The Irish Free State Government enacted some time ago that
the authority of the General Medical Council and the validity in Ireland of the British Medical Register, which lapsed under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, should be continued for a year which ends in February next. Now they have announced that there will be no further continuation of the British and Irish relations ; the Irish Branch of the General Medical Council will be abolished and a separate Register for the Free State will be established. From the actions of Mr. Cosgrave and the tone of his recent speeches we cannot believe that it was any satisfaction to him to propose this step or to defend it by saying that Irish constitutional dignity could not brook the headquarters of the profession being in the capital—not of the Empire, but of " another country." He has plainly given way .to shortsighted and jealous Republican pressure. The 'first result of this lamentable step would be that the universities and medical schools of the Free State would lose their students, who would not be recognized as quali- fied outside the twenty-six counties. The next would be that Ireland would have to ask for the same reciprocal treatment that is received by the Dominion Registers.
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