We hope that the plain people - the labourers and small farmers - will take this opportunity of coming together and working out the National programme.

For Irishmen, there is no football game to match rugby and if all our young men played rugby not only would we beat England and Wales but France and the whole lot of them put together.

Since this war began our sympathy has gone out to all the suffering people who have been dragged into it. Further hundreds of millions have become involved since I spoke at Limerick fortnight ago.

If war comes upon us, it will come as a thief in the night

God has been pleased to save us during the years of war that have already passed. We pray that He may be pleased to save us to the end. But we must do our part.

By keeping the annuities, we could build up a national industry every years as big as the Shannon Scheme.

We hope that the plain people - the labourers and small farmers - will take this opportunity of coming together and working out the National programme.