Nationalist Party (Ireland)

The Nationalist Party, an Irish political party, existed under various forms from 1874 to 1978.

Foundation

It was founded under Isaac Butt as the Home Rule League. After the death of Butt the party soon divided into radicals led by Charles Stewart Parnell and Whiggish members under William Shaw. Shaw became leader for a year 1879-1880, but was defeated by Parnell the next year. The Whiggish members all lost their seats in 1885. The party was reformed by Parnell as the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1882.

Parnell Split

The party split in 1891 over the leadership of Parnell. He had been named by party member William O'Shea as the cause for his divorce with his wife Katherine. When the Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone stated that he couldn't work with the party under the circumstances the majority of the party called for his resignation early in 1891. He died that year from pneumonia after fighting three tough by-elections, all of which he lost. This further split the party, with the Parnellite wing, led by John Redmond, blaming the Anti-Parnellites for his death.

The party remained split until 1900, when Redmond became leader, with John Dillon, then leader of the Anti-Parnellites, as his deputy. Throughout the period 1900-1910 Tim Healy, D.D. Sheehan and William O'Brien lead breakaway factions, but never achieved more than eight seats, and they usually sat and voted with the rest of the party, except in the case of the 1914 Home Rule Act where they abstained, denouncing it as a partition deal.

It seemed that Irish Nationalists might achieve their aim of Home Rule in 1910 when the Liberal government of Herbert Henry Asquith depended on them to stay in power. In exchange for voting for the Parliament Act, they were promised an initial form of national self-government introduced as a third Home Rule Bill in 1912. Under the new provisions the House of Lords could only delay bills for two years, so they expected to have it enacted in 1914. However, militant unionist resistance in Ulster had risen in those years (see Ulster Volunteer Force), supported by Irish Protestant and British Conservative politicians, so that with the outbreak of the First World War, a provision was added to the final Third Home Rule Act 1914 that the bill would not be implemented until after the war, and until a temporary partition provision was made for the exclusion of some Ulster counties, as resulted in 1920 with the establishment of Northern Ireland.

Eclipse by Sinn Féin

However, by the time the war had ended the party had lost support. With the Easter Rising of 1916, the failure to enact Home Rule immediately and the fear that conscription could be extended to Ireland, it lost support to the more radical Sinn Féin. In the general election of 1918 its seats fell from 73 to 6, Sinn Féin winning a majority of Irish seats, with 25 unopposed.

The party disappeared in much of Ireland after the Irish War of Independence, the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty and Irish Civil War. In the new Irish Free State, some of its members joined the Centre Party, founded by John Dillon's son, James, which amalgamtated with Cumann na nGaedheal to form Fine Gael in 1933.

Northern Ireland

It continued in Northern Ireland, but developed a reputation for being heavily disorganised and being little more than a collection of elected members with their own local machines. Many calls were made for the party to develop an overall organisation but it fell apart in the late 1960s. Earlier many members had formed the National Democrats after attempts at reform failed. The NDs merged into the Social Democratic and Labour Party at that party's foundation in 1970 and many remaining nationalists followed them. One of the Nationalist Party's last electoral contests was the 1973 election for the Assembly created as part of the Sunningdale Agreement the lack of success there meant that the writing was on the wall although a handful of councillors were elected to Omagh District Council and Derry City Council (then Londonderry CC) in 1973 and 1977.

The Party in Britain

In addition a fragment of the party continued in Liverpool throughout the 1920s as T.P. O'Connor continued to be returned as MP for the Liverpool Scotland division, though in practice he was effectively an independent MP. When O'Connor died in 1929 no candidate stood in the ensuing by-election to succeed him in the Irish Nationalist interest.

End

In 1978 the party merged with Unity (Northern Ireland) to form the Irish Independence Party which also included non-aligned republicans but it too soon faded from view.

Foundation

Parnell Split

Eclipse by Sinn Féin

Northern Ireland

The Party in Britain

End

Leaders

See also

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Nationalist Party (Ireland)

Foundation

Parnell Split

Eclipse by Sinn Féin

Northern Ireland

The Party in Britain

End

Leaders

See also