Eamon de Valera's Response to Winston Churchill
EXHIBITION : HISTORY OF RTÉ
About this Item
Towards the end of the Second World War, Winston Churchill, in his Victory in Europe Day speech broadcast to the world, was critical of Taoiseach Eamon de Valera and Ireland's policy of neutrality throughout the war. Three days later, de Valera, in a much anticipated reply, outlined Ireland's right as an independent state to remain neutral. His response was praised widely in Ireland for its strength, dignity and restraint.
- Title Eamon de Valera's Response to Winston Churchill
- 1st Broadcast 16/05/1945
- Clip Duration 00:07:09
- Material Type Audio
- Clip title Eamon de Valera's Response to Winston Churchill
- Extended description
In this extract from de Valera's broadcast, he gives credit to Churchill for not violating Irish neutrality. To illustrate his decisions on neutrality, de Valera poses a hypothetical question: if Germany had won the war and occupied England for a number of years, finally giving freedom to England with the exception of six southern counties, would Churchill be prepared to "lead this partitioned England to join with Germany in a crusade..."
- Information
The photograph accompanying this clip shows Eamon de Valera in 1932.
© RTÉ Stills Library 0504/093
The photographer was Joseph Cashman.
- Local keywords Politics, Eamon de Valera, Winston Churchill, World War 2, Emergency
- Geographical coverage Ireland, England, Europe
- Genre Factual
- Topic Wars and Conflict
- First broadcast channel Radio Éireann
- Production year 1945
- Country of production Ireland
- Original identifier BB2423
- IPR restrictions Rights Reserved - Free Access
- Rights terms and conditions
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- Item type part/extract
- Item sound Mono
- Language used English (eng)
