17 JANUARY 1920, Page 2

Refining on this theme, Lord Meath argues that a single

Irish Legislature including Ulster would be overwhelmingly hostile to England, and that the presence of the Ulster repre- sentatives could not really allay this hostility. Indeed their presence in a single Irish Legislature would be " a constant irritant to the Nationalist majority." The result, as Lord Meath foresees it, would be that the friction would provoke legislation intended to weaken the power of the loyalists of Ireland in the South as well as in the North. Again, any resolu- tion passed by a Legislature representing the whole of Ireland would be far more difficult for England to deal with than one passed by a Legislature representing only three out of the four Provinces of Ireland.