The year 1789 was a turning-point in Irish politics, not because of the French Revolution – its dramatic impact on Ireland came later – but because it saw the emergence of something like an Irish parliamentary opposition. Opposition to government had hitherto been an affair of individuals and interest groups – the so-called ‘Patriot’ party notwithstanding. Politics in practice were little more than ‘a competition between a few great families’ for the spoils available, and even after 1782 governments continued to be able to buy off opposition with places.This was the Protestant Ascendancy proper, ‘a narrow social and political elite’, in Anthony Malcomson's definition, ‘defined along social and political, rather than ethnic lines … comprising those who themselves sat in the Irish Parliament or who exercised significant influence over the return of 300 members to the House of Commons’. It was recognition of this truth – that opposition and government men were alike part of one privileged oligarchy – which turned Tone away from conventional politics. But it was a home truth which was concealed for some time by the vituperative attack of government supporters on their opponents, and by the nationalistic gloss given to the campaign against increasing executive influence. The conflict between opposition Whigs and government acquired a personal vindictiveness which pulled the press, the courts and the Dublin populace into the affray. Given Tone's personal ambitions, his circle of friends, and his participation in a highly politicised profession, his involvement was predictable.

The pinnacle of Patriot and Volunteering achievement had been the so-called ‘constitution’ of 1782. It declared the independence of the Irish Parliament and denied the right of the English Parliament to legislate for Ireland. By leaving the executive sufficient power to dictate its will to the Irish Parliament, however, the settlement proved a grossly defective answer to the problems besetting Anglo-Irish constitutional relations. Over the next two decades crown (or executive) influence increased in the supposedly independent Irish Parliament while it was declining at Westminster itself. It was the only way an executive responsible to London could carry its business through Parliament. Successive administrations needed the support of the great family connections to manage Parliament effectively, since some 214 of the 300 parliamentary seats were controlled by one or two individuals or a tiny clique.