There was then debate over how much of Ulster should be excluded and for how long, and whether to hold referendums in each county. Anglo-Irish Treaty Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Marked by street fighting, sensational bombings, sniper attacks, roadblocks, and internment without trial, the confrontation had the characteristics of a civil war, notwithstanding its textbook categorization as a low-intensity conflict. Some 3,600 people were killed and more than 30,000 more were wounded before a peaceful solution, which involved the governments of both the United Kingdom and Ireland, was effectively reached in 1998, leading to a power-sharing arrangement in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont. Omissions? Jeff Wallenfeldt, manager of Geography and History, has worked as an editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica since 1992. [42][43] At the first meeting of the committee (15 October 1919) it was decided that two devolved governments should be established one for the nine counties of Ulster and one for the rest of Ireland, together with a Council of Ireland for the "encouragement of Irish unity". Speaking in the House of Commons on the day the Act passed, Joe Devlin (Nationalist Party) representing west Belfast, summed up the feelings of many Nationalists concerning partition and the setting up of a Northern Ireland Parliament while Ireland was in a deep state of unrest. In response, Irish nationalists founded the Irish Volunteers to ensure Home Rule was implemented. That is what I have to say about the Ulster Parliament."[73]. Of the nine modern counties that constituted Ulster in the early 20th century, fourAntrim, Down, Armagh, and Londonderry (Derry)had significant Protestant loyalist majorities; twoFermanagh and Tyronehad small Catholic nationalist majorities; and threeDonegal, Cavan, and Monaghanhad significant Catholic nationalist majorities. [32][33], In 1918, the British government attempted to impose conscription in Ireland and argued there could be no Home Rule without it. "[45] Most northern unionists wanted the territory of the Ulster government to be reduced to six counties, so that it would have a larger Protestant/Unionist majority. [39][40], In September 1919, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George tasked a committee with planning Home Rule for Ireland within the UK. Rishi Sunak has given a statement in the House of Commons after unveiling a deal with the EU on post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland. The epicentre of the violence was Belfast where, in July 1921, there were gun battles in the city between the IRA and pro-partition loyalist paramilitaries. It is true that Ulster is given the right to contract out, but she can only do so after automatic inclusion in the Irish Free State. [89], As described above, under the treaty it was provided that Northern Ireland would have a month the "Ulster Month" during which its Houses of Parliament could opt out of the Irish Free State. The Bureau conducted extensive work but the Commission refused to consider its work, which amounted to 56 boxes of files. [35], In the December 1918 general election, Sinn Fin won the overwhelming majority of Irish seats. On 10 May De Valera told the Dil that the meeting " was of no significance". They treated both as elections for Dil ireann, and its elected members gave allegiance to the Dil and Irish Republic, thus rendering "Southern Ireland" dead in the water. A Southern government was not formed, as republicans recognised the Irish Republic instead. 68, Northern Ireland Parliamentary Debates, 27 October 1922, MFPP Working Paper No. [17] Unionists opposed the Bill, but argued that if Home Rule could not be stopped then all or part of Ulster should be excluded from it. Web8.1 - Why is Ireland divided? [48] The remaining three Counties of Ulster had large Catholic majorities: Cavan 81.5%, Donegal 78.9% and Monaghan 74.7%. It stated that a united Ireland would only become a reality when it is peacefully and democratically voted for by the citizens of both the North and the Republic. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [12], Gladstone introduced a Second Irish Home Rule Bill in 1892. He further noted that the Parliament of Southern Ireland had agreed with that interpretation, and that Arthur Griffith also wanted Northern Ireland to have a chance to see the Irish Free State Constitution before deciding. [118] In Northern Ireland, the Nationalist Party was the main political party in opposition to the Unionist governments and partition. The Unionist governments of Northern Ireland were accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. James Craig (the future 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland) and his associates were the only Irishmen consulted during this time. pg. It was enacted on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was the first meeting between the two heads of government since partition. The irredentist texts in Articles 2 and 3 were deleted by the Nineteenth Amendment in 1998, as part of the Belfast Agreement. The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Sir James Craig, speaking in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland in October 1922, said that "when the 6th of December is passed the month begins in which we will have to make the choice either to vote out or remain within the Free State." They were also more likely to be the subjects of police harassment by the almost exclusively Protestant RUC and Ulster Special Constabulary (B Specials). The rising was quickly suppressed, but the British execution of its leaders led Irish nationalists to abandon Home Rule in favour of seeking full independence: in 1918, nationalists