Home Rule and Nationalists

At the beginning of the 20th century there was no such place as Northern Ireland and no such place as the Republic of Ireland. Ireland was one country.

All of Ireland was governed by Britain. It had been that way since the Act of Union was passed in 1800. The Act of Union was a law that meant that all of the decisions about Ireland were made in the Parliament in London, though Ireland did get to send 100 MPs there.

Therefore Ireland was not independent and did not have its own government.

Many people in Ireland disliked the Union and wanted it changed or removed to give Irish people more say over decisions relating to Ireland. They were referred to as Nationalists.

They tended to be members of the Catholic majority and had a greater sense of Irish identity.

In general terms a Nationalist is someone who wants to see their nation become a self-governing state. Those that seek to do this peacefully are called Constitutional Nationalists.

Events such as the Famine of the 1840s had greatly fuelled Nationalist dislike of the Union.

In the second half of the 19th Century, a political party called the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) was created to further the Nationalist cause.

They wanted to see a plan called Home Rule put into action.

Key points about Home Rule

• Home Rule meant setting up of a parliament in Dublin to look after Irish affairs, with Ireland remaining part of the British Empire.
• The IPP tried to get Home Rule passed into law on two occasions, but on both occasions it was defeated in Parliament in London. In 1886 it was stopped in the House of Commons; in 1893 it was defeated in the House of Lords.
• The push for Home Rule then died down for a number of years, but then in 1912 the IPP did a political deal with the ruling British Liberal government, which needed the support of IPP MPs to remain in power. As a result Home Rule looked certain to become law.
• The law to introduce Home Rule passed through the House of Commons in 1912, but faced opposition in the House of Lords. At that time the House of Lords could delay a Bill for two years, so Home Rule would not come into into effect until 1914.

In the intervening two years events would move very quickly during what was known as the Home Rule Crisis.

The Protestants of North East Ulster did not want to see the end of the Act of Union and felt it was important to their religious freedom and their businesses.

Led by Dublin barrister Edward Carson and Belfast businessman James Craig they organised protests and petitions such as the Solemn League and Covenant, however the most dangerous development at this time was the formation of a paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to prevent the introduction of Home Rule.

The Irish Volunteer Force

• In response to the setting up of the UVF, the prominent Nationalist, Eoin MacNeill called for the setting up of a similar organisation to ensure that Home Rule came about.
• The Irish Volunteer Force (IVF) initially had a membership of almost 100,000 men. It continued to grow and after a short time it would come under the control of John Redmond, the leader of the IPP.

These developments put the government in London in a very difficult position.

They were dealing with mass movements, with the ever present threat of violent civil war.

Delivering on Home Rule was beginning to look like a huge task and one that carried a large amount of risk.

There were also doubts as to whether the army in Ireland could be relied upon to enforce the new law, given that many of its officers came from Unionist backgrounds.

To try and resolve the crisis Herbert Asquith, the Prime Minister, invited the leaders of all the main parties to a conference at Buckingham Palace in July 1914.

One idea that was raised, was to temporarily ‘exclude’ counties in Ulster from the Home Rule scheme for a period of six years.

However, the conference broke up without any firm agreement. Almost immediately, attention turned to events in Europe where the continent was quickly descending into war.

When the Great War began in August 1914 Asquith decided that Home Rule would not be implemented until the conflict in Europe was over.

Both the Unionists and Nationalist leaderships felt that support for the war could strengthen their position. As a result:

• Carson asked that the UVF be allowed to serve as one regiment in the army and they became the 36th Ulster Armoured division.
• Redmond also urged members of the Irish Volunteers to join Irish regiments.

However by the time the Great War ended in November 1918, the situation in Ireland would be radically altered.