The Larne affair had rendered the movement in support of the Irish Volunteers irresistible, and Redmond had decided to throw himself in with it.
The result was an amazing upward leap in the numbers of the Volunteers.
On June 15th a question brought out that they were estimated at 80,000 against 84,000 of the Ulster force; but the Nationalist body was increasing at the rate of 15,000 a week.

By July 9th they were reckoned (on police information) at 132,000, of whom nearly forty thousand were Army reservists.
These facts now dominated the situation.

It was now abundantly clear that if passing Home Rule meant civil war, so also would the abandonment of Home Rule.

On June 16th Lord Robert Cecil raised a debate on the new danger.

In that debate words were quoted from Sir Roger Casement, one of the most active promoters of the movement: "When you are challenged on the field of force, it is upon that field you must reply." Mr.Dillon, who exulted in the "splendid demonstration of national sentiment shown in the uprising of the National Volunteers," urged strongly that the growth of a rival body was not a menace to public order but an added security.