Madam, – I recently found a small piece of Irish history – a Fianna Fáil membership card for 1932-33. The contents of this little document are of interest in the current political debate.
On the outside is a quotation from James Fintan Lawlor (1807-1849): “The soil of Ireland for the people of Ireland to have and hold . . . for ever, without suit or service, faith or fealty, rent or render, to any power under heaven”. In the inside are the six then aims of Fianna Fáil, the third of which, after Irish unity and the Irish language was: “To make the resources and wealth of Ireland subservient to the needs and welfare of all the people of Ireland”. – Yours, etc,