Irish issue in British politics
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The issue of Ireland has been a major one in British politics, intermittently so for centuries. Britain's attempts to control and administer the island, or parts thereof, has had significant consequences for British politics, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although nominally autonomous (as the Kingdom of Ireland) until the end of the 18th century, Ireland became part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...
in 1801. In 1844, a future British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, defined what he called the
Irish Question The Irish question was the issue debated primarily among the British government from the early 19th century until the 1920s of how to respond to Irish nationalism and the calls for Irish independence. The phrase came to prominence as a result ...
: The Great Famine of 1845–1851 killed upward of 1 million Irish men, women, and children, and forced another million to migrate, especially to the United States. Poor handling by the British government left distrust and hatred in its wake, roiling every grievance that followed. The view in Ireland was that the combination of ''
laissez faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
'' policies, which permitted food exports from Ireland, and protectionist
Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...
, which prevented import of low cost wheat, had been a major factor in the famine, and that an independent government would have mitigated it. The
Representation of the People Act 1884 In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which f ...
enfranchised many Catholics in Ireland.
Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...
mobilised the Catholic vote so that the
Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...
held the balance of power in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
. Parnell sought to re-establish
home rule for Ireland The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...
and used tactics that kept British politics in turmoil. William Gladstone and his Liberal Party usually worked with Parnell in search of
Home Rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
, but the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
was irreversibly split in doing so, and a substantial faction left to form the Liberal Unionist Party. The result was the long term decline of the Liberal Party. Home Rule was passed in 1914, but suspended in operation during the First World War. The issue was resolved in 1921 by partitioning Ireland into the quasi-autonomous, Catholic-dominated,
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
in the southwestern four-fifths of the island, and the Presbyterian dominated
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in the remaining fifth, which remained part of the United Kingdom. The next round of troubles emerged in the 1960s, when the Catholics living in Northern Ireland could no longer tolerate the discriminatory policies long imposed on them by the devolved government of Northern Ireland.
The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
30 years of near civil war which had sporadic but significant impact on British politics ended with the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
of 1998, a power-sharing agreement between the parties in Northern Ireland and an international treaty between Ireland and the United Kingdom, as co-guarantors. From 2017 onwards, Britain's relationship with Ireland again disrupted British politics, specifically over
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...
. Until late 2019, Parliament was unable resolve the
trilemma A trilemma is a difficult choice from three options, each of which is (or appears) unacceptable or unfavourable. There are two logically equivalent ways in which to express a trilemma: it can be expressed as a choice among three unfavourable option ...
among three competing objectives: an
open border An open border is a border that enables free movement of people (and often of goods) between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and is lacking substantive border control. A border may be an open border due to intentional legislation ...
on the island; no trade borders within the United Kingdom; and no British participation in the European Single Market and the
European Union Customs Union The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekel ...
. The government abandoned the second of these objectives by negotiating and signing the
Northern Ireland protocol The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol, is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs the unique customs and immigration issues at the border on the island of Ireland betw ...
that took effect from early 2021.


18th century

For most of the 18th century, Ireland was largely quiet, and played a minor role in British politics. Between 1778 and 1793, nearly all the laws restricting Catholics in terms of worship, owning or leasing lands, education, and entry into the professions were repealed. Wealthy Irish Catholics attained the franchise in 1793. The main remaining restriction was the prohibition against Catholics sitting in Parliament. Prime Minister
William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...
took an active role in the reforms. King George III, a staunch Protestant, was troubled by the reforms. He balked at Catholic membership in Parliament, forcing Pitt to resign in 1801. Although the Catholic majority was regaining its rights, Ireland's economy, politics, society, and culture were largely dominated by the Anglican landowners, who comprised the
Protestant Ascendancy The ''Protestant Ascendancy'', known simply as the ''Ascendancy'', was the political, economic, and social domination of Ireland between the 17th century and the early 20th century by a minority of landowners, Protestant clergy, and members of th ...
. There was a large Presbyterian (" Non-conformist") population in the north-east, who resented being pushed to the margins by the Anglican established church. They took the lead in cultivating
Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...
after 1790.


