IRISH EXTREMISTS
By R. B. D. FRENCH
THE " Irish Republican Army "' may or may not be responsible for the present disturbing series of outrages in England, but there can be little doubt that most of them at least are the work of Irish extremists. They constitute a muddle-headed and dangerous form of protest against the partition of Ireland, and they have a double purpose. The first is to embarrass Britain at a moment when the disloca- tion of services would interfere with the rearmament pro- gramme, in the hope, apparently, that the Government will abandon Northern Ireland rather than put up with a nuis- ance which might cause a slackening of the national effort. The second is to embarrass Mr. de Valera. A single speaker who advocated unconstitutional force in dealing with par- tition in a recent debate in the Irish Senate was checked by the Chairman when he urged the Prime Minister to say something about the arrested men in London, but not before he had got out a reference to " young men who are prepared to sacrifice their lives—" and had made his point clear. Was Mr. de Valera not prepared to play the " manly part "?
Thwarted republicanism has been expressing its chagrin against Mr. de Valera in bitter words for some years, and particularly since he made his agreement with the United Kingdom last spring. For some time previously, however, the extremists had confined their activities in Ireland to a series of modest outrages. Some property was destroyed, for the most part monumental masonry, a cinematograph film about Queen Victoria was stolen—a successor to it was being shown in Dublin last week with police and detec- tives round the theatre—and hints were conveyed to cinema managers that it was unpatriotic to include shots of the Royal family in news-reels. It is true that more serious crimes sometimes occurred, and that such events as a coronation or a Royal visit to the North were certain to produce a crop of lawless acts, but the prestige of the extremists was clearly on the wane.
What has happened to bring them into the news again and to carry their activities across the Channel? The answer may be looked for in the Munich Agreement of September. When Britain accepts the thesis that the aspirations of a minority must be satisfied, even though they may be largely formulated by an outside Power, and though their fulfilment may involve the virtual destruction of the State in which the minority lives, a tempting parallel can be drawn between Ireland and Central Europe. As a consequence the drive against partition has gained markedly in impetus since Munich. Shortly afterwards, Mr. de Valera gave his series of interviews to newspapers, from which it appeared that Britain could not count upon Ireland's friendship in the event of war if partition remained. This is an attitude wh:ch his speech on defence last week shows him to have since modified, but his earlier words dismayed many in Ireland who had been encouraged by his speeches at the time to believe that the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1938 would inaugurate a period of genuinely friendly relations. More, they gave the extremists new hope and brought them into the open again. Trouble broke out on the border, and now the attempt at coercion by force has spread to Great Britain itself.
The size and composition of the I.R.A. is as much of a mystery to the ordinary Irishman as it must be in England. This " army " represents the militant section of the extreme republicans who have broken away from Mr. de Valera as his own republicanism has paled. Its ranks probably include most types from the highly-educated Ulster Protestant to the Irish-American gunman. The common bond is refusal to recognise any authority except the old pre-Treaty Dail of the Irish Republic, which is claimed to be still in being and the only Parliament of Ireland. All the legislation of the Northern Parliament and the present Dail it regards as ultra vires. The I.R.A. has nevei been very large in numbers, and the years have robbed it of many of its original stalwarts. The announcement in a Sunday paper that it has in operation in England 2,000 gunmen financed by Nazi Germany has prob- ably made many Irishmen smile. Even in the " troubles " there were scarcely more than 2,000 gunmen about, and there is a feeling that if German thoroughness were behind the present campaign it would look less amateurish than it does at present.
At the same time, the I.R.A. has the sympathy of a certain number of Irish people who are quite capable of carrying on destructive activities in a small way. Their number is perhaps one in a thousand of the population, but the I.R.A. has not made itself felt in Ireland by weight of numbers. One man with a gun can do a great deal in a country which has vivid memories of gun-rule and no deep instinctive respect for authority. What has kept it going is the virtual impossibility of securing convictions owing to the general reluctance to give evidence against political offenders, and its own power of avenging itself upon anyone who dares to do so. Political criminals are rarely appre- hended by the ordinary processes of law, and, where the gravest crimes are concerned, never punished. The Cosgrave Government introduced trial without jury to deal with them, and Mr. de Valera retained it for a time and kept in the new Constitution a clause allowing special courts to be set up again if need be.
For all the firmness which is shown in the new Treason and Offences Against the State Bills, which will set up such courts, many people in Ireland arc profoundly discouraged and anxious about the future. While there is little fear that these outrages will do much harm in England, there is some fear that the British people may be sufficiently irritated by them to refuse employment to Irish workmen and servants, and so put an end to the emigration which is economically necessary at present. Apart from this, the cause of Irish unity and peace has been badly set back. Mr. de Valera's campaign against partition has strengthened the hands of the Northern Government, and has brought about further undemocratic measures in both parts of the country. The gulf between the illegal associations and the left wing of parliamentary republicanism is not wide, and there is always the fear that some of Mr. de Valera's more extreme followers may cross it. This fear has been increased by his own words in the recent Senate debate on partition.
Far from suggesting that a solution is in sight, this debate revealed an almost hopeless state of things. In response to the appeal that the Government should take more into account the loyalties and interests of the North, Mr. de Valera has replied that the North must accept the loyal- ties of the majority in an Ireland not only united but Gaelic- speaking. Since there is abundant evidence to suggest that even in the South the cause of the language makes a decidedly tepid appeal nowadays, this speech has had a depressing effect. Mr. de Valera was vaguely confident that unity would rather encourage than harm Northern industry, but there is no serious attempt to work out the economic prospects of a united Ireland. Most discouraging of all, Mr. de Valera explained that his denial of any intention to use force in reclaiming the Nationalist areas is dictated simply by the belief that force would not succeed. So, shortly after the I.R.A. " ultimatum " to Britain to withdraw her troops from the North, Mr. de Valera confesses with dis- arming wistfulness that if he had the resources of a Hitler he would feel justified in using them for the redintegration of his country.
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