CHAPTER XXVII
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EFFORTS TO AVERT CIVIL WAR.
When I arrived in Dublin I found that the situation was even more critical that I had expected. The old Republican Army had definitely split into two sections—one the new Free State Army, and the other the I.R.A. The British troops had evacuated Beggar’s Bush Barracks and Wellington Barracks, and handed them over to the Free State troops. The Republicans had seized and fortified the Four Courts as their Headquarters. Similar divisions existed all over the country, though the south was overwhelmingly Republican so far as the Army was concerned. It was clear that at any moment a civil war might ensue. War was in the air. At night there was constant firing, and armoured cars rushed through the streets.
I felt almost broken-hearted. Had we stood so loyally together in the past only to turn our arms against each other now? I decided that I at least would not be to blame if fighting broke out.
I visited the strongholds of each party in turn to explore the possibilities. I called meetings of the old fighting crowd on each side, but there seemed no chance of any agreement.
I then met Sean O’Hegarty (Commandant of the 1st Cork Brigade), Florrie O’Donoghue (Adjutant of the 1st Southern Division), Humphrey Murphy, of Kerry; Tom Hales, of Cork; and Sean Moylan, T.D., all of whom were opposed to the Treaty. After some discussion we decided to meet some officers on the other side in a last effort to find a way out. We met Mick Collins, Dick Mulcahy, Owen O’Duffy, Gearoid O’Sullivan, and Sean Boylan.
After a long exchange of views we agreed upon a certain basis of settlement. This we put in writing, and each of us signed it except Sean Moylan. This document was published in the Press on 1st May. I give it here in full:—
“We, the undersigned officers of the I.R.A., realising the gravity of the position in Ireland, and appreciating the fact that if the present drift is maintained a conflict of comrades is inevitable, declare that this would be the greatest calamity in Irish history and would leave Ireland broken for generations.
“To avert this catastrophe we believe that a closing of the ranks all round is necessary.
“We suggest to all leaders, Army and Political, and all citizens and soldiers of Ireland, the advisability of a union of forces on the basis of the acceptance and utilisation of our present national position in the best interests of Ireland, and we require that nothing shall be done that would prejudice our position or dissipate our forces.
“We feel that on this basis alone can the situation best be faced, viz.:—
“(1) The acceptance of the Pact—admitted by all sides—that the majority of the people of Ireland are willing to accept the Treaty.
“(2) An agreed election with a view to
“(3) Forming a Government which will have the confidence of the whole country.
“(4) Army unification on above basis.”
That was signed by Tom Hales, Humphrey Murphy, Sean O’Hegarty, Florrie O’Donoghue, Sean Boylan, Dick Mulcahy, Owen O’Duffy, Gearoid O’Sullivan, Mick Collins and myself. That is, five of us who opposed the Treaty and five who favoured it. In the Civil War which followed both Florrie O’Donoghue and Sean O’Hegarty remained neutral.
These proposals came in for severe criticism. The Republican Headquarters in the Four Courts at once issued a statement repudiating the terms, and suggesting the whole thing was an attempt to split their ranks. I myself received my full share of adverse criticism. One Republican Journal, _The Plain People_, described me as a “Judas—with perhaps the difference that I had not got the thirty pieces of silver.” I do not to this day know who the editor of this paper was. Perhaps he believed what he wrote. I paid no heed to these observations. My duty I believed was to strain every nerve to avoid civil war.
On May 3rd, those who had signed this suggested basis of peace were received by the Dail, and Sean O’Hegarty addressed the House. The result was the appointment of a Committee representing both sides in the Dail to discuss the proposals.
The next step was to see what could be done to bring about a reunion in the Army. A conference was arranged between the chiefs on both sides, and several meetings were held. But neither the Army chiefs nor the political chiefs could come to any lasting agreement. The one result of all the negotiations was the Pact between Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins agreeing to contest the coming elections as a United Sinn Fein Party, both Free Staters and Republicans standing on the same ticket and not opposing each other. In that way all the outgoing members of the Dail were again nominated, and the agreement was that after the election there was to be a Coalition Ministry.
When the election came there was some difficulty about a vacancy which had been created in East Tipperary by the resignation of Alderman Frank Drohan, of Clonmel. He had resigned before the division on the Treaty, and a dispute arose as to whether the Republicans or the Free Staters were to nominate his successor. Finally, I was selected as being more or less neutral. I was not consulted on the matter and I knew nothing about the arrangement until I saw the announcement in the Press. I protested against the proposal, but for the sake of harmony I agreed to allow my name to go forward. I had no ambition to enter politics. I was a soldier above all things, and I made it quite plain that I would take no part in the election campaign. However, both sides nominated me and I was defeated at the polls.
I had hoped that as a result of the Pact between Collins and de Valera we would have an uncontested election, which would result in preserving a united front against England. However, both the Labour Party and the Farmers prepared to send forward candidates of their own to oppose Republicans and Free Staters. Before the polling, Mick Collins delivered a speech in Cork urging Labour and other parties to carry on their campaign. This was, of course, a flagrant violation of the agreement which he had entered.
In North, Mid. and South Tipperary I succeeded in inducing the Farmers’ candidates to withdraw from the contest. If all parties were as patriotic as the farmers of Tipperary civil war might have been avoided. They had suffered more than any other section of the community from the Black and Tan terror. They had had martial law preventing the holding of the fairs and markets for three years. Their farmhouses and creameries had been wrecked in scores, and they had stood loyally by us all through the war. Their self-sacrifice in retiring from the 1922 election deserves to be remembered.
The Labour candidate in Tipperary would listen to no argument. He cared nothing about presenting a united front to the enemy. He was ambitious for power and he insisted upon going forward. He afterwards, I believe, boasted that he was not afraid of Dan Breen even when a gun was put up to his breast. Even in election campaigns such slanders are hardly playing the game. However, I hope my countrymen know me well enough not to believe that I would ever put a gun up to an unarmed opponent.
All this time I still felt anxious for the future. Mick Collins’ violation of the Pact made me suspicious. I felt too that England would never permit a Coalition Ministry of Free Staters and Republicans, but my hope all the time was that if a crisis came the Free Staters would throw the Treaty back in her teeth rather than cause brother to fight against brother.
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