First, there must be established "a subordinate Irish legislature with an executive responsible to it"; secondly, "nothing must be done to erect a permanent and insuperable bar to Irish unity"; and thirdly, though the process of relieving congestion in the Imperial Parliament could not be fully accomplished by the present Bill, Ireland must not be made to wait till a complete scheme of decentralization could be carried out.
The second of these conditions was plainly the most significant.

It was taken to mean that "county option"-- the right for each county to decide whether it would come under a Home Rule Government--would not create "a permanent and insuperable" obstacle, since each county could be given the opportunity to vote itself in at any time.

Redmond's next important speech in England showed by its emphasis that he felt a danger.

He denounced "the gigantic game of bluff and black-mail" which was in progress.

The proposed exclusion of Ulster was not a proposition that could be considered.