Government policy in Ireland is ‘intolerable, ridiculous and shameful’

Sligo, 30 October 1916 - John Redmond has repeated his plea for the immediate establishment of a Home Rule parliament in Dublin and for a dramatic shift in the Irish policy of the British government.

The leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party was speaking at a rally in Sligo town where he and his wife were greeted with 'prolonged and enthusiastic cheering'. He delivered the speech at the unveiling of a statue of Patrick McHugh, formerly an Irish Parliamentary Party MP for north Sligo.

In the course of his speech, Mr. Redmond spoke of the dangers presented by those who imperilled the 'future of Home Rule, and doing it in the name of extreme and superior nationalism'.

He exalted the virtues of 'practical patriotism' and stated that there was 'only one policy in Ireland. That is the policy of O'Connnell, of Butt, of Parnell, of Davitt and of the heroes of the Irish national movement of the last 20 years. That policy means that Ireland's rights can be won and can only be won by constitutional means.'

Mr. Redmond challenged the British Government to change policy for the 'highest necessity, from an imperial point of view, is at once to alleviate the excited and inflamed feeling of the Irish people. Fighting for the independence of small nationalities on the Continent of Europe, and maintaining martial law in Ireland - the position is intolerable, ridiculous, and shameful.’

He concluded: ‘I say to England today: one great act of understanding statesmanship in Ireland, and more will be done for the future of the British empire towards the winning of the war than by the alliance of half a dozen neutral states or another successful advance on the River Somme.'

The Irish Nation

The Irish Nation has been highly critical of the Irish Parliamentary Party in recent months. The paper accuses Redmond of duplicity - of decrying British policy in Ireland in public but cosying up to the government in private. An article from their 23 September 1916 issue was particularly scathing:

‘We pity Mr Redmond. He has fallen from his high estate. He has lost the confidence of the people who trusted him and whose trust he repaid by deceiving and betraying them... He is guarded by the police, guarded from his own fears, the prickings of a guilty conscience. It is a just retribution. Nevertheless we are sure our countrymen would not do him physical harm. His punishment may be left to posterity, which will execrate his memory, and Irishmen are not assassins. Let him drag out the remaining years of his life tortured by remorse in all his waking hours and tormented by thoughts of what might have been had he only played a man’s part and been true to the principles of Irish Nationality. By preaching those principles he achieved the proud position of leader of the Irish people: by abandoning them he learned obloquy and shame. A just retribution.’

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]