Irish Question
The Irish Question was the issue debated primarily among the British government from the early 19th century until the 1920s of how to respond to Irish nationalism and the calls for Irish independence. The unsolved Home Rule Bill issue, the unionists and the republicans—all of those needed to be taken appropriate care of if Britain were to remain stable.
Home Rule
Home Rule, in British and Irish history, was a movement to secure internal autonomy for Ireland within the British Empire.
The Home Government Association, calling for an Irish parliament, was formed in 1870 by Isaac Butt, a Protestant lawyer who popularised “Home Rule” as the movement’s slogan. In 1873, the Home Rule League replaced the association, and Butt’s moderate leadership soon gave way to that of the more aggressive Charles Stewart Parnell. Demands for land reform and denominational education were added to the Irish program, and Parnell’s obstructionist tactics in the British Parliament publicised his country’s grievances.
The Home Government Association, calling for an Irish parliament, was formed in 1870 by Isaac Butt, a Protestant lawyer who popularised “Home Rule” as the movement’s slogan. In 1873, the Home Rule League replaced the association, and Butt’s moderate leadership soon gave way to that of the more aggressive Charles Stewart Parnell. Demands for land reform and denominational education were added to the Irish program, and Parnell’s obstructionist tactics in the British Parliament publicised his country’s grievances.
Isaac Butt was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament (M.P.) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parties and organisations. He was a leader in the Irish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, the Home Government Association in 1870 and in 1873 the Home Rule League.
William Ewart Gladstone was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four terms beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times, serving over 12 years. Gladstone's own political doctrine—which emphasised equality of opportunity and opposition to trade protectionism—came to be known as Gladstonian liberalism. His popularity amongst the working-class earned him the sobriquet "The People's William".
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1882 to 1891. His party held the balance of power in the House of Commons during the Home Rule debates of 1885–1886.
People to note:
Prime minister Gladstone introduced the first Home Rule Bill in Parliament in 1886. Although supported in principle by Parnell and what was now known as the Irish Party, the Bill's fate depended upon Liberal opponents. In his famous Irish Home Rule speech, Gladstone besought Parliament to pass it and grant Home Rule to Ireland in honour rather than being compelled to one day in humiliation. Unionists and the Orange Order were fierce in their resistance; for them, any measure of Home Rule was denounced as nothing other than Rome Rule. In the staunchly loyalist town of Portadown, the so-called 'Orange Citadel' where the Orange Order was founded in 1795, Orangemen and their supporters celebrated the Bill's defeat by 'Storming the Tunnel'. This was the headline in the local paper where it was reported that a mob attacked the small Catholic/Nationalist ghetto of Obins Street.
The defection of the Liberal unionists led by Joseph Chamberlain, the Duke of Devonshire and others made it far more difficult for the Liberals to win elections and in 1895 resulted in a Liberal unionist coalition with the Conservatives. The defeat of the bill also meant that the Irish Question remained unsolved, and that the continuing controversy threatened to destabilise the United Kingdom. Indeed, some politicians began to call for ‘Home Rule All Round’ – that is, for each of the four countries of the Union.
Second Home Rule Bill
Even after the repeal of the first Irish Home Room Bill, William Gladstone refused to retire and continued as leader of the opposition. He wrote several articles on the subject of Home Rule and questioned the idea that the House of Lords should be able to block government legislation. Although he remained active in politics, a decline in his hearing and eyesight made life difficult. "His memory, particularly for names but also for recent events, although not for more distant ones, showed signs of fading... On the other hand his physical stamina remained formidable. He felled his last tree a few weeks before his eighty-second birthday."
In the 1892 General Election held in July, Gladstone's Liberal Party won the most seats but he did not have an overall majority and the opposition was divided into three groups: Conservatives, Irish Nationalists and Liberal Unionists. Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury, refused to resign on hearing the election results and waited to be defeated in a vote of no confidence on 11th August. Gladstone, now 84 years old, formed a minority government dependent on Irish Nationalist support.
A Second Home Rule Bill was introduced on 13th February 1893. Gladstone personally took the bill through the "committee stage in a remarkable feat of physical and mental endurance". After eighty-two days of debate it was passed in the House of Commons on 1st September by 43 votes. Gladstone wrote in his diary, "This is a great step. Thanks be to God."
On 8th September, 1893, after four short days of debate, the House of Lords rejected the bill, by a vote of 419 to 41. "It was a division without precedent, both for the size of the majority and the strength of the vote. There were only 560 entitled to vote, and 82 per cent of them did did so, even though there was no incentive of uncertainty to bring remote peers to London."
It is s alleged that Gladstone considered resigning and calling a new general election on the issue. However, he suspected that he could not mount a successful electoral indictment of the House of Lords on Irish Home Rule. He therefore pushed ahead with the Workmen's Compensation Act, a measure that was extremely unpopular with employers. The act dealt with the right of workers for compensation for personal injury. It replaced the Employer's Liability Act 1880, which required the injured worker the right to sue the employer and put the burden of proof on the employee. Gladstone thought that when the Lords blocked the bill he could call an election and win.
