1937 - 1938 AD
1937
June
11th: The
Irish Free State, which was
composed of
26 of the Counties
of
Ireland, that were
previously also partitioned
by the
British Imperial Government
under the
Anglo - Irish Treaty of
1922 from the whole of the 32 Counties of
Ireland, and
now back under the control of
the Irish people brought in a
new
Irish Constitution
by referendum of the
Irish
people themselves.
685,105 were for the Constitution and
526,945
were against in the referendum held in the
34 Constituencies
now under the control
of
Eamonn de Valera and the Fianna Fail
Dail Eireann.
Under the previous
External Relations Act,
imposed by the British Imperial Government, the
King of Britain,
still had the
right to sign for the right of any
Irish Diplomatic representative
in foreign states, which was the
only
concession that was now left to the Britain
Imperial Government over the affairs in Ireland,
and it was also now only really recognized by association.
The Seanad
/ Senate's right of
veto was abolished, and the
Irish
Free State
was to now become
officially known, in the
Gaelic
language, as
Eire / Ireland.
The Catholic Church
was given a special position
only in the Country,
which
now had a 90%
Catholic Irish population, and Eamonn de Valera refused to formally establish it as the
State Religion of
Ireland. The other
6 Counties
artificially partitioned
from the 9 in the Ulster Province, by the British
Imperial Government
from the whole 32 Counties of
Ireland,
were
also "officially" re - claimed as part of Eire.
Eamonn de Valera,
who was to be the Taoiseach
/
Prime Minister until
1948,
removed the reference to the
British Monarch, from
the Irish
Constitution
and told the
Dail Eireann /
Irish Assembly that no problems now
stood in the way of
Ireland, becoming a Republic.
The
British
Governor - General was not replaced for
3
years,
and the British Imperial Government in
England,
who were now under the leadership of
Neville Chamberlain, their new
National Coalition
Prime Minister until
1940, would not allow
Ireland
to have an
Ambassador
there in England.
August 26th:
Eamonn de
Valera,
informed
Germany
that
Ireland
would stay neutral in any outbreak of
War, unless attacked, and
was to remain so
until 1945.
December 29th:
The new
Irish Constitution
creating
Eire, and
removing the
British King
and
British Governor - General,
came into
force and the British Imperial Government
declared the new Constitution
did not effect Ireland's
membership in the
Commonwealth of Nations.
1938 Douglas
Hyde,
a non - Catholic,
was now the
1st President of
Eire / Ireland, and Sean O Kelly,
was
to be the vice - Premier of
Eire
until
1945, while
January 14th:
Sir
James Craig
/ Lord Craigavon,
the leader of the Ascendancy
"Official" Unionist Party,
who was now
67 year old,
called a
General Election
for the
Stormont Government
in the
6 Counties
artificially partitioned from the
9 in the
Ulster Province,
and the
"Official" Unionists
won again,
gaining 39
of the
52 seats,
and
although a group of "Progressive Unionists there
defected, to try and bring about
reform there they
did
not win any of the seats there.
January 17th: The Irish Catholic
Bishop of Down & Connor in the
6 artificially partitioned
Counties from the 9 in the Ulster Province, asked the
Irish
delegates, who were going to meet
with the British National Coalition Government, to object
strenuously on the border partition there, as the
discrimination and gerrymandering in the 6 Counties by the
"Official"
Unionist Party was still rife. (They were also contacted by the
Irish Nationalist M.P.'s in the
Stormont Parliament there, to also stand
firm on the border partition).
January 18th: The
return of the control over
the
Irish Ports
to Ireland, was
confirmed by
Neville Chamberlain
the
British National Coalition Prime Minister,
who also surrendered the previous British Imperial Government right to deploy
British
Military forces in them during
War
time as per the 1921 Anglo
- Irish Treaty.
January 19th:
The matter of the
Irish
Land
Annuities that were still being paid to the British Imperial
Government for Irish land were discussed, and
Neville Chamberlain wanted a
Lump Sum Payment
of
104,000,000
pounds,
being
78,000,000 Land
Annuities and
26,000,000
other payments accrued, and
Eamonn de Valera
offered
him 10,000,000
pounds as a
Final Payment, take it or leave it.
February
23rd: The
Irish
delegates continued on with their discussions with
Neville Chamberlain and his
Conservative Cabinet
members in
England.
March 3rd: The
Irish
delegates
all met
again in London,
with
Neville Chamberlain the British Prime
Minister, who requested that the Fianna Fail Government in
Eire / Ireland
grant free entry to the
goods from the
6 Counties
artificially partitioned from the 9 in the Ulster Province, that
were still under the control of
the Ascendancy
"Official" Unionist Party
and the British Imperial Government.
