Talk:James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon

I've removed this from the article on the Orange Order. It may be of more use here:

Craig, served with 'distinction' in the [[Second Boer War]]. He served with the [[Royal Irish Rifles]], and also the [[Imperial Yeomanry]], and it was while fighting with the latter that he endeared himself to this comrades. The Irish Squadrons of the Imperial Yeomanry were badly mauled at a place called Lindley in the [[Orange Free State]] by a large force of Boer Commandos led by Piet De Wet. When the war was over, Craig presented a flag captured from the Boers to an Orange lodge in [[County Down]]. He often expressed admiration for his Boer opponents and like many Ulstermen admired the Boers for their [[Calvinist]] religion and their courage and fairness in battle.

User Barryob restored deleted text that Craig was "staunchly anti-Catholic"; this is unsubstantiated POV and unencyclopaedic.I hope this doesn't have to go to the Administrator Noticeboard.Jill Teed 00:50, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Did you reed the reference beside the text [1] I thought not --Barry O'Brien entretien 01:09, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Haha the facts and the current situation are all a fine tribute to how anti-Catholic he was. Would you like to have a word with some of the older members of my family who had to stick this man. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.159.12.187 (talk) 18:53, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

There are substantial sections of this article that are lifted verbatim from the entry on Craig in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (D. George Boyce, ‘Craig, James, first Viscount Craigavon (1871–1940)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2011 [2]).

For example in the section 'Politics' the following is found:

Craig had made his career in British as well as Northern Irish politics; but his premiership showed little sign of his earlier close acquaintance with the British political world. He became intensely parochial, and suffered from his loss of intimacy with British politicians in 1938, when the British government concluded agreements with Dublin to end the Anglo-Irish economic war between the two states, on terms highly unfavourable to Northern Ireland. He never tried to persuade Westminster to protect Northern Ireland's industries, especially the linen industry, which was central to its economy. He was anxious not to provoke Westminster, given the precarious state of Northern Ireland's position. In April 1939, and again in May 1940 in the Second World War, he called for conscription to be introduced in the North (which the British government, fearing a backlash from nationalists, refused).

This is lifted almost directly from Boyce (where the reference at the end cites Robert Fisk's In Time of War:

Craig had made his career in British as well as Ulster politics; but his premiership showed little sign of his earlier close acquaintance with the British political world. He became intensely parochial, and suffered from his loss of intimacy with British politicians in 1938, when the British government concluded agreements with Dublin to end the ‘economic war’ between the two states, on terms highly unfavourable to Northern Ireland. He never tried to persuade Westminster to protect Northern Ireland's industries, especially the linen industry, which was central to its economy. He was anxious not to provoke Westminster, or draw too much attention to what was happening in Northern Ireland, especially in the treatment of the Catholic minority. His desire to retain the closest links with Great Britain was seen in April 1939, and again in May 1940, when he called for conscription to be applied in Northern Ireland (which the British government, fearing a nationalist backlash, refused).

Likewise, the section 'Military Career' contains unacknowledged material drawn from Boyce.

This article could probably do with a complete overhaul, ensuring proper acknowledgement of sources and not unacknowledged quoting of large chunks of copyright text.

Educationhousejavert (talk) 13:40, 22 August 2017 (UTC)

Is it actually true that he was "a millionaire" by the age of forty (ie. 1910-11)? A million quid was a colossal sum of money in those days: £100m at today's prices, or several hundred million relative to GDP/average earnings (ie. his lifestyle relative to that of an ordinary man of the time was in the same ratio as that of somebody with £400-600m today). It's not impossible but I haven't come across books which mention him being stupendously rich. Surely it is more likely he had made a tidy sum in business (tens of thousands?) equivalent to a few million in today's money.Paulturtle (talk) 23:06, 5 March 2019 (UTC)Similarly it says he received £100,000 from his father's will, which even allowing for giving away his assets before he died is hardly compatible with the modest sums which he left at his death.Paulturtle (talk) 06:03, 6 March 2019 (UTC)

"when the British government concluded agreements with Dublin to end the Anglo-Irish economic war between the two states, on terms highly unfavourable to Northern Ireland."

what were the unfavourable terms?~~Cobalt~~