The Two Nations Theory holds that Ulster Protestants form a distinct Irish nation. Advocates of the theory have used it as a basis for opposing Home Rule and later to justify the partition of Ireland, leading to its strong criticism by Irish nationalists such as John Redmond (who stated that "'the two nation theory' is to us an abomination and a blasphemy") and Éamon de Valera and, somewhat later, by Seán Lemass and Douglas Gageby.