Lloyd George appointed to solve Irish question

London, 25 May 1916 - The veteran politician and current Minister for Munitions David Lloyd George has been appointed by the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith to find a solution to the question of Home Rule for Ireland.

The surprise announcement was made in the House of Commons yesterday by the Prime Minister, who said that he had made the decision following his recent visit to Ireland.

That visit, he said, had convinced him that the current mechanism for the government of Ireland was broken, but that in this break there was an opportunity to make a unique settlement.

Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, on his recent visit to Dublin, leaving Richmond Barracks after interviews with rebels interned there. (Manchester Guardian, History of War, 1916. Full Collection available from the National Library of Ireland)

Lloyd George’s first act in his new role was to meet representatives of the two main political factions in Ireland – nationalists John Redmond and John Dillon and unionists Sir Edward Carson and Captain James Craig.

Mr Redmond said that he would attempt to deal with the initiative with reasonable conduct and action.

In his response, Sir Edward Carson was non-committal and complained of the manner in which the press was writing about Ireland.

[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.]