1921 AD - 8 / December
"Anglo - Irish Treaty Debate."
1921 AD December 2nd:
David Lloyd - George the
Prime Minister of the British
Imperial Coalition Government gave their "final" proposals to
Arthur Griffith
and the
other Irish Treaty delegates who
returned to Ireland to deliver them to the
Irish Cabinet, and
Eammon de Valera
said
"No.
December 3rd: The 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet met again to discuss the "Anglo - Irish Treaty," and they "rejected" the terms for the "artificial partition" of the 6 Counties from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, which it now seemed were to be "perpetuated," the offer of "Dominion" status, the "Oath of Allegiance" to the "British King" who was also to be received as the "head" of the Irish State.
Once again the 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet wanted Eammon de Valera as the Priomh Aire of the 2nd Dail Eireann to go to London to sought it out, but once again he "refused to go," so Arthur Griffith laid it on the line to him that if he himself was personally to remain in charge of the Irish Treaty delegates that he would "refuse" to break off any further negotiations over the "recognition" of the British Crown, but despite this there was still "no clear" indications given to the delegates and Arthur Griffith then said right out that he would "personally" sign the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" and leave it up to the 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet to "reject it or except it." Cathal Brugha at this time also "objected" to Michael Collins being involved in the sub - committees, with the exclusion of Gavin George Duffy and Robert Barton and further sarcastically commented, "That the Brits had picked their men well," meaning Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins. Arthur Griffith naturally took exception to this remark, but Cathal Brugha "refused" to withdraw his remarks so Arthur Griffith then asked for Cathal Brugha's comments to be recorded in the minutes so they were then "withdrawn." Although Cathal Brugha also agreed with Eamonn de Valera he still would "not" recognize the British King even as the "Head of the Associated States."
The
Irish Treaty delegates then
returned to London
were
Robert Barton, Erskine Childers and
Gavin George Duffy
drafted the counter
"proposals," and to release the tension
Michael Collins and
Eammon Duggan also "abstained" from the meetings with the British
delegates, while
Arthur Griffith, Robert Barton and
Gavin George Duffy
attended the "sub - committee" meetings
instead of Micheal Collins,
and there was then a subsequent complete "break down" of the negotiations
with the British Treaty delegates. The
British Coalition Government's representatives under
David Lloyd - George their Prime Minister were
not
impressed with the terms agreed to by the
2nd Dail
Eireann Cabinet, especially the
"exclusion" of the British Crown and the
omission of the "Oath of Allegiance"
to the British King and
David
Lloyd - George now standing on his
British Imperial Empire authority stated,
"That there would be immediate and terrible War with
Ireland within 3 days."
The Irish Treaty delegates because of the complete "breakdown" in negotiations, decided to return to Ireland, when David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime Minister asked for Michael Collins to see him "personally" before they left England and before he had to advise George V the British King of the "breakdown" in negotiations, and Arthur Griffith and Eamonn Duggan persuaded him to go and talk to him and during further discussions, which were to last up until 9 p.m., Arthur Griffith was able to persuade David Lloyd - George to give him more time to reach a decision. David Lloyd - George gave him only "one hour" to come up with a "final" result or he would send his letter off to Sir James Craig the leader of the "Official" Unionists in the 6 Counties "artificially partitioned" from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, which would mean, "Outright War with the British Imperial Government."
December 5th: In depth
"personal"
Treaty negotiations began at 5 p.m. and they were to last until 2.30 a.m. the next morning with
David Lloyd - George the British Coalition Prime
Minister playing on
the hopes of the Irish Treaty delegates of the ending of the
"artificial partition"
of Ireland.
December 6th:
At 2.30 a.m. the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" was
signed
after 750 years of
repression and oppression
by those in authority in England when
Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins,
Robert Barton,
Eamonn Duggan and
Gavin George
Duffy signed for Ireland and
David
Lloyd - George, Austen Chamberlain, Lord Birkenhead,
Winston Churchill, Sir Worthington - Evans,
Sir Hamar Greenwood
and
Gordon Hewart signed for
the British Imperial Government and
Michael
Collins was forced to
comment that it should be viewed, "As
a stepping stone to the Irish Republic," and that,
"I have signed my own, Death
Warrant."
