Item 5 - Article, 'The Irish Political Situation'

3pp

Article written by Father Hayes (evidently for an Irish-American audience) on the Irish general election of 9 June 1927, specifically regarding the conduct of parties and candidates who did not make their intentions clear as to whether they supported or opposed the Oath of Allegiance. Father Hayes writes 'It is a pity that the clear issue could not be put before the people, without being crossed by party aims.' He writes that without the threat of war by England, the majority of Irish would vote for the removal of the oath. Father Hayes also laments the 'abandonment' of the Catholic population in Northern Ireland and that the boundary does not reflect the actual geographic distribution of the wishes of the inhabitants ('If, then, to appease the non-Irish section of the North East, this clause was rendered useless, surely to appease the consciences of a large section of our own people, the faithfulness to King George could also be eliminated.) He proclaims that in Cumann na nGaedheal and Fianna Fáil 'we have the best of our Irishmen... Let those two principle[sic] sections come together again... ...it is up to them to unite again and thus bring to a happy completion the results of their fight for freedom'. Father Hayes concludes by writing that over 90 percent of TDs were Catholic and 'Perhaps this unifying principle of religion may yet bring unity in our political struggles.'

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05/07/2024
17/07/2025