Laurence O'Neill was the Lord Mayor of Dublin during very eventful years of modern Irish history, 1917-1924. His fellow counselors were confident in his ability to lead the city during these troubled years, he was hailed as the greatest Lord Mayor since Daniel O'Connell. In 1916, he was wrongfully imprisoned, during this time he learned how to be a successful negotiator with the authorities especially in the cases of hunger strike. Through his time as Lord Mayor he initiated the Mansion House Conference against conscription, it brought together all nationalist opinions against that proposal. Laurence O'Neill, a constitutional nationalist himself, was friendly with the likes of de Valera and Michael Collins. The Mansion House was secretly a shelter for republican leaders during the Troubles and it was where the Dail met. Simultaneously, O'Neill worked with authorities to develop and promote openness to negotiation, employment, and civic peace.