Eamonn de Valera
the Priomh Aire of the 2nd Dail
Eireann was informed that the
"Anglo - Irish Treaty"
had been made and signed, but what he read in the morning paper did not
make him very happy, although he knew full well that there was no other
alternative, but "Bloody all Out War" in Ireland
and when
Eamonn Duggan,
who was accompanied
by
Desmond Fitz Gerald,
returned to Ireland and handed
him the envelope containing the details of the
"Anglo - Irish Treaty" at the Mansion House
in Dublin, he refused to read it, and they could see that he was visibly and physically
"upset."
December 7th: The 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet met in Dublin, which included Eammon de Valera, Cathal Brugha, William T. Cosgrave, Kevin O Higgins and Austin Stack, Eammon de Valera stated that he would call for the "resignation" of Arthur Griffiths, Robert Barton and Michael Collins, but William T. Cosgrave interjected and said, "We should hear their side first," which made Eamonn de Valera realise that William T. Cosgrave might also be in favour of the "Anglo - Irish Treaty, "which would give it a 4 out of 7 "majority" in the 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet, so he backed off.
December 8th:
At the
full 2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet
meeting
Arthur Griffith, Robert Barton,
Michael
Collins and
William T. Cosgrave
said they
would "recommend" the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" to
the Irish population as
Michael Collins was hoping that
Co. Fermanagh
and
Co. Tyrone would join
back in with the
Irish Free State
given time, as they
had a "high" Catholic Irish
population, and this would leave only
4 Counties "partitioned" from the
32 Counties of Ireland,
which would become "unworkable."
Eamonn
de Valera as the Priomh Aire of the 2nd Dail Eireann
was very "upset," and he was backed up by
Cathal Brugha and
Austin Stack,
and he stated
that he personally would "refuse" to recommend it to the
2nd Dail Eireann
and would also issue a
statement of his "own" opinion.
December 9th: Eamonn de Valera
as the Priomh Aire of the
2nd Dail Eireann Cabinet "cancelled" the
meeting of the 2nd Dail Eireann and published a letter of his own
"condemning" the "Anglo - Irish Treaty," while mentioning in it that he
was supported by
Cathal Brugha and
Austin Stack, and then called a meeting of the
2nd Dail Eireann
for the 14th, as he desperately wanted all of the members
of the
2nd Dail
Eireann to "reject" the "Anglo
- Irish Treaty,"
but he also knew that he had to come up with an "alternative" to the "Treaty" agreement,
so he re - worked his original ideas and came up with what became known as
"Document No 2,"
while the previously agreed "Anglo - Irish Treaty" was
to be Document No 1.
December 12th:
The Irish Republican
Brotherhood / I.R.B. also had a meeting to discuss the
"Anglo - Irish Treaty"
were they decided to
"vote
for it," while all of their members were given "freedom" to vote as they wished.
December 14th: The
2nd
Dail Eireann
/ 2nd Irish Parliament began the "Debate" on the
"Anglo - Irish
Treaty" at the National
University, which was to last until
January 7th 1922,
were
Eamonn de Valera stated that the Irish
delegates had "exceeded" their
authority,
and Arthur Griffith
repudiated
this assertion stating that the
2nd Dail Eireann now had the
opportunity themselves of either "accepting" or
"rejecting" it, but
Eamonn de Valera
kept on "interjecting" the various speakers with
Eammon de Valera stating
that the Irish delegates had "no right" to sign it,
and that they had "betrayed" the
Irish Republic, and he wanted no part of
"Dominion" status or the
"Oath of Allegiance"
to the the British King. Despite his ongoing objections he could not put forward any
"other measure"
that would replace it and it was decided
that they would all go into "Private Session" were
Dr.
Mac Cartan
asked
Eamonn de Valera to advise everyone,
who was present, of any other "alternatives" if he had
any, which he said he would do at the "next meeting." From this date until
January 10th., 1922
the 2nd
Dail
Eireann
was to hold
12 sittings
to confront the issues they "disliked" in the "Anglo
- Irish Treaty," with some
of the delegates who were against the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" even denying
the right of
the Irish population to "disown" the
Irish Republic.
