Catholics were unnatural, fostered by the British to keep the nation stratified: any attempt to
suggest Ireland was not a coherent national identity, therefore, was simply illegitimate.
While causing momentous conflict, Conservative’s dissonance did not entirely polarize
relations with Liberals; networks between the British parties were too strong and institutionalized
for the strategy to destroy these ties. But the legitimation strategy did polarize relations with
both the moderates and Nationalists. On the one hand, the strengthening of Ulster moved
moderates to a peripheral position in the Conservative network. Despite the fact that
Conservatives shared the moderates’ interests and ideology, they found themselves pulled toward
Ulster’s demands.
In the process, Conservative ties with moderates were literally severed. In the late 19
th
and early 20
th
century, these moderates dominated the Conservative party, and were integral in
pursuing compromise over Home Rule, even presenting a plan for devolution that Nationalists
declared “the most substantial victory gained for centuries by the Irish race for the reconquest of
the soil of Ireland by the people.”
95
But the moderates were met by fierce mobilization in Ulster.
While Ulster’s opposition to reform was nothing new, their importance within the Conservative
party was: Conservative reliance on Ulster to oppose Home Rule bound the party’s legitimacy to
the support of the Ulster minority.
96
Conservatives were forced to bow to Ulster’s demands,
removing moderates from leadership posts and replacing them with Ulster’s elites. By the end of
the devolution crisis, moderates and Conservatives were effectively polarized.
97
The Conservative legitimation strategy also polarized relations with Nationalists. Not
only was the Orange Card dissonant to Nationalists, the ties between Nationalists and
Conservatives had always been tenuous and informal, and with moderates marginalized, the
95
Quoted in Gwynn 1932, 102.
96
See Jackson 1989, 193; and Boyce 1970.
97
Lyons 1948, 22.
Convention