alternatehistory.com

The Third Home Rule Act was first passed by the House of Commons in 1912, but rejected by the House of Lords. In 1913, the House of Commons passed it for a second time, only for the House of Lords to reject it again. Finally, in 1914 the Home Rule Act was passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords was completely bypassed because under the Parliament Act of 1911 the House of Lords could only delay a bill by two years. But the bill was passed too late, because the House of Commons had to delay the bill due to World War 1. By the end of the war, Easter Rising had radicalized the Irish independence movement, leading to the partition of Ireland and Southern Ireland becoming a dominion instead of remaining in the UK. But what if the Home Rule Act was passed early enough that it could be enacted before World War 1?

I think the following PODs are plausible:
  1. The Parliament Act of 1911 is different, allowing the House of Lords to delay a bill by only one year instead of two (The Parliament Act of 1949 would do this).
  2. After the House of Commons passes the Third Home Rule Act for a second time, George V recommends that the House of Lords passes it. (I'm not sure whether George V would be overstepping the boundaries of his constitutional role by doing this, but he did pressure the House of Lords to pass the Parliament Act by threatening to pack it with Liberal peers to override the Conservatives earlier).

Also, the original Third Home Rule Act included all of Ireland under Home Rule. An amending bill was created that would have temporarily excluded the six counties that would later form Northern Ireland from Home Rule, but this was never passed due to Home Rule being delayed anyways. If Home Rule had actually been passed earlier, would the exclusion of the six counties have gone through? If not, could it have sparked a conflict in Northern Ireland?
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