Rising was sparked by opponents of home rule

IT IS difficult to argue with Gerald Morgan’s conclusion (Letters, March 22) that the Easter Rising was provoked by “the failure of the British to respect the democratic mandate for Irish home rule”.

Since Dr Morgan ignores the reasons for the failure of the British to implement the Home Rule Act, his opinion that 1916 was unwise is more open to argument.

The reason that the island of Ireland did not achieve self-rule was that the British Liberal government backed down when Andrew Bonar Law, leader of the Conservative party, expressly backed unionist threats of civil war against it.