Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-04-07

that civil war would prove fertile
ground for the Reds.
James Everett, father" Of the
Dali, who cracked down on the
IRA as outgoing Minister Of Justice,
warns:
Communism will never make
any progress in Ireland unless there
is wholesale misery and widespread
hatred such as would be the nat.
ural fruits of civil war, which Is
what the Communists want"
Hos Strategic Volue
Part Of Britain's anxiety to re-
tain control of Northern Ireland
is its location as a strategic mill
tary base. the Importance of which
was UNDERSIGNED by the neutrality
Of the Irish Republic in World
War II.
Mixed with Irish politics is q
strong streak of sentimentality.
Raiders killed or jailed in border
attacks have become martyrs in the
South.
Sim Feiners. who support vio-
lence If necessary to unite the
country. won amazing popular sup
port in the recent parliamentary
election in the Republic.
They swept four of the lat dis
trtcts-two of the winning candi.
dates campaigning from jail cells.
A third is the brother of a raider
killed four months ago in an at
tack on a British army camp.
Southern Ireland gives the i'm.
preston Of a giant conspiracy
where everyone seems to know the
identities Of the shadowy, silent
men who make up the underground
army but shrugs of all inquiries
with whimsical smile.
They may be a foolish lot wag-
ing a hopeless battle" says a we'll
known Dublin businessman who
fought the British in the old DAYS,
but they are not Teddy boys (the
English equivalent of an American
zoot-suiter)
A paradoxical attitude is preva-
lent in Southern Ireland. There is
pride in the idealism of the ma
tionalist extremists but there also
is a criticism Of their trying to full.
MI their aims by violence.
Another paradoxical situation
that could happen only in Ireland
is that. while the IRA is illegal,
funds are openly solicited in the
Irish Republic. {
Tense Border
The tension gripping all Ireland
is most acute along the jagged 200.
mile border separating the Republic
from the six northern counties,
Some border communities in the
north harbor hard-core IRA units.
The northern side of the border
gives the appearance of an armed
camp. Constabulary. carrying Stem
guns, guard bridges and main roads.
Royal police barracks in little
border villages have been converted
into pillboxes with sentries stopping
anyone approaching.
You know quite well it's not our
fault" one sentry explained to a
visitor in an almost apologize tone.
but we have to be careful because
OF those bad boys across the bor-
der"
The government of Viscount
Brookeborough-a large landholder
in County Fermanagh, where ma
tionaliSt sentiment is strong-has
given police wide emergency pow
ers. including search without war;
rant. in an attempt to crush plot
tiers.
Chief Inspector Ernest Reid,
commander of the Royal Consta.
bulary in Fermanagh, calls the
present situation the worst since
the civil war of the early l920s
which fiared after the original
Anglo-Irish treaty partitioning the
country.
Inspector Reid admits he doesn't
know the numerical strength of the
IRA but he estimates there are
no more than 1000 who you could.
call gunner. It's difficult to esti-
mate their exact number. for they
strike in small groups of a dozen
or so organized in commando COL
umns."
There Are No Informers
The nationalist extremists are
we'll disciplined. Not a single in
former has been found in their
ranks since revival of the move
ment.
They never recognize the courts
either in the Irish Republic or
Northern Ireland and refuse to
give evidence. Those who are
caught sit silent under the most
Intense grilling.
IRA plotters caught in the Irish
Republic generally are given only
three-month sentences: in Ulster
they can get up TO ~ years.
Two Irish nationalists arrested in
England after daring raid on a
British arms depot got life SEN
fences. Brought to court. they ue.
treatment as prisoners Of
war rather than as criminals.
When the sentence was pro.
bounced. the leader showed no
but told the court:
Our only regret is that the raid
vas not a success"
CThe Associated Press