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AFTERMATH

As the war ended, Churchill, stung by de Valera's condolences on the death of Hitler, attacked Irish neutrality. De Valera broadcast a thoughtful rebuttal. An Irish Times editorial considered the matter.

The Taoiseach's reply to Mr Churchill was as temperate as it was dignified. Mr de Valera has his faults as a statesman and a politician; but he has one outstanding quality. He is a gentlemen. Never in the course of a long public career has he ever been rude or discourteous, and his broadcast on Wednesday night was a model of good manners . . .

On the other hand Mr de Valera is cursed or blessed with a metaphysical mind; and the recent war blew metaphysics, as it blew so many other things, sky-high. In the world of today, realism is the only thing that matters. Mr de Valera's logic, doubtless, may have been unimpeachable, but for all that it was wrong.

Let us take two examples. In the first place Ireland's neutrality was unique. It could not be compared in anyway to the neutrality of countries such as Switzerland or Sweden, which are wholly independent states. Ireland's international position . . . is, to say the least of it, ambiguous.

Eire is neither a republic nor a dominion of the British Commonwealth. From the point of view of international law, the instrument governing this country's position in the world is the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. This instrument, however, in actual fact, has ceased to exist in the 26 Counties. Many of its most important provisions have been denounced by Mr de Valera's government, with the result that relations between Ireland on one hand and Great Britain and the Commonwealth on the other hand, are almost impossible to define. Although throughout the war, Ireland was neutral , all her diplomatic representatives abroad were accredited under the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936, by the King of England . . . Ireland's neutrality therefore was sui generis [ unique].

In the second place, Mr de Valera's hypothetical question to Mr Churchill had little relation to fact. There is an obvious difference between forcible seizure of six English counties by a foreign power and the unhappy situation that exits in this country. Here, unfortunately, the majority of the inhabitants of the six sundered countries support partition. 'Tis true,'tis pity and 'tis pity 'tis true. Mr de Valera's hypothetical analogy may be logical; but again it is false. The relations between Eire and the Six Counties, like those between Eire and the Commonwealth, are unique.

Having said so much, we would venture to suggest that once more that Mr Churchill did less than justice to the people of this country. Unfortunately for some time past there has been a wave of anti-Irish feeling both in Great Britain and the United States; and in some respects every intelligent Irishman can understand it.

. . . In actual fact, however, Ireland's neutrality from the very start operated in favour of the United Nations (sic) and particularly of Great Britain. The country had no Foreign Enlistment Act, with the result that at least 100,000 . . . of her sons joined the British forces. Their fighting record can bear proud comparison with that of the fighting men of any of the officially belligerent countries. Furthermore this country sent many scores of workers to Great Britain, where they not only made valuable contributions to her war effort, but also shared the trials and tribulations of her people during their darkest, albeit their most glorious hours . . .

The war is over. Mistakes have been made everywhere, and Ireland is no more infallible than any other country. Surely the time has come when we all must look not over our shoulders, but towards the hard road that lies ahead. For better or worse, the destinies of these two islands are inseparable . . . the future requires an act of oblivion concerning the past. We rejoice that Mr de Valera, at least, has given the soft answer.

From Tuesday, May 15, 1945