Sinn Fein, which refused to compromise on the essential principle of Ireland's distinct and independent nationhood, could argue with considerable force that on this assumption alone could Ireland object to Conscription with confidence and moral justification-that if Ireland were not a nation, but a province or a dependency, then the resistance to Conscription was legally and morally without a sound basis.
"The Evolution of Sinn Fein"
Robert Mitchell Henry
The Party began to shift its ground: it could no longer, in view of Irish feeling, remain advocates of a settlement which made Conscription possible: it would not go the whole way with Sinn Fein and declare that no settlement would be satisfactory which did not acknowledge the right of Ireland to independent nationhood, to self-determination and the right to choose its own form of government.
"The Evolution of Sinn Fein"
Robert Mitchell Henry
They are a young people, in the full flush of early nationhood.
"The Soul of a People"
H. Fielding