Sinn Féin to boycott Irish Convention
Dublin, 26 May 1917 - Sinn Féin will boycott any convention called by the British government for Ireland.
The proposal for a convention to consider the future of Ireland was announced by the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George in the House of Commons recently.
A meeting of the Executive of the National Council of Sinn Féin at 6 Harcourt Street in Dublin earlier this week, unanimously resolved that Sinn Féin should decline to participate in any convention called by the Government.
The meeting agreed, however, that there would be Sinn Féin participation under the following conditions:
1. The terms of reference left it free to decree the complete independence of Ireland.
2. The government pledged itself to the United States and the Powers of Europe to ratify the decision of the majority of the convention.
3. The Convention consisted of none but freely elected by adult suffrage in Ireland.
4. That prisoner-of-war status be accorded to Irish prisoners.
Prof. Michael Laffan, UCD, explains how the Easter Rising gave the Sinn Féin party the momentum to become the biggest party in the country by 1918.
Outlining his scepticism about the proposed convention, Count Plunkett has stated:
‘The convention is not ours. It is called by England, and will be worked by English contrivances to suit English ends. Does any Irishman think the English government is ready to leave this small nationality free to shape a constitution to our desires? No! So we turn to the peace conference, and to our own resolves, for liberty.’
It is thought that the convention will aim to be as representative as possible of Irish society and will include members of all major political parties as well as members of each of the 33 county councils. The Irish Unionist Alliance said its representatives would attend as long as there was adequate unionist representation.
A proposal that Irish political prisoners should be released before the convention takes place has yet to be fully considered.
[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.]
