Chief Secretary for Ireland.

Part of Supply. — [7TH Allotted Day.] – in the House of Commons at on 3 April 1919.

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Photo of Mr Joseph Devlin Mr Joseph Devlin , Belfast Falls

As a matter of fact, it worked out that when the two Houses sat together they would, I believe, have had a large majority, at all events they would have been equal. Everybody knows that the equality proposed was more equality than it appears on paper. Their friends are more wealthy and are better united than we are. They represent the rich classes, and the rich classes never divide. They may divide the spoils, but they do not divide amongst themselves. Therefore I say their representation was greater than their numbers. What more did they want] To us the unity of Ireland was a great thing. It was sanctified, not only by the passionate desire of Munster, Connaught, and Leinster to stand with Ireland, but by the fact that some of the most superb, the most glorious, and the most courageous fights for liberty against the domination of this country were organised by gallant Protestants whose names stand on the beadroll of Irish glory. Nobody wanted partition. The alternative to partition was to do what was eminently undemocratic in giving the minority in Ireland a representation of half when they were only one-quarter of the population. Therefore, when the right hon. Gentleman says that when the question comes up to be finally adjusted it must be on lines of partition, because Ulster demands partition, as it is the only safety and safeguard, I tell him partition would not be accepted, and that the proposals of the Convention is the only real solution of this problem. We hear a great deal about the 300,000 Protestants in the three provinces in Ireland. What I object to about the hon. Members opposite is that they are too selfish and too insular. They are selfish because they think they are the only people on earth. You would imagine that Belfast was the Ark of the Covenant. I am a Belfast man. Belfast is not such a great place, after all. It has its good points and bad points, just like every other city. It has its magnificent buildings, its palatial residences, and its great technical school. It also has its slums.

Belfast has its sweated workers. It has its toiling and struggling women in our great mills and factories. It has very many evils; in some respects many more evils than some of your great industrial centres. But hon. Members believe it is the hub of the universe. I say they are too selfish and too insular. They talk about persecution, about belonging to the defenceless minority. Yet they would come to an arrangement and a settlement on this Irish question by which that powerful and strong dominant section stand there to protect their own interests, whilst they would desert to the tender mercies of the intolerable bigots and lions of the South of Ireland, who want to tear them asunder, these isolated Protestants in the other three provinces of Ireland. The Ulster Unionists would not have partition. The Ulster Catholics would not have partition. The rest of Ireland do not want partition. I believe that hon. Gentlemen opposite in their own hearts do not want partition. They only use the argument, not because it is good in itself, but because it is a good political instrument to use. There is no safety and no safeguard for this loyal minority! I want to say there is the greatest safeguard and the greatest security to be found in the generous and tolerant spirit of the Irish people. These people who never were religious persecutors. The right hon. Gentleman (Sir E. Carson) has repeatedly stated in this House that he does not believe that there would be a persecution of Protestants. Apart altogether from that historical and traditional attitude there is this additional guarantee put in our Report of the Convention that for fifteen years at least you will have the right to have the same representation in Ireland as we have ourselves.

Of course they do not want it! I put it to any English Member: "Would you want equality if you could get domination?" That is what exists to-day. Here in England you get the blame of misruling Ireland, whereas many of our rulers are Members from Ulster and occupy all the high places, and are provided with the various emoluments. You have the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He is a member of the Ulster Unionist party.