Eire and the I.R.A.
The recurrence of I.R.A. -activity in Eire has been fol- lowed, with commendable swiftness, by the introduction by the Government of Eire of an Emergency Powers Bill, em- powering the internment of any person whose continued existence at large is believed to be a menace to public safety, and expected to be put into practical effect immediately upon a considerable scale. The reason that Mr. De Valera has not acted before is that a certain sentimental significance still attaches in Eire to the name of I.R.A. and it was not expected that the activities of that politically negligible body would attain the sensational level of an attack upon an arsenal; now that it has forced him to take action, he can be counted upon to be resolute. Opposition to the Bill is likely to be confined to the ranks of the organisation against which it is aimed; while Irishmen by nature look charitably on any movement which challenges Government, the methods of the I.R.A. have deprived them of the sympathy even of those who share some of their political aims.
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