The hatred of the Unionists for Home Rule was genuine enough and understandable against a background of centuries of sectarian warfare. In fact, in view of this background it was a major blunder on the part of the framers of the first Home Rule proposals not to have incorporated in the Bill safeguards for those of the Protestant tradition. Failure to do so gave a patina of reality to the ‘Home Rule is Rome rule’ argument which became embedded in the Unionists’ resistance.