However, in December 1893, Gladstone came into conflict with his own party over the issue of defence spending. The Conservative Party began arguing for an expansion of the Royal Navy. Gladstone made it clear that he was opposed to this policy. William Harcourt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was willing to increase naval expenditure by £3 million. John Poyntz Spencer, the First Lord of the Admiralty, agreed with Harcourt. Gladstone refused to budge on the issue and wrote that he would not "break to pieces the continuous action of my political life, nor trample on the tradition received from every colleague who has ever been my teacher" by supporting naval rearmament.
Conservatives continued to block the government's legislation. After accepting the Lords' amendments to the Local Government Bill "under protest" he decided to resign. In his last speech to the House of Commons on 1st March, 1894, he suggested that the time had come to change the rules of the British Parliament so that the House of Lords would no longer have the power to refuse to pass Bills which had been passed by the House of Commons.
In the 1892 General Election held in July, Gladstone's Liberal Party won the most seats but he did not have an overall majority and the opposition was divided into three groups: Conservatives, Irish Nationalists and Liberal Unionists. Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury, refused to resign on hearing the election results and waited to be defeated in a vote of no confidence on 11th August. Gladstone, now 84 years old, formed a minority government dependent on Irish Nationalist support.
A Second Home Rule Bill was introduced on 13th February 1893. Gladstone personally took the bill through the "committee stage in a remarkable feat of physical and mental endurance". After eighty-two days of debate it was passed in the House of Commons on 1st September by 43 votes. Gladstone wrote in his diary, "This is a great step. Thanks be to God."
On 8th September, 1893, after four short days of debate, the House of Lords rejected the bill, by a vote of 419 to 41. "It was a division without precedent, both for the size of the majority and the strength of the vote. There were only 560 entitled to vote, and 82 per cent of them did did so, even though there was no incentive of uncertainty to bring remote peers to London."
It is s alleged that Gladstone considered resigning and calling a new general election on the issue. However, he suspected that he could not mount a successful electoral indictment of the House of Lords on Irish Home Rule. He therefore pushed ahead with the Workmen's Compensation Act, a measure that was extremely unpopular with employers. The act dealt with the right of workers for compensation for personal injury. It replaced the Employer's Liability Act 1880, which required the injured worker the right to sue the employer and put the burden of proof on the employee. Gladstone thought that when the Lords blocked the bill he could call an election and win.
However, in December 1893, Gladstone came into conflict with his own party over the issue of defence spending. The Conservative Party began arguing for an expansion of the Royal Navy. Gladstone made it clear that he was opposed to this policy. William Harcourt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was willing to increase naval expenditure by £3 million. John Poyntz Spencer, the First Lord of the Admiralty, agreed with Harcourt. Gladstone refused to budge on the issue and wrote that he would not "break to pieces the continuous action of my political life, nor trample on the tradition received from every colleague who has ever been my teacher" by supporting naval rearmament.
Conservatives continued to block the government's legislation. After accepting the Lords' amendments to the Local Government Bill "under protest" he decided to resign. In his last speech to the House of Commons on 1st March, 1894, he suggested that the time had come to change the rules of the British Parliament so that the House of Lords would no longer have the power to refuse to pass Bills which had been passed by the House of Commons.
Exercises:
1. Re-read the text, make up a list of necessary vocabulary and answer the following questions:
1) What is the Home Rule?
2) Who opposed the First Home Rule Bill? Why?
3) How did the second attempt to implement Home Rule end up?
4) Why did Gladstone ultimately decide to resign?
2. Find in the text the following words and word combinations, find a Russian equivalent for them and add them to your working vocabulary:
internal autonomy; beseech; staunchly loyalist; defection; remarkable feat of physical and mental endurance; electoral indictment; to trample on.
3. Use the words from the Exercise 2 in your own sentences.
4. Write your summary of the text, emphasising in it:
a) its subject matter,
b) the facts discussed,
c) the author's point of view on these facts.
5. Prepare to write an essay on the following topic:
"What were the biggest mistakes of the British Parliament in relation to the Irish Question?"
1) What is the Home Rule?
2) Who opposed the First Home Rule Bill? Why?
3) How did the second attempt to implement Home Rule end up?
4) Why did Gladstone ultimately decide to resign?
2. Find in the text the following words and word combinations, find a Russian equivalent for them and add them to your working vocabulary:
internal autonomy; beseech; staunchly loyalist; defection; remarkable feat of physical and mental endurance; electoral indictment; to trample on.
3. Use the words from the Exercise 2 in your own sentences.
4. Write your summary of the text, emphasising in it:
a) its subject matter,
b) the facts discussed,
c) the author's point of view on these facts.
5. Prepare to write an essay on the following topic:
"What were the biggest mistakes of the British Parliament in relation to the Irish Question?"
