50 Years Ago

IN the November issue of An t-Éireannach Aontaithe/The United Irishman a front-page headline features "European Defence".

"It would be irrational to place Partition first and Europe second", Prof. Williams said. "Partition, although an imperfection and a blot on our national copybook, did not deprive us of the substance of our independence.

"The solution of Partition was therefore subordinate to the securing of those wider principles upon whose acceptance in international relations the Independence of the State depended".

The writer in the UI commented: This man lectures to the young men and women who will perhaps, teach thousands of Irish boys and girls history, or who will enter the higher executive positions in the Civil Service.

“Little wonder that a BA student at UCD under the influence of such lectures asserted to me last year that the Famine (sic) which plagued Ireland in the 1840s was not England's doing, but a result of the potato blight and other economic circumstances. He said it was necessary for England to take away our corn and meat in order to build Ireland's economy.

“Surely university lecturers who teach such false history and men like Professor Williams who teach that Partition may not be our Primary problem, surely such men are traitors. The Chancellor of the NUI, to which UCD belongs, is Mr E de Valera.”

Apparently, establishment figures were pushing for membership of NATO fifty years ago, but were unsuccessful.

On page three of the UI an extract from the Constitution of Óglaigh Na h-Éireann is carried and commented on.
 

2. To establish and uphold a lawful Government in sole and absolute control of the Republic.

3. To secure and defend civil and religious liberty and equal rights and equal opportunities for all citizens.

4. To promote the revival of the Irish language as the every day language of the people, and to promote the development of the best mental and physical characteristics of our race.
 

Comment:

"Constitution Continued:
The means by which Óglaigh Na h-Éireann shall endeavour to achieve its objects are:

1. Force of arms.

2. Organising, training and equipping the manhood of Ireland as an efficient military force.

3. Assisting as directed by the Army Authority, all organisations working fir the same objects.
 

Comment:

Objects and means are, of course, what the Sinn Féin Plan of Campaign published in 1952 was about, but principally about means. The final section of the Plan listed a series of six steps of policy.

Step one and two were carried in full in the instalment of last June. No. 1 dealt with “enlightening the people on the aims and objects of the Republican Movement . . . through an intensive propaganda campaign to rouse them out of apathy and disillusionment…”

 2.  “Coincident with 1 sought to ‘build up the strength and increase the resources of the Movement’ by each of the organisations ‘giving attention to matters within their own sphere . . .’

At the same time they should cooperate with each other in matters of general interest, “bearing in mind the absolute necessity for thorough coordination of effort at every stage of the forward drive”.

We now conclude the text of the Plan with steps 3 to 6 inclusive and the electoral declaration to Sinn Féin to be taken by all parliamentary candidates.

3. As a corollary to, and a means of implementing 1 and 2, make preparations to enter the contest of Local Government elections in the 26 Counties: elected representatives to participate in the duties of Local Government Bodies. (Note: Of a total of 76 Local Government Bodies in the Six Counties, the pro-Irish control not more than ten.)

4. Make preparations to contest parliamentary elections in the 26 Counties. Republicans will not enter Leinster House as a minority group; given a majority, they are prepared to assume governmental control over the area, not through the present partition machinery, but through the Republican Government constituted of elected or selected representatives of all Ireland.

5. As a means of bringing the policy of the Republican Movement to the knowledge of the nationally-minded people of the Six Counties, of demonstrating to them that Republicans share with them the task of liberating the Six Counties and that they may with confidence rely upon the support of the entire Republican Movement in the accomplishment of that task, and of clearly indicating the national nature of the Movement, prepare to contest on an abstentionist policy all twelve constituencies returning representatives to Westminster.

6. Having secured a majority of the elected representatives in the 26 Counties, issue an invitation to all members of Stormont to take their seats in the Parliament of Republic and transfer their allegiance and powers to the National Government.

“It is most unlikely that the invitation will be accepted by more than twelve out of the fifty two representatives.

“To cover such a contingency and to make the National Parliament representative of the entire country, members to represent those Stormont constituencies whose elected members refuse to sit in the National Parliament can be selected through constituency conventions or other agreed machinery.

“All candidates in parliamentary elections must make the following declaration:

‘I ……… of ……… having been selected as a candidate to represent Sinn Féin for the constituency of . . . . .   in the forthcoming elections of Parliamentary Representatives, do hereby solemnly and publicly pledge myself as follows:

A. That I shall not, if elected, sit in or take part in the proceedings of any Parliament legislating for, or purporting to legislate for, the people of Ireland, other than the Parliament of the Irish Republic constituted as at paragraph 4 above.

