leave the United Kingdom. Moody stated the Home Rule movement that was opposed to independence and republicanism dominated Irish nationalism until the First World War, and only a small minority wanted an independent republic. Moody stated it was only the frustration caused by the inability of the government of Prime Minister H. H. Asquith to bring in home rule as he had promised in the face of opposition from Ulster unionists that led some Irish nationalists to turn to violence. Moody further argued the great sea-change in the public's views occurred between the Easter Rising in 1916 and the election of 1918, when Sinn Féin won the majority of seats outside of Ulster on a platform of winning independence and a republic by "any means necessary". Moody argued this "myth" of Irish history that Ireland will not be "redeemed" until all of Ireland is reunited, no matter what the cost in blood, was used to justify all of the IRA's violence and mayhem, who claimed to be acting in the name of the entire Irish nation, even through they had no mandate to do so. Moody argued the "predestine nation myth" used by the IRA simply ignored the Unionism felt by much of the Protestant community in Northern Ireland as it was based on the assumption that if only the British Army withdrew from Northern Ireland, then the Protestants of Ulster would all happily join the Republic of Ireland. Moody ended his speech by remarking: "History is a matter of facing the facts of Irish history, however painful some of them may be, mythology is a way of refusing to face the facts. The study of history not only enlarges truth about our past, but opens the mind to ever new accessions of truth. On the other hand, the obsession with myths, and especially the more destructive myths, perpetuates the closed mind". Moody's speech generated immense controversy, which continues to this day. A number of Irish historians such as John A. Murphy, Tom Dunne, Michael Laffan, F. S. L. Lyons, Ronan Fanning, and Steven Ellis welcomed Moody's speech as a long overdue call for a less nationalistic interpretation of Irish history. Moody's leading critics were Brendan Bradshaw and Desmond Fennell who accused him of essentially white-washing the history of British rule in Ireland. Bradshaw wrote at best, Moody was simply naïve, and his call for a more objective history served