Amongst many accumulated books in my collection are ones which I open from time to time and dig out a fascinating nugget or two. for example –
FROM THE POLITICAL DIARIES OF C.P.SCOTT
10-11 May 1917 –
-“The news of the South Longford election had come in just before I arrived on Thursday afternoon (i.e. the 10th). Redmondwas ofcourse deeply concerned. It was a direct challenge to the authority and representative character of the Nationalist party. The letter of Archbishop Walsh, published on the evening before the poll and placarded everywhere after there was no time to answer it. It was a stab in the back which had no doubt turned the scale, but quite apart from that the result was near enough. It had hitherto been a solidly Nationalist constituency, they had the Bishop on their side and nearly all the priests, the town of Longford had been an active recruiting centre and the wives and mothers of the enlisted men went about waving both the Irish flag and the Union Jack and cheering for the Khaki, and they had ‘a fierce mob’ too on their side who broke the Sinn Feiners’ heads with bottles – and yet they could not win! The election was turned by voters in the country districts. There the young men had all gone over to Sinn Fein and they took their fathers to the poll, and threatened if they did not vote for the Sinn Feiner they would not work for them.
The Nationalist party would now have to seriously reconsider its whole position. After such a blow they could not sit down and wait to be shot at. Some decisive action must be taken. He thought they would have to resign their seats in a body and either challenge re-election or else simply retire from political life and leave Sinn Fein and the British Government face to face………….”
From 15 May 1917-
“Called in morning on Dillon. He said position in Ireland ‘perfectly devilish’. Nationalists could not answer for the country; nobody could. If the Sinn Feiners found a capable leader ‘they would wipe the floor with us’. ……………..”
Remarkable, but I don’t know if any historians or commentators have noted these revealing remarks.
They reveal that John Redmond knew in his heart that his game was up. He was quite happy that his “Nationalist” women supporters flaunted the Union Jack and broke the heads of Sinn Feiners with bottles. Those women had no votes and he had previously told C.P. Scott (Editor of The Manchester Guardian ) that he was opposed to women having the vote. The idea of his party resigning their seats en-masse and re-fighting them was an idle remark. There hadn’t been a General Election for seven
years, and events in Ireland, Europe and the world had changed. Changed utterly and Redmond wa out of his depth.
A few weeks later Redmond’s brother, Major Willie Redmond was killed in the Great War, leaving his East Clare constituency vacant. Eamon de Valera won it and held it for the following forty two years. Later in 1917 Sinn Fein was reorganised and elected de Valera as is President. At the 1918 General Election he not only held East Clare but won East Mayo as well from John Dillon. (John Redmond had died earlier in 1918)
I suppose there are Begrudgers around still would dispute the fact that de Valera was a capable leader. Come to think of it Fergal Keane is one such explicit Begrudger and Fintan O’Toole an Implicit one.
There might even be some Blueshirt Begrudgers who would support them.
There are some rum characters among today’s Blueshirts, not least our anti-clerical Taoiseach, who would seemingly have been more comfortable under Rohm than Rome.
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