Editing 1st Dáil (section)

==Background==
In the early 20th century [[Ireland]] was a part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] and was represented in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]] by 105 [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs). From 1882, most Irish MPs were members of the [[Irish Parliamentary Party]] (IPP) who strove in several [[Irish Home Rule movement|Home Rule Bills]] to achieve self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom. This resulted in the [[Government of Ireland Act 1914]], but its implementation was postponed with the outbreak of [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hennessey |first1=Thomas |title=Dividing Ireland: World War I and Partition |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-17420-1 |page=76}}</ref>

The founder of the small [[Sinn Féin]] party, [[Arthur Griffith]], believed Irish nationalists should emulate the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] nationalists who had gained legislative independence from [[Austria]]. In 1867, Hungarian representatives had boycotted the Imperial parliament in Vienna and unilaterally established their own legislature in Budapest, resulting in the [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867]]. Griffith argued that Irish nationalists should follow this "policy of passive resistance – with occasional excursions into the domain of active resistance".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Laffan |first1=Michael |title=The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923 |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=3, 18}}</ref>

In April 1916, Irish rebels launched the [[Easter Uprising]] against [[British rule in Ireland]], [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic|proclaiming an independent Irish Republic]]. After a week of heavy fighting, mostly in Dublin, the rebellion was suppressed by British forces, who took 3,500 people prisoner, 1,800 of whom were sent to internment camps or prisons in Britain; most of the rebellion's leaders were executed. The rebellion, the British response to it, and the British government's [[Conscription Crisis of 1918|failed attempt to introduce conscription in Ireland]] led to greater public support for Sinn Féin and Irish independence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Marie |title=The Irish Revolution, 1916–1923 |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1317801474 |pages=33, 39}}</ref> 

In the [[1918 Irish general election|1918 general election]], Sinn Féin won 73 out of the 105 Irish seats in the House of Commons. In 25 constituencies, Sinn Féin won the seats unopposed. Elections were held almost entirely under the '[[first-past-the-post voting]]' system.<ref name="fptp">The exception to the use of this system were the constituencies of Dublin University and [[Cork (city)|Cork City]]. The two Unionist representatives returned for the [[Dublin University (constituency)|Dublin University]] (Trinity College) were elected under the [[single transferable vote]], and the two Sinn Féin candidates elected for Cork City were returned under the [[Plurality-at-large voting|bloc voting]] system.</ref> The recent [[Representation of the People Act 1918|Representation of the People Act]] had increased the Irish electorate from around 700,000 to about two million.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Alvin |title=Ireland 1798–1998: War, Peace and Beyond |date=2010 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |page=210}}</ref> [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionists]] (including  the [[Ulster Unionist Labour Association]]) won 26 seats, all but three of which were in east [[Ulster]], and the IPP won only six (down from 84), all but one in Ulster. The [[History of the Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] did not stand in the election, allowing the electorate to decide between [[home rule]] or a republic by having a clear choice between the two nationalist parties. The IPP won a smaller share of seats than votes due to the first-past-the-post system.<ref>''Sovereignty and partition, 1912–1949'' pp. 59–62, M. E. Collins, Edco Publishing (2004), {{ISBN|1-84536-040-0}}</ref>

[[Sinn Féin Manifesto 1918|Sinn Féin's manifesto]] had pledged to establish an Irish Republic by founding "a constituent assembly comprising persons chosen by Irish constituencies" which could then "speak and act in the name of the Irish people". Once elected the Sinn Féin MPs chose to follow through with their manifesto.<ref name="Oireachtas">[https://www.dail100.ie/en/long-reads/the-inaugural-public-meeting-of-dail-eireann/ "The inaugural public meeting of Dáil Éireann"]. [[Oireachtas]].</ref>