The I.R.A. Suppressed Englishmen will welcome the suppression of the
Irish Republican Army as another step in Mr. de Valera's evolution from violence to legality. The I.R.A. repre- sents the Republic of the 1916 Dublin rising, which Mr. de Valera also once represented ; its suppression is sufficient proof that the President has finally broken with the Republic and committed himself to the Free State. This step is of importance to Great Britain, because co-operation, even friendship, is possible, if we ourselves are wise, with the Free State. With the " Republic " they are impossible. That Mr. de Valera is determined to carry out the formal suppression is shown by the impressive display of force made at Bodens- town, where Wolfe Tone is buried, and where, on Sunday, the I.R.A. had intended to hold a demonstration. It was as good a way as any to show the superior forces at the disposal of the Free State Government. On the same day, Friday, when the I.R.A. was declared illegal, one of its " generals," Maurice Twomey, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for belonging to an illegal organisation : it is an interesting example of the principles and methods of the I.R.A. that Twomey refused to recognise the legality of the court and that he had in his possession papers relating to recent murders in the Free State.
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