On This Day / October 9, 1920
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19201009
Reference Date
19201009
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 10th October 1920, Lloyd George defended reprisals and vowed stern methods, deriding Sinn Féin as a ‘murder gang.’ Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
PM Backs ‘Reprisals’ | On This Day – 10th October 1920
In an extraordinary speech in Carnarvon, the British Prime Minister defended ‘Reprisals’, forecasted methods ‘however stern’ to restore order, rejected Dominion Home Rule, cited Ulster as a fatal obstacle to an Irish Republic, accused the Irish people of complicity in the torpedoing of British ships during the war, and declared that he would give Ireland nothing more than the Partition Bill as his government would not allow themselves to be ‘bullied by assassins’.
Mr Lloyd George began by exchanging some observations in Welsh with members of the council which caused laughter.
Wales was a well-governed country. He wished the same thing could be said of Ireland.
During the past forty years more had been done to address the evils of Ireland than in any other part of the world.
Yet attacks were being delivered against the police and military administration for something that was called ‘Reprisals’.
Let them examine those charges. Policemen did not go out and bomb houses and shoot men down wantonly without provocation (Cheers).
They must understand how these reprisals had arisen. No fewer than 283 policemen had been shot down in Ireland, 109 of them shot dead.
Under those circumstances there was no doubt the patience of the police had given way and there had been some hitting back.
While police murders were going on in Ireland, he never heard any protests from Sinn Féin.
The defence which is put forward for these murders is that it is a state of war. If it is war, it is war on both sides.
Are the policemen in Ireland to stand up to be shot down like dogs in the street without any attempt to defend themselves?
It is more than human nature can tolerate and in these conditions the police have reserved to themselves the right of finding out whether a man is armed or whether he is not.
How are you going to put things right in Ireland? Undoubtedly you must restore order there by methods, however stern.
You cannot permit a country to be debased into a condition of complete anarchy where a small body of assassins – a real murder gang – are dominating the country and terrorising it … and, therefore, it is essential in the interests of Ireland that that gang should be broken up.’ (Cheers).
[Editor’s note: Lloyd George’s astonishing speech was widely seen as giving official government sanction to the reprisals policy in Ireland.
Commenting on the PM’s remarks, The Irish News concluded: ‘He has sunk to the level of a political menial for Sir Edward Carson…. Lloyd George has fallen into a moral abyss from which he never can emerge.’]
On This Day – 10th October 1920
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19201009
Reference Date
19201009
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 10th October 1920, Lloyd George defended reprisals and vowed stern methods, deriding Sinn Féin as a ‘murder gang.’ Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
PM Backs ‘Reprisals’ | On This Day – 10th October 1920
In an extraordinary speech in Carnarvon, the British Prime Minister defended ‘Reprisals’, forecasted methods ‘however stern’ to restore order, rejected Dominion Home Rule, cited Ulster as a fatal obstacle to an Irish Republic, accused the Irish people of complicity in the torpedoing of British ships during the war, and declared that he would give Ireland nothing more than the Partition Bill as his government would not allow themselves to be ‘bullied by assassins’.
Mr Lloyd George began by exchanging some observations in Welsh with members of the council which caused laughter.
Wales was a well-governed country. He wished the same thing could be said of Ireland.
During the past forty years more had been done to address the evils of Ireland than in any other part of the world.
Yet attacks were being delivered against the police and military administration for something that was called ‘Reprisals’.
Let them examine those charges. Policemen did not go out and bomb houses and shoot men down wantonly without provocation (Cheers).
They must understand how these reprisals had arisen. No fewer than 283 policemen had been shot down in Ireland, 109 of them shot dead.
Under those circumstances there was no doubt the patience of the police had given way and there had been some hitting back.
While police murders were going on in Ireland, he never heard any protests from Sinn Féin.
The defence which is put forward for these murders is that it is a state of war. If it is war, it is war on both sides.
Are the policemen in Ireland to stand up to be shot down like dogs in the street without any attempt to defend themselves?
It is more than human nature can tolerate and in these conditions the police have reserved to themselves the right of finding out whether a man is armed or whether he is not.
How are you going to put things right in Ireland? Undoubtedly you must restore order there by methods, however stern.
You cannot permit a country to be debased into a condition of complete anarchy where a small body of assassins – a real murder gang – are dominating the country and terrorising it … and, therefore, it is essential in the interests of Ireland that that gang should be broken up.’ (Cheers).
[Editor’s note: Lloyd George’s astonishing speech was widely seen as giving official government sanction to the reprisals policy in Ireland.
Commenting on the PM’s remarks, The Irish News concluded: ‘He has sunk to the level of a political menial for Sir Edward Carson…. Lloyd George has fallen into a moral abyss from which he never can emerge.’]
On This Day – 10th October 1920
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19201009
Reference Date
October 10, 2020
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 10th October 1920, Lloyd George defended reprisals and vowed stern methods, deriding Sinn Féin as a ‘murder gang.’ Edited by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix.
PM Backs ‘Reprisals’ | On This Day – 10th October 1920
In an extraordinary speech in Carnarvon, the British Prime Minister defended ‘Reprisals’, forecasted methods ‘however stern’ to restore order, rejected Dominion Home Rule, cited Ulster as a fatal obstacle to an Irish Republic, accused the Irish people of complicity in the torpedoing of British ships during the war, and declared that he would give Ireland nothing more than the Partition Bill as his government would not allow themselves to be ‘bullied by assassins’.
Mr Lloyd George began by exchanging some observations in Welsh with members of the council which caused laughter.
Wales was a well-governed country. He wished the same thing could be said of Ireland.
During the past forty years more had been done to address the evils of Ireland than in any other part of the world.
Yet attacks were being delivered against the police and military administration for something that was called ‘Reprisals’.
Let them examine those charges. Policemen did not go out and bomb houses and shoot men down wantonly without provocation (Cheers).
They must understand how these reprisals had arisen. No fewer than 283 policemen had been shot down in Ireland, 109 of them shot dead.
Under those circumstances there was no doubt the patience of the police had given way and there had been some hitting back.
While police murders were going on in Ireland, he never heard any protests from Sinn Féin.
The defence which is put forward for these murders is that it is a state of war. If it is war, it is war on both sides.
Are the policemen in Ireland to stand up to be shot down like dogs in the street without any attempt to defend themselves?
It is more than human nature can tolerate and in these conditions the police have reserved to themselves the right of finding out whether a man is armed or whether he is not.
How are you going to put things right in Ireland? Undoubtedly you must restore order there by methods, however stern.
You cannot permit a country to be debased into a condition of complete anarchy where a small body of assassins – a real murder gang – are dominating the country and terrorising it … and, therefore, it is essential in the interests of Ireland that that gang should be broken up.’ (Cheers).
[Editor’s note: Lloyd George’s astonishing speech was widely seen as giving official government sanction to the reprisals policy in Ireland.
Commenting on the PM’s remarks, The Irish News concluded: ‘He has sunk to the level of a political menial for Sir Edward Carson…. Lloyd George has fallen into a moral abyss from which he never can emerge.’]
On This Day – 10th October 1920
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.