'Ulster must remain loyal to Sir James Craig'
IN the days which followed the publication of Sir James Craig's manifesto, meetings were held across Northern Ireland.
One such meeting was held in the Albertbridge Road Orange Hall in east Belfast under the auspices of the Pottinger Women's Unionist Association.
The main guests of honour at the meeting were the Right Honourable Sir Dawson Bates, the Minister of Home Affairs in the Craig administration, Captain, the Right Honourable, Herbert Dixon, DL, the Unionist Party chief whip, the Belfast East MP at Westminster and the future Lord Glentoran, and Mr Thompson Donald. It was also noted by the News Letter that Captain Dixon's wife presided at the meeting as the president of the association.
Sir Dawson Bates said the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland had been criticised by the enemies of Ulster for his action in going to the country, but he reminded the critics that "again and again" they had said that the Prime Minister had lost the confidence of the electorate when in fact he had not.
Sir Dawson Bates said: "Sir James Craig has taken up their challenge; he has decided to ask the electors if he still retains their confidence, and if I know anything of the Ulster people I know what the answer would be. The people of the Province are under a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid to the Prime Minister."
He continued: "I believe that when the Home Rule Act was passed, the framers of the measure had not intended for the Ulster Parliament to function successfully. They had speedily found out their mistake, however, and then our enemies in the south began to attack Ulster in a terrible campaign of murder and arson.
"They hoped that in this way confidence would be lost in the Prime Minister and the Government. They failed, and are now trying to use another method – the Boundary Commission. They have failed to bring Ulster to her knees by murder and arson and so they will fail again."
Concluding his address to the audience who had gathered in Albertbridge Road Orange Hall Sir Dawson declared: "The Prime Minister has again and again stated his attitude – that the Six Counties were handed over as a sacred trust and that he was not prepared to give up one inch without the consent of the Ulster people.
"If the electorate returns the Premier to power you will indicate to the world you opinion that once and for all tampering with the boundary must cease. Then, when that matter is out of the way, we will be able to do something to make Ulster more happy and prosperous."
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 15 February 2012
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Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
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