 At this meeting, they decided to stage an uprising before the war ended and to secure help from Germany.Responsibility for the planning of the rising was given to Tom Clarke and Seán MacDermott.The Irish Volunteers—the smaller of the two forces resulting from the September 1914 split over support for the British war effort—set up a "headquarters staff" that included Patrick Pearse as Director of Military Organisation, Joseph Plunkett as Director of Military Operations and Thomas MacDonagh as Director of Training.