News of the arrests created a profound sensation in Ireland, but no
breaches of the peace followed anywhere; in fact, the excitement
over conscription subsided appreciably after the episode, likewise
the activities of the Sinn Feiners. The leader of the Nationalists
repudiated the treasonable work of the Sinn Feiners, and, in
consequence of the disclosures, the alliance against conscription that
had been formed between the Nationalists and Sinn Feiners was ruptured.
On May 25 the British Government issued a statement reviewing the
causes of the arrests. In this document it was that definite proof
was at hand that after the abortive rebellion of Easter week, 1916,
plans were made for a revolt in 1917, but that this miscarried because
of America's entry into the war and Germany's inability to send troops
to Ireland. An uprising in Ireland was planned for 1918 after the
German offensive in the west had been successful and when Great Britain
presumably would be stripped of troops.
The discovery of a German-Sinn Fein plot for landing arms in Ireland
was made about April of this year, and even after the capture, on April
12, of the German agent who reached Ireland by submarine, munitions
were shipped from Cuxhaven in the early part of this month.
Concerning the arrests in Ireland, the statement said that facts and
documents, for obvious reasons, could not be disclosed at this time,
nor could the means of communication between Germany and Ireland.