1 Private. House of Commons March 9th, 1916. Dear General Friend,— I am much obliged to you for your letter
of the 8th March about the Irish Volunteer Training Corps. I
am glad to find that you still are of my view that it is not
too late, even now, to extend the usefulness of the Volunteers
in Ireland for Home Defence purposes. Even as matters stand,
however, at present, there is no reason why the services of
the National Volunteers should not be utilised for Defence
Work, such as that done by the National Volunteers some
time ago in Cork. I feel quite sure that, if a request were
made to the National Volunteers to undertake work of that kind,
they would be only too glad to agree. I would be glad to have
your view on this matter at your convenience. Very truly yours J. E. Redmond. Major—General Friend, C. B.