Study: Rising and threat of conscription key to Sinn Féin success

The 1916 Easter Rising and the threat of conscription into the British army during the First World War were the main reasons for the emergence of Sinn Féin as a major force in Irish nationalist politics, a new study shows.

Research conducted at Queen’s University Belfast has found that electoral reforms introduced in 1918 throughout the United Kingdom did not cause Sinn Féin’s electoral victory later that year.