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Taking Ireland For The Irish Essay

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Another cause common to both groups of nationalists was “getting Ireland for the Irish”, as O’Connell said during his efforts for Repeal, or ensuring that the Irish people had control of their own affairs. This might not seem like a major problem today, but at that point, Ireland was being governed from another country that many felt didn’t have their best interests at heart. William Ewart Gladstone, the British Prime Minister in 1886, brought up this issue when introducing the first Home Rule bill to the House of Commons. Because the law came to Ireland “with a foreign aspect, and in a foreign garb”, it didn’t feel to the people to be truly Irish law or coming from their needs. Because of this, even legislation with good intentions were met with distrust and displeasure. He argued that sometimes it wasn’t enough that the laws were good; they needed to come from the right source as well. There were, however, points to be left to the Crown, including imperial affairs, the armed forces, and foreign relations. They also shouldn’t pass a law favoring one religion over another. The Home Rule Conference agreed on these points, asking only for control over domestic affairs to be placed in the hands of an Irish Parliament. They also agreed in the belief that increasing Irish autonomy would strengthen and honor the Crown rather than weakening or degrading it.
An Irish government was also a goal of the revolutionary nationalists, though they supported a different form, which will be

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