Commons Uproar
The House of Commons descended into uproar on 2 February 1900 after Colonel Edward Saunderson invoked remarks attributed to John Daly, the Mayor of Limerick, during a fierce attack upon Irish Nationalists. Speaking in a debate on the Government’s conduct of the South African War, the North Armagh Unionist argued that a ministry dependent upon Nationalist votes could not be trusted to prosecute the conflict. Limerick’s political voice therefore entered Westminster at a moment of imperial crisis, exposing the gulf between Irish opposition to the war and Unionist demands for victory and loyalty to the Crown.
