To what extent do the sources agree that all political parties benefited from the Easter Rising?

After the Easter Rising, due to the Draconian and heavy handed British reaction, there was a

political shift and general opinion for the Sinn Fein movement grew in popularity and so the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), which was favoured by the moderate Irish people, lost votes as the people who initially favoured Home Rule, began to lean towards the idea of an Irish Republic. An example of this shift being shown is evident in the general election held in Ireland in December 1918, in which Sinn Fein won 73 seats, in this same election the IPP obtained only 6 of the seats, which had been 68 in December 1910. This is a strong example of opinion shifting from the moderate Irish people wanting a degree of control over their country, to favouring the setting up of an Irish republic. Furthermore, an example of the growing popularity of Sinn Fein as a movement, can be seen in Source O, which is a Sinn Fein campaign poster declaring that everyone is under the illusion that Ireland is a part of England, when in fact it is not. There was a general feeling of growing resentment towards Britain, and this was evident due to several factors. 'It persisted with nationwide martial law until November 1916; it arrested prominent and articulate critics of its administration and it threatened to impose conscription'. This would only deeper ingrain the growing hatred for them within Ireland, particularly amongst young men who were now able to vote. This saw the moderate and 'middle-ground' party, the IPP, rapidly lose its support, and become the less popular party in comparison to Sinn Fein in Ireland for 50 years.

Clearly, the movement had gained enough success for the Sinn Fein to take action, as they were now legitimately representative of the majority of Irish people, decided whilst using the British electoral system. Sinn Fein could now realistically claim to represent the will of the Irish majority. Their first action was to completely disregard the British as having any control over them, and they began this process by refusing to attend the House of Commons. It then went on to summon all of its MP's to Dublin, on January 21^st 1919, they then declared themselves Parliament of the Irish Republic. A good contemporary source to justify this would be the Declaration of Independence drawn up and presented that day, which symbolised the setting up of their provisional government. This Irish government soon made its authority evident over much of Ireland, and established its own courts of law and even collected taxes.

From what I have analysed, all sources clearly suggest to me that only one political party eventually gained overall from the Easter Rising, and it was the Sinn Fein movement. The IPP simply lost its moderate's support and the British had none other than themselves to blame.