William Doris (15 April 1860 – 13 September 1926) was an Irish politician,

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, and co-founder of ''

The Mayo News ''The Mayo News'' is a weekly local newspaper published in Westport, County Mayo, Westport in Ireland. History and profile The ''Mayo News'' was established in Westport in 1892. In 1968 the paper changed from Broadsheet to Tabloid (newspaper fo ...

''.

Biography

Doris was a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in Dublin, active in Nationalist politics from the 1880s when he was assistant secretary of the

Irish National Land League The Irish National Land League (Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmer ...

, and in this role was arrested in November 1881 and imprisoned for six months in Dundalk jail. On 3 December 1892 ''The Mayo News'' a local newspaper in Mayo, was co-founded by William and his brother Patrick Doris. The price of ''The Mayo News'' was one penny. In 1898,

Mayo County Council Mayo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhaigh Eo) is the authority responsible for local government in County Mayo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and co ...

was set up under the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, ...

. Doris was chairman of Westport UDC 1899-1910 and vice-chairman of Mayo County Council 1900–08, speaking at the latter's first meeting on 22 April 1899.

Political career

William Doris was a Member of Parliament for the constituency of West Mayo from 15 January 1910 to 14 December 1918 as a member of the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish national ...

. His defeat of

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

in West Mayo in 1910 was a decisive defeat for O'Brien's

All-for-Ireland League The All-for-Ireland League (AFIL) was an Irish, Munster-based political party (1909–1918). Founded by William O'Brien MP, it generated a new national movement to achieve agreement between the different parties concerned on the historically d ...

. Like the rest of the Irish Party, William Doris supported the United Kingdom during the First World War, and this led to alienation from his brother Patrick. His own defeat in West Mayo in 1918 is the largest fall in percentage share of vote (65.1%). Doris was first recorded in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

, Westminster, on 15 March 1910 on the topic of Old Age Pensions (Ireland). He was last recorded in the Commons, on 14 November 1918 under the topic of Evicted Tenants. He was a

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

of the Irish Parliamentary Party under the leadership of John Redmond during this period.UK Parliament
/ref> In letters to the

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

in 1924, William Doris wrote a stout defence of the Irish Parliamentary Party in relation to Irish partition. He pointed out that one of the principal consequences of the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

policy of refusing to take up seats in the

Westminster Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

was that the establishment of a Protestant-dominated parliament in Northern Ireland in the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...

went through with little opposition. '...the handing over of the lives and properties, and the social, political, commercial and religious interests of 350,000 Catholics and Nationalists in the North to the tender mercies of an Orange parliament in Belfast has been the direct result of the destruction of the Irish Party in 1918. The 1920 Partition Act was carried because there was nobody to oppose it.' The Independent refused to print Doris's letters in full, and they were therefore printed by his former Parliamentary colleague J. P. Hayden in his newspaper, the

Westmeath Examiner The ''Westmeath Examiner'' is a weekly newspaper in Westmeath, Ireland. It was founded in 1882. The ''Westmeath Examiner'' is a sister paper of the ''Westmeath Independent'' which circulates in the Athlone area of the county. The ''Westmeath E ...

, 5 July 1924, under the heading 'The Canker of Partition'.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doris, William 1860 births 1926 deaths Irish newspaper founders Local councillors in County Mayo Politicians from County Mayo Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Mayo constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Irish solicitors