Li his statement in the Howe of Commons on Monday,
Mr. Churchill pointed out- how patient the Government had been while the Provisional Government had been " forced or led into a series of weak and unsatisfactory compromises " in regard to the I.R.A. While the Government had been indulgent towards these breaches of the Treaty, Mr. De Valera and his friends had not even kept their promises but had created disorder throughout the country and embroiled Southern Ireland with Ulster. Two so-called divisions of the I.R.A. were actually located in Ulster in spite of the truce and the Treaty. The Republicans had attempted, not only to make the task of the Provisional Govern- ment impossible in the South, but " to break down the Northern Government." In these circumstances the Northern Govern- ment must be supported effectively and at all costs. The material means of defence had already been sent.
Previous page