B. That pending the establishment of the Parliament of the Irish Republic, in all matters pertaining to the duties and functions of a Parliamentary representative, I shall be guided by and hold myself amenable to all directions and instructions issued to me by the Ard Chomhairle of the Sinn Féin Organisation.

C. That pending the establishment of the Parliament of the Irish Republic, I shall at any time, if called upon by a majority of the Ard Chomhairle of the Sinn Féin organisation, resign my seat as Parliamentary Representative for the Constituency of ……….

Signed  ….......... Address…………..
Witness ………. Address…………..
Witness ………. Address……………

Any breach of this pledge will be considered as an overt act of treachery and will be treated as such.

(Candidates for election to Local Government Bodies in the Six Counties must make a similar declaration)

Ed Note: In point of fact an amended version of the Parliamentary candidates pledge quoted above but substantially unaltered was later incorporated into the Constitution of Sinn Féin. A separate pledge for local government candidates in all of Ireland was inserted at Rule 39 of the Constitution and Rules.

“It should be noted that the policy as outlined from No's 1 to 6 above can and will be broadened in scope to meet varying circumstances as and when they arise.”

The last paragraph quoted above is particularly important. One of the two Ard Rúnaithe of Sinn Féin in 1952 and 53 told this writer of the hidden significance of that final paragraph

He said that there were two additional paragraphs which were not printed and published. These referred to a programme of Passive Resistance to be engaged in two phases (a) Non-Co-operation and (b) Civil Disobedience in order to build public support in the Six Counties.

Since they were not committed to publicity it was relatively easy to pass over them and they were never in fact engaged in. More is the pity.

We have seen how useful was the Civil Disobedience campaign which took place during the latest phase of internment without trial north of the Border 1971-75 in mobilising public support and participation. The Rent and Rates strike, coupled with on-payment of electricity and gas bills, is the most memorable aspect of this.

Non-Co-operation in the form of refusing to recognise British courts or to seek permits from the Crown Forces for parades to collections for Easter Lilies etc was certainly engaged in in the 1950s.

Such activity was, of course, confined to active Republicans and did not involve the wider general population which a campaign of Civil Disobedience could have.
What was lacking was a mass-movement on the streets.

In the late 1950s, 1958 to be exact, the Ard-Rúnaí of 1952-53 lamented the fact that Passive Resistance had never been implemented. It would have given the Resistance Campaign of 1956-62 so much more momentum, he maintained.

He had become by 1958 a clerical student on his way to the priesthood where he still serves. Ad multos annos . . .

This month's instalment concludes the serialisation of the Sinn Féin Plan of Campaign as published first in 1952. It is impossible to assess the 1950s period in the Republican Movement without studying this document.

The November 1952 issue of An tÉireannach Aontaithe/The United Irishman also carried an appreciation of Mrs Eilís Mac Curtáin of Cork who had died the previous month. It was signed “MB”, presumably Margaret Buckley, a Cork woman herself and President of Sinn Féin 1937-50.

She wrote of how Eilís Walsh and her sisters joined Inghínidhe na hÉireann and with the Cork Celtic Literary Society “dared to launch a revolutionary gospel into the vortex of shoneenism which at that time held the country in thrall”.

“Eilís Walsh met Tomás Mac Curtáin in the ‘Celtic’ and her outlook never wavered even when he was murdered in their home in the presence of their children.

“She imbued her family with the Republican faith and braced her spirit to bear another blow when her only son Tomás Óg was sentenced to death for the same ‘crime’ as his father was murdered.”

Margaret Buckley went on to describe her midnight visit to the Mac Curtáin home with the “glad tidings” of the last minute reprieve from the British hangman of Tomás Óg.

“The quality of this Irishwoman can be measured only by the brave front she showed while her heart was breaking. The long lonely ensuing years took their toll but she never complained.

“Eilís Mac Curtáin was in very truth ‘a valiant woman’,” she concluded.

(More next month. Refs. An tÉireannach Aontaithe/The United Irishman, June and November 1952.)

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Web layout by SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom November 9, 2002  Send links, events notifications, articles, comments etc, to the editor at: saoirse@iol.ie.