Galway In Days Gone By

1920

Achieving independence

The politician will answer that Self-Determination is perfectly possible in Ireland provided the British Government will concede to reason or expediency. That reply, however effective it may appear as a political declaration, does not carry us far.

We have to face things as they are, not as we would wish them to be. And as international relations stand, Britain is unlikely to permit Ireland to self-determine itself out of the British Empire. The pairing can only be severed by a war in which Britain is beaten to her knees.

The world has had enough of war for some generations to come, and although we may have a seething cauldron in Eastern Europe for many, many years, it is a remote contingency that the nations will enter upon anther conflict in the interests of Irish Self-Determination.

But there is a way by which Self-Determination can be applied with the consent and good-will of the British Parliament. Sir Horace Plunkett, fresh faced from a prolonged visit to the United States, has outlined his plan for the operation of Self-Determination in Ireland in an important interview which we publish on the opposite page.

It is proposed that a constituent assembly should be elected upon the principal of proportional representation by the people of Ireland, and that that assembly should meet to determine the future government of this country, the British Parliament binding itself to give legislative effect to any agreement arrived at.

Terrific explosion

On Thursday night an extraordinary occurrence took place at Ballinagar police barracks, situated about two miles from the village of Abbey, between Loughrea and Portumna.

The barrack is located in a lonely part of the county and occupied by seven constables, with Sergeant Murphy in charge. On the evening in question a fire of turf was put down in the day-room and immediately one of the constables saw a peculiar glare.

He gave the alarm and the men rushed out, when immediately a terrific explosion occurred. The grate was blown to atoms and the walls surrounding were shattered, making a wreck of the interior. Around the walls and woodwork were found embedded some steel ball bearings similar to those used in bicycles. None of the police was injured.

The turf used was only delivered at the barracks that day, and it is alleged it was charged with gelignite fuse and percussion caps.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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