The official Free State messages from Dublin state that the
irregulars are being successfully rounded up in Leitrim, Sligo and Donegal. Nevertheless, the irregulars have been able to do a great deal of damage to property, including many bridges and sections of the railways. The Dublin reports tell us practi- cally nothing about Cork, and we turn to the Cork newspapers to try to glean some information. We at once find that the Cork newspapers are publishing official Republican news. The glowing account of Republican successes published in one newspaper is probably distasteful to the vast majority of the readers of that paper. No doubt certain columns in the news- papers are commandeered for the benefit of the Republicans at the point of the pistol. We must, therefore, read the news as presented by the Republicans with extreme reserve.