voted overwhelmingly for a pro-republic political party, Sinn Fin. [36] Many Irish republicans blamed the British establishment for the sectarian divisions in Ireland, and believed that Ulster Unionist defiance would fade once British rule was ended. [14] The unionist MP Horace Plunkett, who would later support home rule, opposed it in the 1890s because of the dangers of partition. Half a province cannot impose a permanent veto on the nation. Essentially, those who put down the amendments wished to bring forward the month during which Northern Ireland could exercise its right to opt out of the Irish Free State. [3] The IRA carried out attacks on British forces in the north-east, but was less active than in the south of Ireland. "The Paradox of Reform: The Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland", in. Meanwhile, the Protestants, who mostly lived in the North, did not want to split from Britain and become part of a Catholic Free State. It has been argued that the selection of Fisher ensured that only minimal (if any) changes would occur to the existing border. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. After decades of conflict over the six counties known as the Troubles, the Good Friday agreement was signed in 1998. The Suspensory Act ensured that Home Rule would be postponed for the duration of the war[29] with the exclusion of Ulster still to be decided. Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley (editors). The treaty was given legal effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922, and in Ireland by ratification by Dil ireann. The state was named 'Ireland' (in English) and 'ire' (in Irish); a United Kingdom Act of 1938 described the state as "Eire". This civil rights campaign was opposed by loyalists and hard-line unionist parties, who accused it of being a republican front to bring about a united Ireland. It ended British rule in the 26 counties that had been meant to be under the southern devolved Home Rule parliament. Republican leader amon de Valeras proposed solution was as follows: The so-called Ulster difficulty is purely artificial as far as Ireland itself is concerned. The larger Southern Ireland was not recognised by most of its citizens, who instead recognised the self-declared 32-county Irish Republic. [64] Meanwhile, Sinn Fin won an overwhelming majority in the Southern Ireland election. [22] The Ulster Volunteers smuggled 25,000 rifles and three million rounds of ammunition into Ulster from the German Empire, in the Larne gun-running of April 1914. The six counties of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh comprised the maximum area unionists believed they could dominate. 1921 division of the island of Ireland into two jurisdictions, 1918 General Election, Long Committee, Violence, Maney, Gregory. Eoin MacNeill, the Irish governments Minister for Education, represented the Irish Government. It sat in Dublin from July 1917 until March 1918, and comprised both Irish nationalist and Unionist politicians. [54], In what became Northern Ireland, the process of partition was accompanied by violence, both "in defense or opposition to the new settlement". Surely the Government will not refuse to make a concession which will do something to mitigate the feeling of irritation which exists on the Ulster side of the border. [U]pon the passage of the Bill into law Ulster will be, technically, part of the Free State. They expressed their partisan solidarity through involvement with Protestant unionist fraternal organizations such as the Orange Order, which found its inspiration in the victory of King William III (William of Orange) at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 over his deposed Catholic predecessor, James II, whose siege of the Protestant community of Londonderry had earlier been broken by William. The Act intended both territories to remain within the United Kingdom and contained pro On the day before his execution, the Rising leader Tom Clarke warned his wife about MacNeill: "I want you to see to it that our people know of his treachery to us. The smaller Northern Ireland was duly created with a devolved government (Home Rule) and remained part of the UK. The British government hoped that the border would only be temporary: both the Government of Ireland Act and the Anglo-Irish Treaty were designed to facilitate future reunification of the island if this ever became possible. [92] It was certain that Northern Ireland would exercise its opt out. Dublin was set as the capital of the Irish Free State, and in 1937 a new constitution renamed the nation ire, or Ireland. An animated video that explains why the island of Ireland is separated into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland has proved a big hit on YouTube. During 192022, in what became Northern Ireland, partition was accompanied by violence "in defence or opposition to the new settlement" see The Troubles in Northern Ireland (19201922). [2] Following the 1921 elections, Ulster unionists formed a Northern Ireland government. Little wonder that when King George V, opening the new Northern Ireland parliament in June 1921, before a unionist audience, called for peace and reconciliation, some of the women present wept. In the circumstances, the path of least conflict was for the Republic of Ireland to be formed, without the six counties in the North, which remained a part of the UK and became Northern Ireland. [86] The pro-treaty side argued that the proposed Boundary Commission would give large swathes of Northern Ireland to the Free State, leaving the remaining territory too small to be viable. He is a weak man, but I know every effort will be made to whitewash him. Discussion in the Parliament of the address was short. Because of the