to know was exactly what had been promised verbally to Mr. Collins about the Ulster boundary. Why had Mr. Collins produced a map and stated that he had been promised the surrender to the Free State of a large part of the Northern territory ? Sir James Craig, on the other hand, had been assured that any changes in the boundary would be merely minor rectifications.
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