Above : Picture of John Foster

The day had now come (June 7th) when the final step was to be taken ; when the Bill for the Legislative Union was to be read a third time, and the Parliament of Ireland was to vote its own extinction. Before the report stage was witness the anti’Unionist members, unwilling to actually the rum of the cause, withdrew in a body. Thus, though the galleries were crowded, there were many empty benches on the floor of the House itself, when Lord Castlereagh moved the third reading of the Bill. Amidst a dead silence, John Foster, the Speaker, rose and asked the will of the House in the usual form : “As many as are of opinion that this Bill should pass say aye” The answer was given without enthusiasm, but there could be no doubt as to its nature. ” The ayes have it,” Foster announced. Such was the end of the Irish Parliament.