plantation of Ulster, as Irish history unfoldedwith the struggle for the emancipation of the islands Catholic majority under the supremacy of the Protestant ascendancy, along with the Irish nationalist pursuit of Home Rule and then independence after the islands formal union with Great Britain in 1801Ulster developed as a region where the Protestant settlers outnumbered the indigenous Irish. [95] Craig left for London with the memorial embodying the address on the night boat that evening, 7 December 1922. It ended with a report, supported by nationalist and southern unionist members, calling for the establishment of an all-Ireland parliament consisting of two houses with special provisions for Ulster unionists. "[20] In September 1912, more than 500,000 Unionists signed the Ulster Covenant, pledging to oppose Home Rule by any means and to defy any Irish government. [60] Conflict continued intermittently for two years, mostly in Belfast, which saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence between Protestant and Catholic civilians. You can unsubscribe at any time. IPP leader Charles Stewart Parnell convinced British Prime Minister William Gladstone to introduce the First Irish Home Rule Bill in 1886. However, the Free State was not a republic but an independent dominion within the British empire, and the British monarch remained the Head of State; the British government had only agreed to accepting Irish independence on these terms. If this is what we get when they have not their Parliament, what may we expect when they have that weapon, with wealth and power strongly entrenched? Facing civil war in Ireland, Britain partitioned the island in 1920, with separate parliaments in the predominantly Protestant northeast and predominantly Catholic south and northwest. Ulster Unionist Party politician Charles Craig (the brother of Sir James Craig) made the feelings of many Unionists clear concerning the importance they placed on the passing of the Act and the establishment of a separate Parliament for Northern Ireland: "The Bill gives us everything we fought for, everything we armed ourselves for, and to attain which we raised our Volunteers in 1913 and 1914but we have many enemies in this country, and we feel that an Ulster without a Parliament of its own would not be in nearly as strong a positionwhere, above all, the paraphernalia of Government was already in existenceWe should fear no one and would be in a position of absolute security. 2" text; viewed online January 2011, "HL Deb 27 March 1922 vol 49 cc893-912 IRISH FREE STATE (AGREEMENT) BILL", "Northern Ireland Parliamentary Report, 7 December 1922", "Northern Irish parliamentary reports, online; Vol. Sectarian atrocities continued into 1922, including Catholic children killed in Weaver street in Belfast by a bomb thrown at them and an IRA massacre of Protestant villagers at Altnaveigh. The partition of Ireland in 1921 was a seismic moment in the islands history; it divided Ireland and led to the creation of Northern Ireland. The main dispute centred on the proposed status as a dominion (as represented by the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity) for Southern Ireland, rather than as an independent all-Ireland republic, but continuing partition was a significant matter for Ulstermen like Sen MacEntee, who spoke strongly against partition or re-partition of any kind. It then moves into the centuries of English, and later British, rule that included invasions, battles, religious differences, rebellions and eventually plantations, most successfully in the North. Irelands situation changed dramatically at the beginning of the 20th century. After years of uncertainty and conflict it became clear that the Catholic Irish would not accept Home Rule and wanted Ireland to be a Free State. Ruled from Great Britain since the 13th century, its citizens, many of them suppressed Catholics, struggled to remove themselves from British domination for the next several hundred years. WebThe partition of Ireland (Irish: crochdheighilt na hireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. [27] In July 1914, King George V called the Buckingham Palace Conference to allow Unionists and Nationalists to come together and discuss the issue of partition, but the conference achieved little. "[106] The source of the leaked report was generally assumed to be made by Fisher. The prime minister was in Northern Ireland on Tuesday to promote the new deal - the so-called Windsor Framework - which will reduce checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The island of Ireland comprises the Republic of Ireland, which is a sovereign country, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. This brutal guerrilla conflict of ambush and reprisals saw Britain lose control of nationalist areas, while sectarian violence also broke out, particularly in the northern city of Belfast. [126], Both the Republic and the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Protestant loyalists in the north-east attacked the Catholic minority in reprisal for IRA actions. Homes, business and churches were attacked and people were expelled from workplaces and from mixed neighbourhoods. But what events led to Ireland being divided? By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. [23] Three border boundary options were proposed. While Feetham was said to have kept his government contacts well informed on the Commissions work, MacNeill consulted with no one. [80] On 7 December 1922 the Parliament of Northern Ireland approved an address to George V, requesting that its territory not be included in the Irish Free State. [18] Irish nationalists opposed partition, although some were willing to accept Ulster having some self-governance within a self-governing