On This Day / September 15, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
September 15, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 15th September 1921, the Dáil unanimously approved its delegation of plenipotentiaries for possible negotiations with the British Government, including Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Negotiators Chosen | On This Day – 15th September 1921
AFTER a private session yesterday in the Mansion House, the following report was issued:
‘Dáil Eireann met in private session this morning … The Cabinet reply to Mr Lloyd George’s letter unanimously approved.
In view of a possible conference with representatives of the British Government the following delegation of plenipotentiaries was unanimously ratified:
Mr Arthur Griffith, Minister for Foreign Affairs (chairman); Mr Michael Collins, Minister for Finance; Commandant R C Barton, Minister for Economic Affairs; Commandant E Duggan; Mr George Gavan Duffy.’
QUB and Dáil Eireann
AN INVITATION to send delegates to the Commission on Education convened by Dáil Eireann has been declined by the Students’ Representation Council of Queen’s University, Belfast.
The reason given by the SRC Executive for refusing to send delegates was that the Commission would encroach on the rights of the Ministry of Education of the Northern Parliament.
The Commission was to inquire into the Intermediate System and to draft a programme which would meet the requirements of the Irish people, particularly as regards the Irish language’.
New Northern Courts
THE [Northern] Lord Chief Justice (Mr Denis Henry, KC) is engaged in the preparations for the setting up of the High Court of Justice which will commence operations next week.
A rearrangement of the North-East and North-West Assize circuits will be necessary, several counties of which are not in the ‘Six Counties’.
These are Meath, Louth and Monaghan, at present in the NE circuit, and Westmeath, Longford, Cavan and Donegal, at present in the NW circuit.
Northern Lawyers Reject Stormont
AT A special meeting of the Committee of the Northern Law Society, the following resolution was passed:
‘[We] feel that the establishment of the Courts of Justice for NI on the Stormont Castle site, as proposed, will be prejudicial to the successful administration of justice in NI by causing great inconvenience and loss of time, and increased expense…’
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: DE VALERA’S decision not to lead the Irish delegation to the Treaty negotiations took the Dáil by surprise. In the words of WT Cosgrave, he had ‘left his best player in the reserves’.
De Valera claimed he needed to remain at home to rally the public in the event of a breakdown but many feared he felt the Republic was unattainable and wished to transfer blame to his rivals, especially Collins.
In the north former Catholic Unionist MP Sir Denis Henry was determined to establish a separate judiciary for the new state.)
On This Day – 15th September 1921
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.