Home Rule crisis

• The Conservative Party had been in government from 1895 to 1906, and the unionists had always supported them to ensure a majority. While the Conservatives were in power, Home Rule would not be passed.
• In 1906 the Liberal Party was voted into government and had enough votes that it did not need outside support.
• The Parliament Act 1911


  1. Stated that the House of Lords could not fully veto any bill and could only delay laws from passing for two years

  2. This meant that Home Rule was a possibility in the near future
• Third Home Rule Bill


  • Ireland would have its own parliament in Dublin to deal with internal affairs
  • The parliament in Westminster would deal with external affairs such as foreign policy and taxation
• Due to the Parliament Act, the House of Lords could not veto the Home Rule, even though the Conservatives and the Unionist Party both opposed it.
• Reasons for Unionist opposition


  • They believed Home Rule is 'Rome Rule' and they felt that trade would be greatly affected
  • They organised demonstrations and protests against Home Rule
  • They made a declaration called the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant, which stated that Unionists would use all means to defend the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland
• Unionist actions


  • Founded the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in January 1913 as paramilitary resistance
  • Bought arms and ammunition from Germany for the UVF
  • The Larne gun-running took place in April 1914, when 35,000 guns and five million rounds of ammunition were smuggled into Ulster
• A paramilitary force is an unofficial military style organisation of volunteer soldiers.
• Some 100,000 joined the UVF, led by former army officers.