Notable Legislation
During the previous years many notable Acts of social legislation were pressed for and passed in Ireland’s interest:
- The creation of the Congested Districts Board in 1891, which built public works for, and provided employment in, the poor districts of western Ireland.
- The extensive 1898 Local Government Act abolished the old landlord-dominated Grand Juries and replaced them by forty-nine county, urban and rural district councils, managed by Irish people for the administration of local affairs. The councils were very popular in Ireland as they established a political class, who showed themselves capable of running Irish affairs. It also stimulated the desire to attain Home Rule and to manage affairs on a national level. A less positive consequence was that the councils were largely dominated by the Irish Party, becoming the wielders of local patronage.
- Irish Department of Agriculture Act and Technical Instructors Act (1899) (initiative of Horace Plunkett)
- Tenant Land Purchase Acts: (Wyndham Act 1903 and Birrell Act 1909), contributing greatly to the solution of the contentious land question
- Labourers (Ireland) Acts (Bryce Act 1906 and Birrell Act 1911) (the Sheehan Acts), providing rural labourers with extensive housing
- Town Tenants Act (1906)
- Evicted Tenants Act (1907)
- Old Age Pensions Act (1908)
- Irish (Catholic) University Act (1908)
- Housing of the Working Classes (Ireland) Act (1908) (the Clancy Act)
Read more about this topic: Irish Parliamentary Party
Famous quotes containing the words notable and/or legislation:
“a notable prince that was called King John;
And he ruled England with main and with might,
For he did great wrong, and maintained little right.”
—Unknown. King John and the Abbot of Canterbury (l. 2–4)
“Strictly speaking, one cannot legislate love, but what one can do is legislate fairness and justice. If legislation does not prohibit our living side by side, sooner or later your child will fall on the pavement and I’ll be the one to pick her up. Or one of my children will not be able to get into the house and you’ll have to say, “Stop here until your mom comes here.” Legislation affords us the chance to see if we might love each other.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)