On This Day / June 28, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
June 28, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 28th June 1921, Ireland peace hopes grew after Lloyd George’s conference proposal, while violence continued and Hugh Martin warned over the Six Counties. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Peace Hopes | On This Day – 28th June 1921
PENDING definite replies from Mr de Valera and Sir James Craig to Mr Lloyd George’s suggestion, the Conference proposal ‘hangs fire’.
On the whole, the idea has been well received in Ireland and England.
The Press Association wires: Though nothing is known as to the probable nature of Mr de Valera’s reply, feeling is very hopeful of ultimate acceptance and of a peaceful issue to the negotiations.
For the first time Mr Lloyd George has taken a definite practical step towards an Irish settlement. However, he has done a good deal to prevent one.
He has locked up most of the people with whom he might confer and by laying down as a preliminary condition… that all Sinn Feiners must first lay down their arms, he made it practically out of the question that they should meet him. That condition is now dropped.
Eight Killed in Two Days
OFFICIAL reports issued from Dublin Castle yesterday record deaths of eight persons. They were made up of four policemen, three civilians and one woman.
When returning from divine service at Kildorrery (County Cork) Catholic Church at 10 a.m. yesterday, shots were fired at Sergeant Patrick Ryan and Constable Thomas Shanley, RIC. Shanley fell mortally wounded.
Fate of Six Counties
MR HUGH Martin writes in yesterday’s Daily News: ‘On the authority of Sir Hamar Greenwood [Chief Secretary] we know that British troops are to be withdrawn from Northern Ireland as soon as Sir James Craig’s government are fairly in the saddle.
‘In other words, as soon as the Northern Government have sufficient forces at their disposal to take over the policing of the area the British Government will stand aside.
‘Now the police force upon which the Northern Government will depend is, in fact, the army of Carson’s 1914 Provisional Government, re-enlisted as a Special Constabulary…
‘When the troops are withdrawn … the Specials will deal fearfully with their Catholic neighbours – for 400,000 out of a population of a million and a quarter. …
‘Catholics are horrified and maddened at the prospect. They foresee an organised attempt to evacuate them from the Six Counties as the Catholics were evacuated from Armagh at the close of the eighteenth century.
‘Even Orangemen like Lord Londonderry are shocked at the thought.’
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: THE king’s speech did not immediately end the violence but peace in the south was in sight.
In the new northern state, however, the eminent Liberal journalist Hugh Martin feared a rerun of the vicious ‘Armagh clearances’ of the 1790s if the sectarian USC was given a ‘free hand’ in Catholic districts. The Belfast violence continued.)
On This Day – 28th June 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.