"Parnell once said that no man has the right to set a boundary to the onward march of a nation. Parnell was right. Parnell spoke in a moment when Ireland was still in a subordinate position in the British Empire. Since that time, Ireland has taken a step from which she can never withdraw by declaring her independence. This Treaty is a step backwards. And I, for my part, would be inclined to say that he would be a bold man, who would dare set a boundary to the backward march of a nation, which, of its own free will, had deliberately relinquished its own independence."
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Both above from a speech regarding the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) given on 21 December 1921 at University College Dublin. Cited in "Great Irish Speeches" by Michael McLoughlin, Poolbeg, London (1997), pp. 103-107.
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Robert Erskine Childers
1870 – 1922
irischer Dichter
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