BACK PAGES:James Dillon, TD for Monaghan and a future leader of Fine Gael, was one of the few public figures to question Ireland's neutrality during the second World War and support a pro-Allies stand. In the course of a lengthy speech to the Dáil defending neutrality, taoiseach Éamon de Valera took issue with Dillon's reported views.
‘ON ONE occasion he [Dillon] advocated that we should give our ports to the United States and take whatever the consequences might be – in other words, get into the war. He did not get very much support here. He had a great opportunity of putting this to the test during the general election, but he took good care then not to suggest to the people of Monaghan that what he wanted to do was to get into the war, he took good care then to tell the people that it was only a foolish person who would bring upon himself the horrors of war.”
When Mr Dillon intervened to ask if the taoiseach was quoting him, Mr de Valera promptly read from the Irish Independent, May 1943: "At Donoughmore, Mr Dillon stated they were told that if they voted for him they would be in the war, but no one was so foolish as to bring upon himself all the horrors of war."
Mr Dillon again intervened, observing that he already had written to the newspapers to the effect that those words had not been spoken by him, and he added that he had published a speech on neutrality, and what he had said then he said now, and that was, that nobody wanted war, but there were worse things than war.
“Does the deputy mean that this country should go into the war?” asked Mr de Valera. “The people of this country do not want the horrors of war.”
“No,” agreed Mr Dillon.
“Well, there are carefully chosen words,” said Mr de Valera, “designed to deceive the people and to say to the electorate: ‘I don’t want war, and if you vote for me you are not voting for one who wants this country to go to war.’ I don’t want in the slightest to misrepresent the deputy, but I do say that he comes here and expresses the view that neutrality should be dropped and the country should enter the war. If he were consistent he would have gone to the people of Monaghan and said to them: ‘The whole national policy is wrong: you are all out of step, but myself. Elect me and show by that fact that you stand for the policy which I maintain is the right one.’”
Quoting from The Irish Times, under the heading "Mr Dillon Does Not Want War", Mr de Valera said that the deputy's view then was stated as follows: "Denying emphatically the allegations that he wanted war, Mr Dillon said at Castleblayney: 'No one could want war, one of mankind's greatest afflictions.'"
“Hear, hear,” said Mr Dillon.
“Not even those going into the war wanted the horrors of war,” said Mr de Valera, “but Mr Dillon wanted us to make war or to take an act which would be construed as an act of war.”
When Mr Dillon rose again there were cries of “Sit down and take your medicine” from the Fianna Fáil benches. Before he sat down, however, Mr Dillon explained that his attitude was that we should give facilities to the United Nations [Allies] and if Germany brought the war to us we should face it and help them to the limit of our resources, which, however, precluded the sending of Irish troops abroad.
“I don’t want to say that that is not true,” said Mr de Valera, “but it certainly is foolish. When you go into a war you are not playing a game. When you go into war and other peoples are sacrificing their lives in other lands you cannot suggest to them that they should do the fighting and we would stay at home.”
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