Memoirs of Connie Francis Neenan 1916-1920s, 1939-1940

vociferously interrupted by those in the gallery. Turning to them I warned that I would request to have the gallery cleared if I were interrupted again and that I would have all of them put out. In my speech I pointed out that this suggested monument would not really be a memorial to the Organisation's dead comrades, suggesting that if they wanted to truly honour these men then, they should better use the money collected to educate the sons and daughters of the fallen men and also raise the living standards of their families in general. "This Monument", I said, "is nothing but a symbol of British Imperialism and when General Tom Barry appealed to you to come forward and fight for your own freedom and your own people you refused. As a matter of fact a few of your bad elements had to be dealt with by us for reasons that are only too well known to all of you." Back came a remark from the gallery: "And ye ran away at Douglas!" "If there were to be any medals given for running away", I shot back, "the British [125] would get the most because they broke all "running away" records at Mons and the Dardanelles!" After that there were no more interruptions and I finished my speech by stating: "If you persist in erecting this atrocious symbol of British Imperialism, I hope that, some day, I will be able to subscribe enough money for the necessary gelignite to blow it to pieces." I think it was the first time that the Cork Examiner ever quoted a speech of mine in full in their report of the meeting. That gesture, I knew perfectly well was by no means a friendly one due to certain statements I had made; still, it pleased me greatly to see my opposing views published so fully and accurately because I knew that I had spoken nothing but the truth. We were defeated on just one vote that night and, subsequently, the monument was erected (and what a typical Victorian horror it is!). After the meeting Leggys Sullivan and one other leader of the British Ex-Servicemen Organisation came over to me to apologise for those interruptions during my speech. They knew where I stood in the matter, they respected my views and sentiments, and they wanted to remain on friendly terms with me. I, on my part, assured them that my friendship for them was the same and would remain to be so in the future. Around that time the Sharman Crawford Technical School Committee advertised for an engineer and Sean Weir was appointed to the position. The Government body in Dublin refused to accept Sean unless he took the Oath of Allegiance to them. He refused to do so but was again elected by the Committee for the job. Dublin intervened for the second time, giving us the directive that, unless Sean took the oath, he would not be accepted and another engineer would have to be appointed in his place. I sharply protested against this type of [126] of dictatorial, unethical attitude trying to force a professional man to swear allegiance to a political party. Then, I resigned from the Committee as a protest and Professor Daniel Corkery, who had also protested, resigned along with me. That year my good friend Sean French was elected lord Mayor of Cork City and was in office when our above mentioned protests and resignations took place. The Dublin Government, not to be denied their autocratic power, ruthlessly dismissed the entire Corporation, appointing a City Manager instead. The petty efforts to justify such actions were not based on any possible wrong-doings on the part of the members, or even the Corporation as a whole, they were simply pursued because of the Government's total contempt for any persons or sections of people who had shown allegiance to the Anti-Treaty forces or, who had opposed the political wheeling and dealing of the then Government. One day, Collins (the Free State Intelligence Officer) stopped me in the street and asked me if I were willing to tell him what I had learned from them when I was a prisoner and questioned by them at the Barracks. This struck me as so funny that I simply burst out laughing, shook my head, lifted one eyebrow, and walked away from him. The stupidity and childish ignorance of the poor man was almost too much to be believed! 11 I had been working with the Prisoner's Dependents Fund and shortly before, while still on the run, Sean Hegarty made an appointment for me to meet him at Kelleher's, Inniscarra, where he gave me the sum of £350 for that fund. He then drove me back to Cork and that night I stayed with the Callanan family, Dunleary, Magazine Road.

11 Paragraph inserted from page 123.

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