Page 6 - Moravian Messenger May 2021

A problem within a problem
The last in the series about the background to the partition of Ireland in 1921 and the establishment of the Province of Northern Ireland.
The two economic systems of the island were incompatible. The South relied heavily on agricultural products exported into the UK market, but even there it was not a dominant force as shipping capable of bringing in frozen product from the colonies was becoming a potent factor in the UK food market. Tragically, many said that people were the chief export of Ireland. Belfast and all large cities in Ireland had at this time a flourishing trade in producing whiskey, and while home consumption was strong, the trade was reduced with the passing of the prohibition act in the US after the First World War. This also affected the demand for grain from the small farmer and no attempt by the island's population to consume more had the desired effect.
In 1912 another Home Rule was brought forward. It was welcomed by the Nationalists, even with its very limited powers, but it was opposed by the Unionists in any form. They now proposed an openly direct challenge to the government. All over the North anti- home rule rallies were organised, culminating in the 'Ulster Covenant' which echoed the biblical link between God and his people. It declared 'to stand by one another in defending our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy ... and in the event of such a Parliament being forced upon us we further solemnly pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority.' On 28th September 1912, 400,000 men took this pledge and, as a reflection of the times, 250,000 women signed a separate declaration.
Fine words but what was to happen next? Setting up the framework for a provisional government they appointed a Colonel- in Chief to command their Volunteers, who became the Ulster Volunteer Force and raised by loan and gifts one million pounds. This was a colossal sum for the time and was to be used to fund any possible military conflict. All this was of course illegal, but the government feared to arrest Edward Carson, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, in case it provoked an open military clash. In 1914, the idea
was floated that any county could opt out of Home rule for six years, but Carson immediately rejected the idea as a mere stay of execution. No doubt he also took into consideration that of the nine Ulster counties: only three had a real Protestant majority.
Herbert H. Asquith, the Prime Minister, decided on a show of force with part of the naval fleet ordered to Lamlash and the army in Ireland was warned of the need for possible action. Despite having sworn loyalty to George V a percentage of officers at the Curragh camp outside Dublin said they would resign their commissions rather then move against the Volunteers in Ulster. It was not long before this action became public knowledge shocking UK public opinion and it broke a constitutional convention that the army was subject to the will of an elected parliament. At this stage, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the Protestant volunteers, were only lightly armed, but on the night of the 24th/25th April, 25,000 rifles bought in Germany landed along the Ulster coast with three million rounds of ammunition.
This provoked a response from the nationalists who formed the National Volunteers. In July they landed arms, again bought in Germany at Howth. The possibility of civil war in Ireland now loomed with the British Army trying to hold the ring and fight possibly the two forces at once. Whether either force could hold ground against a hostile local population is still debated. Five of the nine Ulster counties were hostile, to a greater or lesser degree to a Unionist domination. The small number of Protestants in the southern counties hardly figured in the equation. It is pertinent to note that the whole period was being closely watched in Berlin for if the British army was engaged in Ireland the French could expect little aid from Britain and they would face a German invasion alone.
George V had been working in the background with his ministers to try, under the chairmanship of the Speaker of the Commons, and using the prestige of the Crown to bring about a settlement.
Both sides, unionist and nationalist, refused to budge on the issue of Home Rule. For nationalists, all 32 counties of Ireland had to be included in Home Rule and for unionists Home Rule was utterly unacceptable in any part of Ireland. Partition was not acceptable to either side. The Conference ended on the 24th July with John Redmond, the leader of the Home Rule group, already facing criticism in the South for what they saw as a weak bill. The opinion was that it created a situation for Ireland little better than that of a County Council.
Ultimately, the fatal shot at Sarajevo changed everything as Europe fell into war. It was agreed to suspend the Home Rule Act until the war was over. The UVF was willingly incorporated into the British Army as the 36th Ulster Division, fighting for King and Country. Many of this division were destroyed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Many of the National Volunteers also joined up saying they were fighting for the rights of small nations such as Belgium. Both unionist and nationalist groupings used their positions later as demands for the blood spilt on the Fields of Flanders to be repaid.
At the end of the war the Ulster Unionists were still a cohesive force, but Redmond and the Irish National Volunteers had been fatally undermined by the British response to the 1916 rebellion in Dublin. The rebellion or rising depending on your political opinion was immediately condemned by the majority across Ireland. However, Southern opinion changed drastically with the chronic mishandling by the military in Dublin of the aftermath. Many were rounded up often with no connection to the insurrection and then there was the prolonged execution of the leaders over days. One of the leaders, James Connolly, who was badly wounded, was too weak to stand and was tied to a chair to be executed and this caused particular public outrage.
The Government in London tried to intervene but the military command in Dublin Castle had moved too quickly to enable a public relations disaster to be averted. This situation was immediately
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