Home Rule

Before the idea of a free Irish nation had enough support, the nationalists on the island were ready to settle for Home Rule. In essence, the Irish would still be under British control, but with their own parliament based out of Dublin.

Charles Stewart Parnell was the first one to introduce the Home Rule bill, but his attempts proved to be futile. William Ewart Gladstone, British Prime Minister who held the position several times in the later half of the nineteenth century, was the next to push for the bill. His first attempt was in 1886, but the bill didn't make it past the House of Commons. In 1892, Gladstone tried again; the bill was passed in the House of Commons but defeated in the unionist-dominated House of Lords.
In 1912 Gladstone's successor, Herbert Henry Asquith, reintroduced the bill. It made it through the House of Commons but the House of Lords used its veto power to delay action for two years. Formally, the bill went into effect in 1914, but with the outbreak of World War I, British parliament decided to wait before establishing a parliament in Dublin.

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