FROM THE ARCHIVES:In 1942, as the outcome of the second World War still hung in the balance, shortages of many materials were being felt in Ireland. In an editorial commenting on a speech by Sean Lemass, minister for both industry and commerce and supplies, The Irish Timesset out the bleak future that appeared to be facing the country. – JOE JOYCE
MR. LEMASS made it clear that the entire problem of Irish economy must be revised, not alone in order to meet war conditions, but with a view to conditions after the war. Manifestly, the good old days of virtually unrestricted exports and the establishment of large credit balances in London are gone for ever. Henceforward, the Irish must rely in the first instance upon their own resources, and all post-war planning must be based upon this fact. At the moment the outlook is so obscure that any attempt at detailed planning would be impossible; but the Minister declared that the Government was giving much thought to the matter.
Obviously, while the policy of reliance on our own resources must form the basis of all post-war planning, Ireland in the future as in the past, must be able to export her surplus of live-stock and agricultural produce in order that she may be able to purchase from abroad certain commodities which she cannot produce herself. Fuel is a notable case in point. Petrol, fuel oil, and lubricants must be imported if Ireland is not to fall back into seventeenth-century conditions. At the moment the position is sufficiently grave. Mr. Lemass told the Dáil that the Government was doing its best to develop native coal resources, but, at the very best, the production of Irish coal would not satisfy more than one-tenth of the people’s needs. So long as the war continues little can be done. The Irish people must make up their minds that conditions will become considerably worse during the next twelve months, and they must make their plans accordingly.
After the war an extensive trade agreement with Great Britain will be absolutely essential. Otherwise unemployment in this country will create an insoluble problem. Mr. Lemass said yesterday that the Government was permitting emigration to Great Britain because it had no alternative. Agriculture and turf-cutting were not sufficient to absorb all the available labour in the country, and, although the Government regarded the exodus of man-power with disquiet, it really had no choice in the matter. Mutatis mutandis, this condition of affairs will persist after the war. Without the background of a sound policy of agricultural exports all Mr. Lemass’s industrial planning will be fruitless. Prices may not be so big as those to which the Irish farmer has been accustomed; but he must cut his coat according to his cloth. Mr. Lemass spoke wisely when he said that facts must be faced, and that there must be no more self-deception in this country. We all have lived too long in a fools’ paradise, and it has taken a world war to awaken us to a sense of reality.
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