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IX. The Irish Parliamentary Party and the Liberals in Mid-Ulster, 1894
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2016
Extract
The letter that follows was written by Edward Blake, a member of the committee of the Irish parliamentary party, to Thomas A. Dickson, formerly a nationalist member of parliament, and since 1892 the principal organiser of the liberal home-rule vote in Ulster The importance of the document lies in the fact that it formed the basis of one of the most serious charges ever levelled against the Irish party in the course of its history. At the general election of 1895 the deep differences of opinion that had been dividing the anti-Parnellites almost since the time of the split came suddenly to a head. The majority section, headed by the chairman of the party, Justin McCarthy, and by John Dillon, insisted upon the right of the committee of the party to direct the nationalist effort in the election campaign. This claim was denied by the minority, led by T M. Healy, which asserted that the committee was unrepresentative and that it allowed too little freedom to the constituencies in the selection of candidates. As the election date drew near, there were frequent clashes between the supporters of the two wings of the party at the various conventions that were held in all parts of the country.
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- Copyright
- Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 1951
References
1 Blake, Edward (1833–912). Had a distinguished career as a barrister and politician in Canada. Was prime minister of Ontario in 1871 and minister of justice for the dominion 1875–77. In 1892 he abandoned Canadian for Irish politics and was nationalist member for South Longford from 1892 until 1907. D.N.B., 1912–21.Google Scholar
2 T A. Dickson (1833–909). M.P., Dungannon, 1874–80; Tyrone, 1881–85; Dublin (St. Stephen's Green), 1888–92. Who was who, 1897–916.
3 The committee's claim was defended by Justin McCarthy in a letter to the press, published in Freeman s Journal, 4 July 1895. Healy's case was stated by himself in a speech made in Dublin on June 28. See the report in Freeman's Journal, 29 June 1895.
4 The report most widely quoted was that of the Irish Times, 9 July 1895; this was the one followed by the Freeman s Journal, 11 July 1895, and thus the account most widely read in nationalist circles. The description of the scenes at the convention—but not the summary of the letter also given in that report—was largely confirmed by Dillon in a statement he made to the party in August 1895. The notes on which he based his statement are among the Dillon MSS and are in his own handwriting. Healy, on the other hand, denied the accuracy of the press reports both of the dispute between Dillon and himself and of the letter which he had read. (See his two letters published in Freeman's Journal, 11 July and 8 Aug. 1895.) But in the second of these letters he made it clear that it was the original document, and not the garbled press version of it, which had aroused his wrath. He himself, many years later, published in his memoirs passages from the Blake letter. These passages are substantially accurate as regards the sense of the letter, but they must, none the less, be treated with caution, because it is not made clear that the beginning of the extract is not also the beginning of the letter, but is in fact the middle of a line towards the end of the third paragraph of the original. Neither is there any indication of the fact that in Healy's extract the last four paragraphs of the document have been omitted, as have also certain words and phrases in the body of the letter, while other words have been changed. For this extract see Healy, T M., Letters and leaders of my day, ii. 421 Google Scholar.
5 ‘ Minutes of the Irish parliamentary party’, 16 Aug. 1895 (Dillon MSS).