The Situation in Eire
Broadcasting last Monday Mr. de Valera said that even the maintenance of neutrality will mean for Eire much hard- ship and privation. That is no doubt true. The economic situation of a country situated as Eire is, bent on preserving a neutrality which, though not designedly so, is extremely helpful to Germany, is inevitably grave. The public in this country is not lacking in sympathy for the Southern Irish, who are undoubtedly suffering from a severe shortage of food and other necessaries of life. But the bringing in of military supplies to Great .Britain is a condition of our own survival, and we can hardly be expected to release much-needed shipping for the Southern Irish when they are unwilling even to give the use of those bases which were originally secured to us under the Treaty. The decision is entirely one for Mr. de Valera's Government, and his unwillingness to co-operate even to. a limited extent with the rest of the Empire is a matter for him and Eire alone. We can understand his desire not to expose the towns of Eire to the possibility of being bombed, and we in this country have not been disposed to dwell on the greater dangers to which neutrality exposes her by weakening our defences—defences which are also hers. But in the United States there are not the same reasons for reserve, and the report may well be true that the American Government, asked by the Eire Minister of Defence to supply shipments of wheat and arms to Eire, has replied that any such arrangement could only be under the terms of the Lease and Lend Act, and would require some—and a particular—quid pro quo.
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