It was in part an attempt to bring together the supporters of Joe Devlin and Cahir Healy, who were the leading figures in the Nationalist Party.
[1] At the 1933 Northern Ireland general election, in addition to supporting most Nationalist Party candidates, the group stood Gerry Lennon in South Armagh.
[1] In 1936, Paddy Maxwell founded the Irish Union Association (IUA), aiming to revive the NLN platform.
In October, Maxwell proposed reinvigorating the League by holding an Ard Fheis, but Healy opposed this, and the group was instead allowed to become moribund.
[1] After the disbanding of the IUA, there was no rank-and-file nationalist group in Northern Ireland until the launch of the Irish Anti-Partition League in 1945.