Ireland ("Home Rule within Home Rule"). The results from the last all-Ireland election (the 1918 Irish general election) showed Nationalist majorities in the envisioned Northern Ireland: Counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, Londonderry City and the Constituencies of Armagh South, Belfast Falls and Down South. Since partition, Irish nationalists/republicans continue to seek a united independent Ireland, while Ulster unionists/loyalists want Northern Ireland to remain in the UK. [59] In response to the expulsions and attacks on Catholics, the Dil approved a boycott of Belfast goods and banks. [72], We most earnestly desire to help in bringing about a lasting peace between the peoples of these two islands, but see no avenue by which it can be reached if you deny Ireland's essential unity and set aside the principle of national self-determination.[72]. "[103], Joseph R. Fisher was appointed by the British Government to represent the Northern Ireland Government (after the Northern Government refused to name a member). [46] This left large areas of Northern Ireland with populations that supported either Irish Home Rule or the establishment of an all-Ireland Republic. The pro-Treaty Cumann na nGaedheal government of the Free State hoped the Boundary Commission would make Northern Ireland too small to be viable. Tens of thousands chose or were forced to move; refugees arrived in Britain, Belfast and Dublin. It would come into force on 3 May 1921. Northern Ireland's parliament could vote it in or out of the Free State, and a commission could then redraw or confirm the provisional border. The Northern government chose to remain in the UK. [116] The anti-Treaty Fianna Fil had Irish unification as one of its core policies and sought to rewrite the Free State's constitution. [68] In June that year, shortly before the truce that ended the Anglo-Irish War, David Lloyd George invited the Republic's President de Valera to talks in London on an equal footing with the new Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, James Craig, which de Valera attended. By contrast, its southern equivalent was a failure, proving impossible to start up as nationalists boycotted it. [134] At the Olympics, a person from Northern Ireland can choose to represent either the Republic of Ireland team (which competes as "Ireland") or United Kingdom team (which competes as "Great Britain").[135]. Heres how their renegotiated agreement will work. This was passed as the Government of Ireland Act,[1] and came into force as a fait accompli on 3 May 1921. The Bill was defeated in the Commons. [75] The Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921. Unionists won most seats in Northern Ireland. [61] From 1920 to 1922, more than 500 were killed in Northern Ireland[62] and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them Catholics. The divide between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland had little to do with theological differences but instead was grounded in culture and politics. Other early anti-partition groups included the National League of the North (formed in 1928), the Northern Council for Unity (formed in 1937) and the Irish Anti-Partition League (formed in 1945). Yet those supporting Irish independence never developed a coherent policy towards Ulster Unionism, underestimating its strength and rejecting unionists British identity. [66] The Southern parliament met only once and was attended by four unionists. Headed by English Unionist politician Walter Long, it was known as the 'Long Committee'. March 1, 2023. It was finally repealed in the Republic by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007. The two religions would not be unevenly balanced in the Parliament of Northern Ireland. This proposed suspending Marshall Plan Foreign Aid to the UK, as Northern Ireland was costing Britain $150,000,000 annually, and therefore American financial support for Britain was prolonging the partition of Ireland. It would partition Ireland and create two self-governing territories within the UK, with their own bicameral parliaments, along with a Council of Ireland comprising members of both. Well before partition, Northern Ireland, particularly Belfast, had attracted economic migrants from elsewhere in Ireland seeking employment in its flourishing linen-making and shipbuilding industries. [8] The treaty also reaffirmed an open border between both jurisdictions. The decision to split Ireland in two followed [37], The British authorities outlawed the Dil in September 1919,[38] and a guerrilla conflict developed as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began attacking British forces. Following the Easter Rising and the War of Independence, Britain was no longer able to retain control of Ireland. [24], On 20 March 1914, in the "Curragh incident", many of the highest-ranking British Army officers in Ireland threatened to resign rather than deploy against the Ulster Volunteers. The Government of Ireland Act thus proved impossible to implement in the south. First, a Northern Ireland Assembly was created, with elected officials taking care of local matters. WebNorthern Ireland split, because a majority of people in that part of the Ireland felt that they did not feel that they wanted to be part of a country where political values were in large "[109], The final agreement between the Irish Free State, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom (the inter-governmental Agreement) of 3 December 1925 was published later that day by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. This led to the Home Rule Crisis (191214), when Ulster unionists/loyalists founded a paramilitary movement, the Ulster Volunteers, to prevent Ulster being ruled by an Irish government.