But it probably strengthened the resolution of the Government to refuse at all costs a judicial inquiry, which they knew would only supply sworn corroboration of the Ulster Unionist Council's story.

In this they were assisted in an unexpected way.

Just when the pressure was at its highest, relief came by the diversion of attention and interest caused by another startling event in Ulster, which will be described in the following chapters.
This Curragh Incident, which caused intense and prolonged excitement in March 1914, and nearly upset the Asquith Government, had more than momentary importance in connection with the Ulster Movement.

It proved to demonstration the intense sympathy with the loyalist cause that pervaded the Army.

That sympathy was not, as Radical politicians like Mr.John Ward believed, an aristocratic sentiment only to be found in the mess-rooms of smart cavalry regiments.