Mr. de Valera and the I.R.A.
One of the most unfortunate consequences of the I.R.A.'s campaign of terrorism in this country is the popular anti- pathy to Irishmen as such that it has inspired. Yet the average Irishman has no more sympathy than the average Englishman with the fanatics of the LR.A.; and this week the Free State Government showed that it has every inten- tion of assisting this country in suppressing their terrorist activities. Under the new Offences Against the State Act, the Dublin police, after raiding and searching the houses of men believed to be implicated in the I.R.A. campaign, arrested five suspects, including one deportee from England. This country will be grateful to Mr. de Valera for the measures he is taking. His Government has no need of, and cannot countenance, such measures as those of the I.R.A., which, indeed, have done untold harm to the cause of the United Ireland which Mr. de Valera has so much at heart ; for their outrages have notably diminished the growing number of people in this country who sympathise with Mr. de Valera's objectives as well as the methods by which he pursues them. By suppressing the I.R.A. Mr. de Valera will help Ireland even more than Great Britain.
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