It is the duty of our men to enroll themselves in the national services. We need all our manpower for defence. For the military and... we need a quarter of a million men.

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.

The part which American friendship played in helping us to win the freedom we enjoy in this part of Ireland has been gratefully recognized and acknowledged by our people.

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

The economic and social problems would tend to become, like the military situation, more and more difficult as time went on and we became more and more isolated.

It is my considered opinion that in the fullness of time history will record the greatness of Michael Collins and it will be recorded at my expense.

Here, in Cork district, you have in combination all the dangers which war can inflict.