John Redmond: Home Rule is safe if Ireland is sane
Waterford, 6 October 1916 - ‘Home Rule is safe if Ireland is sane’, John Redmond said in Waterford today. It was his first major speech since the Easter Rising earlier this year.
Accompanied by Mrs Redmond, he was met by a large crowd with two bands at the station before proceeding to the Town Hall.
Before the arrival of Mr Redmond, there were boisterous scenes. One man was dragged from the hall, while two women produced a tricolor and called for cheers for the Irish Republic. Just as Mr Redmond reached the hall, a fistfight broke out in the gallery some of the participants were thrown out onto the street.
Conscription
Mr Redmond said that he was opposed to the introduction of
conscription, which he said would be futile in Ireland and would
lead to ‘madness, ruin and disorder’.
He noted that some 6,000 Irishmen had enlisted in the months since the Rising and he said that this was proof that voluntary enlistment was the path forward. Mr Redmond spoke at length on the Home Rule bill, partition, and the Rising.
Left: Booklet based on an interview with John Redmond in April 1916 in which he condemns the Rising. Click to view full document via The Internet Archive; Right: Inspector General's monthly report for October 1916 in which Redmond's meeting is described as helping neither recruitiment nor ‘loyalty’. Click to enlarge image. (UK National Archives)
Partition
In respect of partition, Mr Redmond said: ‘Nothing in this
world would ever induce me to accept as a settlement of the Home
Rule question
any scheme
providing for a permanent division of our ancient nation.’
He said that it was vital for the future of Ireland that constitutional nationalism should prevail over ‘the insane ideals of men who invited Ireland once again to take up arms against the British Empire’.
Bellicose
Redmond concluded his speech in vehement fashion: ‘I was
told that I dare not come to Waterford. I have come to Waterford
and I will come to Waterford as I please and in Waterford I will
speak as I choose and I will not be dictated to by anyone.’
After he spoke in the Town Hall, Mr Redmond addressed the crowd gathered outside and said that he was sorry not to have delivered his speech in the open but that it was ‘quite impossible’ for him to do so because of security concerns. He told them:
‘You have done a good day’s work for your country. Waterford today has struck a steady note, has raised a rallying cry, and you will soon find that it will be echoed all round the country, and the reptiles that are trying to nibble and naw at our national party will soon be scurrying into their holes.’
Prof. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh in conversation with RTÉ’S David McCullagh about how the Rising changed the context in which John Redmond and the Irish Party had to operate.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
