Irish question; Ulster (Northern Ireland and Ireland) -- Politics and government
Thus, on the only issue that really mattered, there was no such
"substantial agreement" as the Government had postulated as essential
before legislation could be undertaken; and on the 5th of April the
Convention came to an end without having achieved any useful result,
except that it gave the Government a breathing space from the Irish
question to get on with the war.
It served, however, to bring prominently forward two of the Ulster
representatives whose full worth had not till then been sufficiently
appreciated. Mr. H.M. Pollock had, it is true, been a valued adviser of
Sir Edward Carson on questions touching the trade and commerce of
Belfast. But in the Convention he made more than one speech which proved
him to be a financier with a comprehensive grasp of principle, and an
extensive knowledge of the history and the intricate details of the
financial relations between Great Britain and Ireland.
Lord Londonderry (the 7th Marquis), who during his father's lifetime
had represented an English constituency in the House of Commons and
naturally took no very prominent part in Ulster affairs, although he
made many excellent speeches on Home Rule both in Parliament and on
English platforms, and was Colonel of a regiment of U.V.F., gave proof
at once, on succeeding to the peerage in 1915, that he was desirous of
doing everything in his power to fill his father's place in the Ulster
Movement. He displayed the same readiness to subordinate personal
convenience, and other claims on his time and energy, to the cause so
closely associated historically with his family. But it was his work in
the Convention that first convinced Ulstermen of his capacity as well as
his zeal. Several of Lord Londonderry's speeches, and especially one in
which he made an impromptu reply to Mr. Redmond, impressed the
Convention with his debating power and his general ability; and it gave
the greatest satisfaction in Ulster when it was realised that the son of
the leader whose loss they mourned so deeply was as able as he was
willing to carry on the hereditary tradition of service to the loyalist
cause.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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