IRELAND

e one of the most fabled countries of the western world is Ireland a body of land about the size of South Carolina yet the home of a legendary and literature everywhere known and loved an estimated 15 million Americans Trace their ancestry to this little island with its long and tragic history for centuries all of Ireland was held in subjection to the British but in 1922 the part of Ireland now known as era gained its independence while Northern Ireland predominantly Protestant remained within the United Kingdom capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast a Thoroughly Modern city of 440,000 people vigorous and aggressive Belfast has built itself up to its present position in less than 100 years center of the important Irish linen industry Belfast is also famed throughout the wford shipyards where some of Britain's great ocean liners have been built many of alers Protestants are known as Orangemen through their ancestors loyalty to William of Orange King of England two and half centuries ago now as in olden days orangeman turn out in full regalia each 12th of July to celebrate the battle of the bo William's signal victory over the Catholic House of Stewart but northern Ireland's pride and it loyalty to Britain is more than matched by the pride of era across the border in its newly won Independence in the free and sovereign state of era so different from Northern Ireland and politics and religion Independence is first in the thought and speech of every citizen since we have only recently won the political Independence we have been battling for two centuries our nationalism is still too much in our thoughts to make worrying about the rest of the world a major concern of ours Freedom has brought no riches to Ireland we have lived too long and too intimately with poverty to be rid of it in a few short years Ireland is agricultural in the main and the southern Counties have little in the way of industry but in every Market town where the farmers go to sell their beats or their projects to drive their Bargains for a few Shillings gain there's talk of Ireland future and of politics for if this land is poor it is still ours to make our Mar to Irishmen in every land Ireland's very names are magical conamara and Galway Kilani Donal and inis fale names that live in the laments of poets who have sung to Sweden Ireland's wrong yet few of them there are on the outside who would care to trade places with Ireland's farmers and they toiling and working from the rising of the sun to its setting to till the soil that bore them but spare as the living yielded by our land we Irish have fought again and again to set it free to make our farms and Cottages our own own and Ireland's own through centuries of want and oppression we Irish have learned that few things are easily one or easily held be it a roof over our heads our wool to clothe us or a fire on the heart to warm the children our freedom to live in our own [Music] way strong is most Irish men's love of the church s Pat brought to Ireland from Rome in the 5ifth century as Yates wrote of the parish priest but Father John went up and Father John went down and he wore small holes in his shoes and he wore large holes in his gown all loved him only the shaen Whom The Devils have by the hair from the wives and the cats and the children to the birds in the fight of the air [Music] in Ireland religious faith is no mere convention for deep in the Celtic nature is a hunger for the things of the [Applause] spirit most of our people are Catholics but freedom of worship is complete and church and state are separate by our constitution Manu College carries on the traditions of those Irish Scholars who kept Roman culture alive throughout Europe's Dark Ages the priests it educates go out to every corner of Ireland not alone to keep strong the piety of our people but to shape their moral thinking as well the Irish family that sends a son to Manu May Forever After hold up its head in the presence of its neighbors or there is no higher calling among the young men of Ireland and for 15 centuries men of God have been helping to form the character of the Irish people their faith their culture and their way of life today Ireland's people who have known so much of tragedy and bloodshed are at peace race week at leopard's town still brings out all of Dublin and thousands from all over the land to put a few Bob on the winner a love of horses comes as easy to the Irish as politics for the breeding and racing of horses has for hundreds of years been at once a hobby and a livelihood to many of them and it's in our nature to take a chance other sports have gone on undisturbed in Ireland while the world has been at War when we go by the thousands to the great football and hurling matches and sit our stand packed together while the game goes on we have a sense of our unity and our nationality prime minister of era is New York born Aon deera hero of the Irish rebellion and one-time mathematics professor today he continues to voice the program he launched in 1932 to make his country economically self-sufficient the political aim is to secure the unity of Ireland and its International