1934 Debate in Dáil (Irish Parliament) on Flax Bill, Deputy Thomas Hales, Fianna Fáil, Bandon ‘West Cork is isolated. It is no man’s land as far as industries go. It is too far away and too far out of the world. It must be remembered that flax must have a poor soil and that the land that is suitable for the growing of wheat or beet may not be suitable for the growing of flax. Flax does absorb an enormous amount of potash out of the land, but generally, in speaking of poor land, I have seen cliffs where flax can be grown. Deputy Timothy Joseph O’Donovan, Fine Gael ‘In times gone by, when an alien Government was here, when there was a slump in the linen trade, they compelled the clergymen, in order to encourage the development of the Irish linen trade, to wear linen surplices and cypresses at funerals and church services generally. That was, at that time, a great incentive to the development of the Irish linen industry, and if our Government were to go on these lines and to do something similar, they would help to bring back one of our oldest and one of our greatest industries, an industry that would give a great deal of employment.