HC Deb 26 June 1919 vol 117 cc314-5
22. Mr. MacVEAGH

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether a Gaelic League festival for the promotion of the Irish language has been suppressed in Killarney; whether similar festivals were held in previous years without any disorderly incident; and whether the prohibition of the Irish language is a settled part of the policy of the Irish Government?

Mr. SAMUELS

A Gaelic League open-air meeting which was to have been held at Killarney on 8th June was prohibited. The reason for adopting this course was that the Government had good grounds for believing that speeches of a seditious nature were to be delivered. Meetings solely for the promotion of the Irish language are not interfered with.

Mr. MacVEAGH

Is the Attorney-General aware that when the Chief Secretary was appointed he gave out a paragraph to the newspapers announcing his love for the Irish language, and is this his method of showing his love for it?

Mr. SAMUELS

He does not love sedition in the Irish language.

Mr. MacVEAGH

How does he know what speeches are going to be delivered? Has he started as a thought-reader?