recognition as a sovereign state the economic aim is to make the country as self-sufficing as is reasonably possible in all our work it will be noticed that there is deliberately a strong bias towards rural rather than City L under dea's land settlement scheme Irish families in great numbers were moved from the Stony lands in the west of Ireland onto the fertile areas which the landlords had once reserved for their livestock with government encouragement era's wheat acreage has been more than doubled over a period of 5 years Irish bacon and hams are famed for their Savor the world over and the meat packing industry has continued to flourish to many parts of the world goes condensed milk from the government owned plant and limmer in the heart of one of the world's richest pasture land and other dairy products such as butter are constantly improving in quality through scientific methods developed in era's agricultural schools and colleges for for fuel era largely depends on the Pete fogs which cover 17th of its land in developing Pete resources The Cutting of turf by manual labor is being supplemented by new methods and new machinery and in the factories of County kildair mated Pete is compressed into bricketts for marketing today era is becoming increasingly industrialized to its old Industries such as Brewing many new and important ones have been added the Ford assembly plant in Cork with a pre-war capacity of over 12,000 cars a year is an industrial asset to era now that peace has come in Europe another important P time in industry is rubber Dunlop the inventor of the rubber tire was a Dubliner who long confined his activities to England because Dubliners objected to the smell of rubber factories an important product of the Dunlop plant and cork has been rubber boots this County too produces thousands of shoes each year greatest factor of all in building the New Ireland has been the Shannon hydroelectric scheme in which furnishes the power that makes all these new Industries possible power from the River Shannon largest river in all Ireland or Great Britain endowed by the state at a cost of 10 million the great project at ardak rushia took 4,000 men 4 years to build required 75,000 tons of Machinery 11,000 tons of steel work 65,000 tons of cement today the Shannon scheme with its far-reaching power lines supplies much of error with cheap electricity in the first s years use of electricity and Irish homes and industries more than trebled thus throughout the 26 counties the government's economic program is well underway with modern industry firmly established in a country which a generation ago was almost purely agricultural an important part of the government's social program is the erection of new hospitals for Ireland has long held a proud position as a medical center it was in Ireland 200 years ago that the first maternity hospital in any English-speaking country was built largely due to the efforts of a famed and benevolent Irish physician Dr Bartholomew Moss [Music] one of the most cherished projects of the new era is a vast National Housing scheme thousands of thatched cottages are giving way to new and modern homes unsightly slums are being replaced by modern blocks of Apartments to meet Ireland's housing needs proud of its new nationhood era has restored ancient Gaelic as the national language under the guidance of a prime minister who is a Gaelic scholar as well as a mathematician it has become the language of primary instruction in Era [Applause] [Music] schools for this revival of the time honored speech of Ireland's people is counted on to strengthen the sense of national Unity today a new generation is growing up whose natural speech is that of Ireland's early literature and civilization Aon de Valera pursuing his dream of a self-sufficient and peaceful era has succeeded in maintaining his nation's complete Independence biggest International problem before devil era and his nation in recent times was the question of whether to join with Britain against the AIS in World War II era's position as a sovereign state left her free to make her own decision but between Fina foil led by deera and the fina gaale the opposition party long led by William Cosgrave there was no difference of opinion on the issue of neutrality 95% of era's people were convinced that to enter the war on Britain's side would have been to betray the cause of Independence to which Ireland's Heroes devoted their lives men like Daniel oconnell who won for Ireland religious emancipation Hugh O'Neal the rebel Earl of terrone Michael Collins hero of Revolution and the lost leader Parnell thus Ireland's unhappy history under British rule was an important factor in era's decision to remain neutral a decision which the freedom loving nations of the world found difficult to comprehend but those who would understand this proud and sensitive people today and in the future should look not to logic but to the Poetry of the Irish the world wears on to something down and Love Is Lost and won but he wrecks not of loss or gain the king of Ireland son he follows on forever when all your Chase is done he follows after Shadows the king of Ireland's son [Music]