Ireland, Awake!

that would be awesome! But, as my next update will show, that cannot happen. Uh-oh! What will it be?!?!?!?!

germanpeon- If I've learned one thing, its always handy to have a big army... :rofl:

robou- I can see you point, and well focus on that in the next update as well.

On January First, at noon, the second Prime Minister was officially sworn in. Almost immediately, he left the country. Not for exile, but to save the treasury. The heavy indutrialization costs of O'Connell's eight years in office left the country's finances in a small mess. However, PM O'Brien had a solution. On January 8th, he attended a confrence in Chester where the technologically advanced Irish traded for new Tech and money. By the end of the confrence, over 10,000 pounds had been netted.



Even though the liberally controlled Parliament hampered many of O'Brien's political aims, one aim was achieved and that was colonization. Using the money from the dealings with Britain, along with some small loans, the entirety of the lower Cameroonian basin was to be colonized, leaving a mere 84 pounds in the treasury. It was officially started on January 24, 1844.



This, naturally, left Ireland in a bit of a squeeze. For the next 19 months, nothing occured. On August 1, 1845, however, a new factory expansion in Connaught of Conobar Distilleries was ordered.



The winter of 1845-1846 was not a good one. There were two events within 16 days of each other that changed Ireland forever. On December 16, 1845 the Irish potato famine started in full force. Millions were starving in the streets. For once, the government acted in unison, passing a relief act.



According to the relief act, The Irish starving would be helped before their more wealthy British neighbors. This created much tension between the Anglo and Irish sections of the population. And, it worsened relations with the British by -50. The prime supporter of the relief act was Repealist leader John Blake Dillon. He would pay for his actions, however, for on New Year's Day, 1846, a raving mad British citizen assassinated Dillion as his coach headed to Dublin for a session of Parliament.



The reaction was enormous. The homes of British citizens were burned to rubble, and it took a week to quell the rioting. In parliament, his seat was left vacant until the election, thus there would be only 64 members. This would be the source of a major problem. On January 20, the interim leader of the Repealists declared the party dead, and for members to join either the Whig or the Conservative party. This was exactly what John Dillion had been working against. Most Repealists went to the Whig camp, but one conservative Repealist went to O'Brien and the Conservatives' camp. Thus, with Dillion's seat left vacant, there was a 32-32 tie in parliament.

On a lighter note, the factory expansion was finished later in the year.



Until January of 1847, gridlock in parliament had prevented all but four laws from being enacted. In January, O'Brien attended a confrence in London, where a great victory was won for Ireland. In exchange for valuable techs, the British gave up 12,000 pounds and a claim to the city of Freetown, in Gambia. The new money was immediately exploited and by January 17, the colony was being settled.



All this was dwarfed by the upcoming election, in which O'Brien would be going up against Doheny yet again. In the beginning, it was a hard-fought campaign. But, on May 15, 1847, the elections all but stopped to mourn the death of the great Daniel O'Connell, who died peacfully in his home in Dublin at age 71. Even the Pope in Rome sent a letter of sympathy to the Irish nation. By June, the game was back on. In the election, most people tended to see the Liberals as the cause of the gridlock. No matter how many times Doheny tried to use Dillion's death to his advantage, the conservatives were winning the parliamentary elections. On November 30, the results were in and the Conservatives had won, but not by much.



The conservatives won 54% of the vote, and recieved 35 seats in parliament. The Whigs won 46% and 30 seats in Parliament. There were no changes in the gubernatorial elections, just that Connaught was getting to be a bastion of Liberalism, much to the ire of Conservatives. The biggest suprise was that the ideology of most Irishmen had swung a further 18.5%, so that for the first time there were more Liberals in Ireland than Conservatives.

Up! Just wait until the next race, it gets even better!!!

And, yes, I figured I'd grab a bit of Africa early, so that I wouldn't have to fight over it later...

I'll put him in ASAP. Thanks again, Treppe!

robou- It'll be a struggle, but an interesting struggle no matter what!

phargle- 'Tis an honor to have your approval! I appreciate the support very much!!!

The first thing O'Brien did, as a campaign promise, was to hold a worker's rights convention in Dublin. The first comprehensive legislation on worker's benefits was crafted and passed the same day.



Unfortunately, this was probably the high-mark for O'Brien's second term. Only mediocre things happened from then on, and much got worse. But first, the mediocre. A lumber mill was set up in Ulster in anticipation of the timber coming from Cameroon.



On January 26, the colonies in Cameroon were finally settled enough for PM O'Brien to declare them a colony, which he did amongst much fanfare on St. Valentine's day, 1849. The Irish came at a great time, because already the Americans had founded a settlement just to the north at Port Harcourt, and the Spanish to the south at Benito.



By mid-1849, Ireland was strapped for cash, so a deal was made with the UK at the Anglo-Irish confrence of 1849. Once again, it was techs for techs and money.



A little later on in the year, the lumber mill was completed and wood flowed from Africa to Ireland, then onto markets in the UK and France.



By 1851, the colonies were finished in Guinea, with only one area left to settle.



However, the cost of there colonial ventures had put an enormous strain on the economy, and the people were getting angry. Their anger was only inflamed more by reports of corruption in the colonies, and even here at home. This was not the way PM O'Brien wanted to start his campaign for a third term.



O'Brien, much to the ire of his own party, presented a clear chioce for the Irish people. It was William O'Brien and Imperialism (or as most Irish saw it, wasted money), or Michael Doheny and Liberalism. For the first time ever, Ireland chose the latter and the Whig Michael Doheny won the PM's seat, and an enormous lead over the conservatives in Parliamentary seats.



The Third Prime Minister of Ireland, Michael Doheny.

p.s.- Treppe- I'll add him tomorrow.

RossN- Thanks, and sure thing! I'll toss in a bit about Queen Vicky soon enough!

Treppe- That's a good idea. I guess he'll just be a really old admiral!