Preparations to resist Home rule began as soon as the Parliament act became law. Resistance was co-ordinated by Edward Carson, leader of the Parliamentary party and James Craig, leader of the Ulster Unionist Council. In September 1911 Craig organised a mass meeting where 50,000 heard Carson condemning the bill and urging Unionists to resist. The mass meetings lasted for a year putting huge pressure on the government. On the 28th September 1912 people were asked to sign a convent drawn up by Edward Carson. It committed the person signing it to oppose home Rule using all means necessary. About 250,00 people signed, in their own blood. This is known as the 1st phase of resistance.
The second phase began in January 1913, with the setting up of parliamentary organisations and this phase was much more threatening. The Ulster force by June 1913 had 50,000 members and by March 1914 around 100,000. In response the Nationalists in Southern Ireland set up the Irish Nationalists and its aims were to defend the Home Rule. At first members of the Irish republican brotherhood dominated but 1914, John Redmond, leader of the nationalist Party gained control.
The Conservative party was united in its support for Ulster Unionists. Its new leader, Andrew Bonar Law, has been criticised for openly encouraging their preparations for armed resistance. He stated “I cannot imagine any length of resistance to which Ulster can go in which I should not be prepared to support them.” As such he has been accused of jeopardising his party’s claim to be the party of law and order and placing the party on the side of those who ignore the rule of law. Yet many within the party were behind him in giving their support. There are a number of reasons why Conservatives were so opposed to Home Rule. They had been out of office since 1906 and felt opposition would increase popularity. They argued that the Liberals did not have a mandate to introduce Home Rule and argued that the Home Rule was only introduced because Irish Nationalists were able to bargain with the Liberals.
One of the consequences was that the Liberal Government nearly broke apart under the strain and was only saved by the outbreak of the 1st World War. The government’s policy was “wait and see”. Efforts were made, though behind the scenes to find a compromise. In March 1914, Asquith persuaded Redmond and the Nationalists to accept a proposal that any Irish county should have the right to opt out of Home Rule for a period of six years. The compromise was rejected by Carson and the Unionists who said “we do not want a sentence of death with a stay of execution for six years.”
On a visit to London, General Sir Arthur Paget, commanding officer in Ireland, asked what he was to do if his officers lived in Ulster or were sympathetic to the Unionist cause. Paget returned to Ireland to tell those who lived in Ulster they would either obey or face dismal. As a result of this 58 officers at Curragh stated they would prefer dismissal. This is known as the Curragh Mutiny. This greatly weakened the governments negotiating power and ensured that any plans to use the army to clamp down and paramilitary activity in Ulster were shelved. This changed the balance of power in Ireland and ensured that there would have to be partition or no Home Rule. Despite a ban on importing arms, from 24th to 25th April the UVF successfully completed a major gun running operation. This infuriated the Nationalists and further weakened the government. There was considerable sympathy for the Ulster Protestants and gradually a view grew that Ulster had to be offered a separate deal.
By the summer of 1914 the balance of power changed. The UVF were well armed and Unionists were in a position of strength in Ulster. The government had write of the threats of the Ulster Unionists as a bluff but now they were treated seriously.
The outbreak of the 1st World War eased the tension as the Home Rule Bill, which became law on 18 September but further trouble was on the horizon. As soon as war was declared, Britain was assured of Irish support. About 80,000 of Redmond’s Irish Nationalists served with the British army and before the end of 1915, over 29,000 men form Carson’s UVF had volunteered to fight and separate units were formed from the UVF itself. The Unionists felt that by fighting for Britain they might get their way. If they couldn’t prevent Home Rule then they would ask for Ireland to be partitioned into a protestant North that would stay part of Britain and a Catholic South with its own parliament.
However not all Irish Nationalists felt the same. The change marked a split in the Home Rule movement. The more extreme elements retained the name Irish Nationalists and led by Padraic Pearse and Eoin Macneill, refused to fight in the war, they believed, had nothing to do with them.
The extreme Irish Nationalists formed the Irish Republican brotherhood and they planned armed insurrection against the British. The rising began on Easter Monday 1916 in Dublin and took the authorities by surprise. They were quickly able to establish themselves in their chosen strongpoints, including the general post office, which became the centre of operations. It was from there that Padraic Pesrse proclaimed an independent Irish republic.
The rebellion didn’t last very long. Street fighting in Dublin lasted for about a week, a week in which 1600 rebels faced 12,000 British troops and a gunboat. The outcome was certain. On Sunday 30 April James Connolly and Padraic Pearse ordered an unconditional surrender. 450 Irish people were killed and 2614 injured. 116 British soldiers died and 368 were wounded.
Eamonn de Valera became the prime minister of Sinn Finn in October and by December he became president of the Irish Volunteers. Such support for Sinn Fein that in the November 1918 elections, they won 73 seats, the Constitutional Nationalists 6 and the Unionists 26. Finally a treaty was made with Sinn Fein in 1921 by which only the six countries of Northern Ireland remained part of the U.K, with a parliament for local affairs. Under the treaty, the 26 southern counties would become the Irish Free State as a dominion within the British Commonwealth of Nations.
It was the Liberals party reliance on the support of the Irish Nationalist MP’s, which to a great extent led them to introduce a bill for Irish Home Rule.
It is clear from the evidence shown that the Liberal party had the most to lose and were therefore threatened most by the Ireland Home Rule issue. They boldly tried to find a compromise to satisfy everyone but were unsuccessful. The Liberal Government came under severe pressure and nearly split on several occasions due to the enormous pressure from the Ulster Unionists and Irish Nationalists.
Conservatives on the other hand were barely threatened. Whatever the outcome of the Home rule issue, the blame would lie with the Liberal Administration so Conservatives were content to sit back and let events take their course. The Conservatives tried to exploit the situation by opposing Home Rule and so gain more popularity and support but there is no evidence to show that the strategy succeeded.