March 12th:
The Dail
Eireann / Irish Assembly
held a meeting to discuss their progress in the
negotiations with the
British Imperial Government, where they
received confirmation that the
Irish
Ports would definitely be returned
to once again come under Ireland's
control, and
that
Article 6
and
7 were to be removed from the
Anglo - Irish Treaty,
and
that they would settle for a
Final Payment
of
10,000,000
pounds
that was up for offer.
The excessive
British duties, on
Irish
goods would be removed for
5
years,
and
Ireland
was to
also
review the duties
on British
goods.
March 23rd: The Fianna Fail Government of Erie / Ireland, informed the British Imperial Government that there would be no reduction in the duty on the goods from the 6 Counties that had been artificially partitioned from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, due to the continuing unfair treatment of the Catholic Irish there by the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Party, who were still in control of the Stormont Government and still continuing their Ascendancy sectarian policies on the Irish Catholic population there.
April 25th:
Eamonn de Valera
the Prime Minister of Erie
/ Ireland, reaffirmed and signed the agreement with
Neville Chamberlain the
British Prime Minister, and he reassured him that
Ireland
would
not be
used as a base for any attack on
Britain, and the
two Irish
Ports of
Bearhaven in Bantry Bay,
and
Cobh
near Cork in
Co. Cork
in the Munster Province,
with Lough Swilly
in Co. Donegal,
Haul Bowline
and Rathmullan
in the Ulster Province,
were to be finally returned by the
British
Imperial Government
over
a period of years up to 1943,
under the
Treaty. Winston Churchill,
who was now the First Lord of the British
Admiralty, for the second time,
protested vigourously against their return, but
Neville
Chamberlain was well
aware
that if they were not returned,
Ireland could not remain neutral. There was
no
Defence Agreement
made between
them, as Eire
/ Ireland wanted to remain
neutral,
Eamonn de Valera, the Prime Minister of Eire / Ireland, stated that, "External Association with Britain was not a permanent solution to Anglo - Irish relations, and it was only continued on with to try and solve the ongoing problem of the artificial partition of Ireland, but if it's usefulness run out it would have to go." Meanwhile Sean Russell, fired up the IRA again, and declared a campaign of readiness to reunite the 6 Counties artificially partitioned from the 9 Counties in the Ulster Province, which were still under the control of the British Imperial Government and the Ascendancy "Official" Unionist Party there.
June: General Elections
were held in
Eire / Ireland and
from the 138 seats
up for election, the
Fianna Fail
Party under
Eamonn de Valera won
77,
giving them a
16 seat
majority overall, in the 26 Counties.
August:
Seamus O Donovan,
who was an
original member of the
I.R.B. / Irish Republican Brotherhood,
and later on the anti - Treaty
IRA
Irregulars under
Eamonn de Valera, had retired from it's ranks,
and he was
invited by
Sean Russell to rejoin the
Irish
Republican Movement. He wanted him
to assist
him on a part time basis,
due to what the IRA
believed was
Ireland's
opportunity
to reunite the whole of the
32 Counties if
War broke out, as the British Imperial Government,
would be at a
disadvantage,
and this would
create conditions once again, to bring pressure to bear for
reunification of Ireland.
September:
Eamonn de
Valera
was elected as the
19th President of the Assembly of the
League of Nations.
December 8th: Sean
Russell,
who was to be the Chief of Staff
of
the IRA until
1939, affirmed that they still
wanted to take over the Government of
Ireland,
as a means to
eventually secure
the return of the
6 Counties artificially partitioned from the
9 in the Ulster
Province,
and remove the British Imperial Government's,
and the Ascendancy's continuing
hold in Ireland,
forever.
Neville Chamberlain, the British National Coalition Prime Minister, settled for the amount of 10,000,000 pounds with Eamonn de Valera the Prime Minister of Eire / Ireland, as a lump sum final payment to buy back the Irish land, and the return of the bases held back in the Anglo - Irish Treaty. Eamonn de Valera, also put forward a proposal that the partition border with the 6 Counties in the Ulster Province be erased, with the Stormont Government still able to exist there, if they guaranteed a fair go for the Irish Catholics there, and transferred the powers still held by the British Westminster Parliament to the All Ireland Parliament.
Frank Ryan, the Irish Republic Congress Party leader, who was an idealist, had joined the Irish - American Lincoln Washington Brigade, after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, to fight against the right wing forces of General Franco. and he was wounded and captured by some Fascist Italians who were supporting Franco in the Ebro Valley in Spain. He was then turned over to Franco's forces in Spain, where he was kept in a small jail always with 18 other prisoners in it, 9 of whom were taken out and shot every day, but somehow he managed to draw the lucky straw and was continuing to survive.