Liam de Róiste Papers Descriptive List Ref. U271

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bodies of Cork to review the Bill. (1p)

11. 26 Jan 1927 He has received a series of resolutions passed at the East Limerick Executive of Cumann na nGaedheal, asks de Róiste to get them adopted in Cork. (1p)

12. 22 Jun 1927 Refers to party political matters and the opposition and small parties. (1p)

13. 8 Sep 1927 From Padua, Italy. Notes de Róiste is taking no part in the contest and he is advised to have nothing to do with the ‘Jasper Wolfe elements.’ He is sorry for Barry Egan. The government is dominated by Hogan and Geary who will ‘finish the unfortunate country...determined that England should be its bosom friend and its fellow Irishmen its enemies.’ Explains his decision not to contest in Cork. (5pp) plus envelope

14. nd [1925-1927] Fragment of letter. Refers to question of Protection, requests letters to the Press. (1p)

Reference:

U271/J/001/004

Date:

8 Oct 1925 9pp

Title:

MS. copy of letter from Liam de Róiste, to ‘My dear JJ’, JJ Walsh (possibly in

response to J/001/003/1) Level: Item Extent: 9pp Part of: U271/J/001 Scope and Content:

He notes politics is a ‘dirty business’ and now writes as Walsh did, ‘frankly’, to get some matters cleared up for a better understanding. He is not dissatisfied with the position he received, even if it didn’t lead to election. He heard what happened at the Party meeting and the arguments put forward against him, such as that he did not know his own mind in the January 1922 De Valera versus Griffith election for the Sinn Féin presidency, that he was cowardly in leaving the country at another time, and that he was kowtowing to the Irregulars in peace moves, trying to take the two sides in order to save himself. Refutes in detail these arguments. He has been seen as weak because he has not attacked his critics. The criticisms on the 1922 presidency election are ‘surely stupidity, crass ignorance or fatuous prejudice’. He warned and protested in the Dáil against ‘fratricidal strife,’ as he knew the mind of the rank and file, and stuck to his own line, directed at De Valera who was ‘driving the country’ to hell. On the charge of cowardice, when he went abroad in Dec 1922, he says that if he had been a coward he would have left in 1912 or 1913 and not come back in Feb 1923, or stood up to the ‘all-powerful Dublin juntas’. On leaving the Government Party down he asks ‘When? Where? Why?.’ He was the first deputy to publicly express support for the Treaty, and does not approve of every article in the Constitution. However,

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