Evaluate the reasons why Gladstone was unable to resolve the Irish Question.

Candidates are required to make an appraisal of the main reasons for Gladstone’s failure to resolve the Irish Question. Candidates could begin in 1868, with his first ministry and continue up until 1894 when he retired at the end of his fourth ministry (following the failure of his Second Home Rule Bill). Candidates may adopt a chronological or a thematic approach. There may be discussion of his different approaches, ranging from reform (the various Land Acts and the Disestablishment of the Irish Church) and later attempts to solve the problem via Home Rule and the use of coercion. Responses are also likely to focus on opposition to Home Rule in Parliament both in the Liberal and Conservative Parties and in the Lords. Public opinion was also unsympathetic to Home Rule because of violence (Phoenix Park Murders) and the question of Ulster.