ABSTRACT
The Government’s Failure to satisfy the immediate needs of the people, in the winter of 1846–7, had an unsettling effect on Irish politics. Criticism of the Whigs became more widespread and in mid-September, O’Connell made the suggestion that a council representing all Irish interests should be established to induce the Government to take effective action to save the country from ruin. The resolutions passed at the January meeting and the speeches reflected well the passing mood of compromise and goodwill. The Young Irelanders naturally saw in the landlords’ discussions a hopeful sign because, in the same week as the landlords had come together, they had held the first meeting of their new Irish Confederation. The Government’s meagre emergency measures and the bleak proposals for a revision of the Poor Law gave rise, not surprisingly, to critical comment in Ireland. In opening the debates of 1847, Bentinck and his friends attacked the useless public works that had been undertaken in Ireland.
