1939: Ireland, Northern

Friction between the Government of Northern Ireland and the secret Irish Republican Army, which first broke into flame in December, 1938, upon the disclosure of an I. R. A. plot against prominent members of the government, continued throughout the greater part of 1939. The bomb outrages in London in January, blamed on the I. R. A., led the Craigavon Government, together with the Governments of Britain and Eire, to take exceptional precautions. The Ulster police force was permanently enlarged by some 1,000 men. The State visit of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, scheduled for early March, was postponed because of unsettled conditions. The underlying animosity burst forth again in April when the British Government announced its conscription plan which was to include Northern Ireland. The Irish Nationalists at Londonderry dispatched a message to Premier De Valera asking him to 'mobilize the Irish race at home and abroad immediately to resist the conscription of Irishmen.' With the full backing of the Nationalist portion of Eire, De Valera officially protested to London against the action, and after a few tense days Prime Minister Chamberlain announced on May 4 that the plan had been dropped. Although Premier Craigavon strongly favored the conscription plan, he announced its abandonment in Belfast at the same time that Chamberlain made his announcement in London. In Nationalist circles, the decision was looked upon as a major personal triumph for De Valera. Just prior to this action, the outlaw I. R. A. in Northern Ireland had issued an order instructing its members to hold themselves in readiness for 'immediate response' to orders from headquarters. Those orders apparently did not come, for there were no further incidents at that time.

The Special Powers Act gives the civil authorities of Northern Ireland much wider powers than are possessed by the British Government. They can issue exclusion orders against members of the I. R. A. coming from Eire or Britain, and can intern anyone suspected of illegal or subversive activities. Of the thirty-four men arrested in December 1938, in the alleged plot against members of the Government, only two or three had been released by the fall of 1939.

Even before the outbreak of war, Ulster was enjoying a marked improvement in economic conditions as a result of the British Government's rearmament program. Unemployment was down by more than 30,000 during the first half of the year. The flax crop was satisfactory and sold at relatively good price. Exports of linen piece goods and rope and twine were well above the previous year. The sharpest improvement occurred, however, in the shipbuilding industry where the demands of the armament program were felt. Among the boats under construction at Belfast were the Royal Mail Line's new 26,000-ton luxury liner, Andes, and two 11,000-ton refrigerated motor cargo liners for the Blue Star line, one of which was launched in April. The heavy losses in British shipping suffered since the outbreak of the war will undoubtedly strain the output of the Belfast yards to the utmost.