The Irish Question

Gladstone spent his terms trying solve the Irish Question - Land Reform and ultimately Home Rule. He largely failed.

If there a way to improve (or indeed solve) the Irish Question post 1860. Can the cry for Land Reform be met? Is Gladstone the right man to lead the move? Is the Liberal party the only party which might try? Is there any plausible way to return Ireland to a country of Liberals and Tories rather than a nation of Nationalists and Unionists?
 
Well, you can get a Dominion of Ireland quite simply by having Parnell not sleep with Kitty O'Shea, thus discrediting his party when he was on the verge of rallying enough support to allow Gladstone to enact Home Rule.

I don't think you can end Irish nationalism within the union though.
 
Did anyone talk in terms of improving farming "efficency" or was it all "get the landlord off our backs"?

I wonder what Parnell picked up from his tour of the American South - post-war Alabama etc?
 
Yes, people did talk about improving farming efficiency, but largely in the north.

The issue is very different tenancy agreements - the Ulster custom was much more lenient towards the tenant - for instance landlords had no power to evict tenants if they paid their rent, and tenants also had the right to sell their rental to others, as well as to be recompensed for improving the land. This meant northerners in general were more favourably inclined towards their landlords, relatively speaking and then towards the Union too.

The issue in getting a satisfactory solution to the Irish Question is getting Northern Protestants on side, which is difficult after the Repeal movement. You had Presbyterian support for Daniel O'Connell prior to this - Catholic Emancipation also meant more rights for Presbyterians and other non-conformers. An earlier Catholic Emancipation Act might mean a happier Ireland within the union. Also, Land Reform doesn't need to be contentious in Parliament - see the Conservative party's widespread support in Ireland following the Wyndham Land Act in 1903 - get this earlier and you may reduce Irish nationalism by a fair bit.

By Gladstone's time though you've got attitudes more set in stone - eastern Ulster is too economically linked to western Scotland and Unionists could say with some truth that Home Rule would hurt them economically - tariffs on imports to help Irish industry were after all a key part of the IPP's platform, and this would have wrecked Belfast's heavy industries. That's the key opposition - Rome Rule et al is a smokescreen for economic issues.
 
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