§ 4. Mr. Hydeasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what reply he has received from the Government of the Irish Republic to the Note delivered on behalf of Her Majesty's Government on 18th July protesting at the recent Irish Republican Army outrages in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. AlportNo written reply has been received from the Government of the Irish 1560 Republic, but on 18th July, when our Ambassador delivered the Note to the Minister for External Affairs, the Minister said that he and his colleagues equally deplored this latest series of incidents and had been greatly disturbed by their widespread character. He assured the Ambassador that the Republican Government would continue to do their utmost to suppress violence and bring these incidents to an end. The Minister also drew attention to the remarks made by Mr. de Valera in the Dail the previous day condemning once again the use of force. I understand that since the incidents in question at least fifteen arrests have been made in the Irish Republic.
§ Mr. HydeWhile I am sure that everyone in the House will welcome his statement, and whilst I have no doubt that the Government of the Irish Republic are doing their best to cope with these outrages, is my hon. Friend aware that the outrages are almost invariably perpetrated by young men in their twenties, and that the root of the trouble really lies in the version of Irish history they are taught at school, which tends to glorify assassination? Could he not encourage the importation of more objective history textbooks into Southern Ireland, which would give a cool and less impassioned account of Irish and Anglo-Irish history?