December 15th:
While the 2nd Dail Eireann
was
still in "Private Session,"
Eammon de Valera
tried to
detail his "Document No. 2" to
which members of the Dail
Eireann
stated that
it wasn't worth going to "outright"
War with the British Imperial Government
over the differences, while
Sean Etchingham,
Seamus Robinson
and
Liam Mellowes would settle
for nothing less than an Irish
Republic and
the Irish
population
were to
remain "oblivious" of any of the real facts about the "Anglo
- Irish Treaty" for
5 days
until
Eamonn de Valera once again produced his old "No 2 Document,"
that contained the original conditions in the "Anglo -
Irish Treaty," but with
different
phrasing.
Among those who
"supported" the
"Anglo - Irish
Treaty" at this stage were
William Thomas
Cosgrave who would become
the 1st President of the
Irish Free State,
Eoin O Duffy the T.D. for
Co. Monaghan in
Southern Ulster and the
I.R.B
"Director of Organization,
Kevin
O Higgins,
Joseph Devlin the
M.P.
for
West
Belfast in Co.
Antrim in the north - east of the Ulster
Province,
Eoin Mac Neill,
Eamonn Duggan who had also been
"released" from interment and signed it,
Ernest Blythe and
Gavin Duffy who had been the "last
one" to sign it.
Those who were
"against" the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" included
Robert Erskine Childers who
had acted as the secretary to the
Treaty delegation, his cousin
Robert Barton who was responsible for the Land Bank as
"Minister for Agriculture" who
had
originally signed the Treaty, but was to
have second thoughts and repudiate it,
Sean Mac Bride, Frank Aiken, Countess
Markievicz,
Sean
O Faolain who was a bomb
maker in the I.R.A.
from
Co. Cork,
Ernest O Malley an
I.R.A. Captain,
Sean Russell and
James Larkin who had taken over the
Socialist Party
previously run by
James Connolly,
Tomas Derrig who was elected to the
Dail
Eireann for
South
Co. Mayo.
Rory O Connor
said that he would
"never" yield.
Liam Lynch the
Irish Republican Army
commander
on the "Supreme Council" was the
only
member
of the Council
to vote "against" it and he was to later on become the Irregular
IRA Chief of Staff in the Civil War
that lay ahead, and also
Liam Mellowes the "political"
Sinn Fein Party T.D.
for
Galway who would later
also become the
Irregular
IRA Director of Purchases.
Austin Stack was also
against it and would also become the
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Irregular IRA who had
previously sided with
Cathal Brugha
against
Michael Collins
when
Richard Mulcahy
had
tried to keep the peace between them,
Helena Molony and
Hannah Sheehy - Skeffington
were among "many" others
who were "against"
it also.
December 15th: Eammon de Valera as the Priomh Aire of the 2nd Dail Eireann "resigned" his position when the "Anglo - Irish Treaty" was ratified by the 2nd Dail Eireann by 26 votes "for" the Treaty to 6 "against."
December 16th:
The
British
Imperial Parliament at Westminster in England "ratified" the
"Anglo - Irish
Treaty."
December 19th:
The
2nd Dail Eireann
met in
a
"Public
Session," where
Eamonn de Valera withdrew his "No 2 Document," and
Arthur Griffith
objected to keeping the
3 day
discussion of
alternative proposals
"secret" from the Irish population and moved that the
"Anglo - Irish Treaty"
be "voted" on, either
"For
or Against"
and he was seconded by
Sean Mac Eoin,
but Eammon de Valera then
moved an "Amendment" for the
2nd Dail
Eireann to put forward a "new proposal" to the
British
Imperial Government instead of the
"agreed" Treaty, which he saw as
"Document No. 1,"
and said he would bring forward another proposal "personally" himself. During the next
sessions
he only produced
another version of his alternative proposals, which were vastly different from
the ones that the 2nd Dail
Eireann / 2nd Irish Assembly had
discussed in "Private Session."
December 22nd:
As the
"Anglo - Irish Treaty Debate"
was producing no "other" alternatives and
therefore no results, it was adjourned until
January 3rd, 1922
by
77 votes
"for"
to 44 "against" with no
further public statements to be issued.
At
this time the
"Legion of Mary" was
set up in
Dublin,
which was
devoted to
"social work and spiritual rehabilitation" to lift the spirits of the Irish population.