As early as July 1913 the demonstrations in Ulster led to discussion of a countermove among young men in Dublin.  But there was no public proposal, until at the end of October Professor MacNeill, Vice-President of the Gaelic League, published an article in the League’s official organ calling on Nationalist Ireland to drill and arm.  The first meeting of a provisional committee followed a few days later.  Support was asked from all sections of Nationalist opinion; but, as a whole, members of the United Irish League and of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who constituted the bulk of Redmond’s following, refused to act.  Still, about a third of the committee were supporters of the parliamentary party; they included Professor Kettle, who was from 1906 to 1910 among its most brilliant members.  It was, however, significant that the Lord Mayor, a prominent official Nationalist, refused the use of the Mansion House for a meeting at which it was proposed to start the enrolment of Irish Volunteers.  As a result, the venue was changed to the Rotunda, and so great enthusiasm was shown that the Rink was used for the assembly.  Even that did not suffice for half the gathering.  Three overflow meetings were held, and four thousand men are said to have been enrolled that evening.

Yet the movement did not spread at once with rapidity.  By the end of December recruits only amounted to ten thousand.  For this two causes were answerable.  The first was the honourable refusal of the committee to allow companies to be enrolled except according to locality.  They would have no sectional companies of Sinn Fein volunteers, of United Irish League Volunteers, of Hibernian Volunteers.  All must mix equally in the ranks.  The second was the fear of most Nationalists that by joining an organization with which the national leader was not identified they might weaken his hand.  This operated, although the declared intention of the organization was to strengthen Redmond’s position.  At Limerick in January Pearse said:  “In the Volunteer movement we are going to give Mr. Redmond a weapon which will enable him to enforce the demand for Home Rule.”

Briefly, for several months the numbers of the new force did not show that the whole of Nationalist Ireland was in support of it.  Ireland was waiting for a sign from Redmond, and it did not come.  The events which literally drove Irish constitutional Nationalists into following Ulster’s example had still to occur.

There was, however, a wide extension of the cadres of the organization, and it was being spread by men some of whom—­like Professor MacNeill—­dissented from Redmond’s attitude of quiescence, while some were general opponents of the whole constitutional policy.  They covered the country with committees, recruited, it is true, from all sections of Nationalist Ireland.  But it was inevitable that the element who distrusted Redmond, and whose distrust he reciprocated, should attain an influence out of all proportion to its following in the country.