Sir, - This year marks the centenary of the last golden opportunity there was to arrive at an equitable and honourable settlement of Irish affairs. I refer of course to the meetings of the Recess Committee of 1896.
At that time there were virtually no policy differences between Catholics and Protestants. Both sides detested the interference of Whitehall, both felt that only Irishmen could settle the affairs of Ireland, both were enthusiastic for the revival of Irish language and culture. Both Conservative and Liberal governments were prepared to make generous arrangements if the two sides could agree. There was no reason why Ireland should not have become a self governing dominion on the same day as Australia in 1900.
But the nationalist MPs by and large boycotted the meetings. One can only assume they had an ulterior motive, and that this was to gain exclusive control of political corruption in Ireland. In other words they wanted to import Tammany Hall to Ireland, and they did not intend sharing the profits from the rackets with anyone else.
There is little doubt too that the Catholics in America liked the Tammany Hall style derived from the native Irish chiefs. You selected a patron, paid your dues to him, did what he wanted, beat up his opponents, personated at elections for him. He then looked after your interests. He found you jobs on the city's payroll, and his mob protected you from the other mob.
The arrival of Sinn Fein and the IRA only added a fig leaf of racist ideology to this essential corruption, violence, and greed. They are only notable for being the mob which was ultimately successful in getting its hand on the loot. The objections of the Protestants and Unionists was not to Home Rule per se but to the racketeering of which they were the designated victims.
The Irish Republic should be purging out all relics of that violent and corrupt period from its midst. It is as inglorious as the fascist period was in Germany. The flag, and the National Anthem must be thrown out; they must not be kept as bargaining counters. But the period should not be forgotten. All the various monuments and memorials commemorating and glorifying the greed, corruption, and violence from the Land League to the present day should be gathered together in one museum, called possible the Museum of Fascism. They should be displayed there with accounts of what was actually done, and not the rose tinted version of recent Irish mythology.
Then the nationalist negotiators, having purged the evil from among them and expressed publicly their repentance, can go to the talks with the Ulster Protestants and the British government. They should not try to enter into talks and negotiations before that.
What better time for a Christian people to confess its sins than the time of Easter? - Yours, etc.,
Bluebird Walk,
Chalk Hill Road,
Wembley Park, Middlesex.