In the period immediately after the First World War both the British Labour Party and revolutionary Irish nationalism were in a state of transition, metamorphosing from opposition towards becoming the governments of their respective states. In opposition Labour and the emergent forces in nationalist Ireland had a broadly sympathetic relationship with each other. However, the Labour leadership was always aware of the political risks in Britain of too close an identification with militant Irish nationalism. In government for the first time in 1924 it was determined to establish its credibility...