God Save the People!

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Published by National Executive Irish Trades Union Congress and Labour Party. workers secured support from shipbuilders on the Clyde, Humberside and Tyneside, and the strike began on January 25, 1919.

In one of the most impressive displays of Protestant and Catholic working class strikes against British oppression, such as the one-day anticonscription strike of April 1918.

Indeed, it didn't stand any candidates at all in the December 1918 elections, abdicating thereby the entire leader(Signed), JAMES LARKIN, Dublin.

D. R. CAMPBELL, Belfast.

M. J. O'LEHANE, Dublin.

THOMAS CASSIDY, Derry.

R. P. •'CARROLL, T.C. Dublin CITY PAINTING MUTTS, SOBLIN.

As it was Sinn Fein swept the = 1918 elections, winning seats to the Irish Party's and the Unionists' 26.

Sinn Fein Their policy was straightforwardly separatist-boycott the British House of Commons, and form instead an exclusively Irish parliament (The Dail) based on the 1916 Proclamation.

On January 21, 27 Sinn Fein representatives accordingly met in the Mansion House, Dublin and established the first Dail, voting a constitution, a Declaration of Independence, and a programme of democratic rights.

same day, an IRA unit led by Sean Treacy and Dan Breen attacked and killed two members of the An anti-war mounting and with troop movements halted by the actions of transport workers, the British Government at first tried to intensify military repression.

In January 1920, curfews were imposed on all major towns; in March, the 'Black and Tans'-whose names derived from their hybrid black and khaki uniformwere sent to *assist' the regular forces.

Tans Recruited by and large from lumpen-proletarian layers in Britain, the task of the 'Tans' was to perform the role the German Freikorps had played in 1919-to terrorise and bludgeon into submission all opponents of imperialist rule. y. J. EGAN, T.C.. J.P., Cork.

WILLIAN O BRIEN, Dublin.

JAMES CONNOLLY, Belfast.

THOMAS MacPARTLIN, Dublin P. I. DALY, Secretary.

poster put out by the irish TUC 1921 they won 130 seats out of a possible 180.

To CaD this electoral success, the Dublin IRA unit carried out the most successful urban action of the war when, on May 25 1921, they destroyed the Customs seat of nine British administrative departments, rendering it a thousand times more difficult to control the country, with all records, files etc., destroyed.

Faced with the failure of military repression (at this point there were some 60,000 troops and policemen in Ireland), and with growing British working class agitation against the Irish war, Lloyd George decided to negotiate.

On June 15th, he sent letter to De Valera proposing a peace conference; on July 8 General Macready arrived at the southern republicians and woo those more willing to compromise, thereby splitting them.

This he effectively did. securing acceptance of & treaty which recognised the partition of the island; which did not recognise the south 8s an independent republic; and which, stipulated that all those elected to the southern parliament shoule take ar oath of allegiance to the British Monarch.

Acceptable

Clearly the Treaty fell fa short of everything that bad been fought for in the pre ceding years, but it did pros: acceptable to those represeni ing Ireland's bigger farmer and businessmen (eg. Collin and Griffiths).

That it was ultimately Is prove acceptable to all i Sinn Fein leaders of to. period was not immediatet apparent.

On January 4 1923. Dail voted to accept treaty by 64 votes to iThe war with Britair over, but within most Civil War was to erEnE • li south as the Percum genis SLOT consolidat: t