“ Nationally, the race, the language, the customs and traditions of Ireland are radically distinct from the English. Ireland is one of the most ancient nations in Europe; and she has preserved her national integrity, vigorous and intact, through seven centuries of foreign oppression; she has never relinquished her national rights, and through the long era of English usurpation she has in every generation defiantly proclaimed her inalienable right of nationhood down to her last glorious report to arms in 1916. ”

“ Internationally, Ireland is the gateway of the Atlantic. Ireland is the last outpost of Europe towards the West: Ireland is the point upon which great sea routes between East and West converge: her independence is demanded by the Freedom of the Seas: her great harbours are empty and idle solely because English policy is determined to retain Ireland as a barren bulwark for English aggrandisement, and the unique geographical position of this island, far from being a benefit and safeguard to Europe and America, is subjected to the purposes of English policy of world domination. ”