1798 Rebellion

The 1798 Rebellion was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a
republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
revolutionary group influenced by the ideas of the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
and French revolutions: originally formed by
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
radicals angry at being shut out of power by the Anglican establishment, they were joined by many from the majority Catholic population. Following some initial successes, particularly in County Wexford, the uprising was suppressed by government militia and yeomanry forces, reinforced by units of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, with a civilian and combatant death toll estimated between 10,000 and 50,000. A French expeditionary force landed in County Mayo in August in support of the rebels: despite victory at
Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. W ...
, they were also eventually defeated. The aftermath of the Rebellion led to the passage of the
Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ir ...
, merging the
Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two cham ...
into the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
.


Early 19th century

The agreement which led to the Act of Union stipulated Catholic emancipation and repeal of the Penal Laws in Ireland. However, King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
blocked Catholic emancipation, citing his
coronation oath An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...
to defend the
Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
. A campaign under Roman Catholic lawyer
Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
led to
Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
in 1829, allowing Catholics to sit in Parliament. O'Connell then mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the Repeal of the Acts of Union.


Great Famine

When a
potato blight ''Phytophthora infestans'' is an oomycete or water mold, a fungus-like microorganism that causes the serious potato and tomato disease known as late blight or potato blight. Early blight, caused by ''Alternaria solani'', is also often called "po ...
struck Ireland in 1846, much of the peasant population lost their staple food, as cash crops were reserved for export to Great Britain. While large sums for relief were raised by private individuals and charities, inadequate action by the government, which believed in ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
'' policies, and the protectionist
Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They wer ...
, which made wheat unaffordable, led the problem to metastasize into a catastrophe. The class of cottiers, or farm labourers, was virtually wiped out through death and emigration, in what became known in Britain as 'The Irish Potato Famine' and in Ireland as the
Great Hunger The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...
. The famine and its memory permanently changed the island's demographic, political, and cultural landscape. Those who stayed and those who left never forgot. The mishandling of the famine became a rallying point for Irish nationalist movements. The already acerbic relations between Irish Catholics and the British Crown soured further, heightening ethnic and sectarian tensions.
Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
became a factor.


1868 to 1900


Church of Ireland

The first premiership of Benjamin Disraeli in 1868 was short and was dominated by the heated debate over the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
, a Protestant church associated with the Anglican
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
. Although Ireland was three-fourths Roman Catholic and 90%
nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...
, the Church of Ireland remained the established church and was funded by
tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
(direct taxation). The Catholics and the Presbyterians resented that fact. The Irish Church was eventually disestablished by Gladstone's
Irish Church Act 1869 The Irish Church Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which separated the Church of Ireland from the Church of England and disestablished the former, a body that commanded the adherence of a small min ...
, causing divisions among the Conservatives.


Home Rule movement

Most (registered) Irish people elected as their MPs Liberals and Conservatives who belonged to the main British political parties. A significant minority also elected Unionists, who championed maintenance of the Union. A former
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
barrister turned nationalist campaigner,
Isaac Butt Isaac Butt (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist part ...
, established a new moderate nationalist movement, the
Home Rule League The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Parliam ...
, in the 1870s. After Butt's death the Home Rule Movement, or the
Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...
as it had become known, turned into a major political force under the guidance of William Shaw and in particular
Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...
. Born into a wealthy and powerful Anglo-Irish Anglican landowning family, he entered the House of Commons in 1875. He was a
land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
agitator, and became leader of the
Home Rule League The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Parliam ...
in 1880. Parnell operated independently of the Liberals, and won great influence by his balancing of constitutional, radical, and economic issues, and by his skillful use of parliamentary procedure. His party
fillibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
ed the
Protection of Persons and Property Act 1881 The Protection of Persons and Property (Ireland) Act,The Act had no official short title. It was referred to as ''Protection of Persons and Property (Ireland) Act'', or with ''Person'' in the singular, and/or with ''(Ireland)'' omitted. also call ...
for seven weeks until the Speaker made a very rare change to British constitutional convention to close a debate after the IPP halted all progress on a Government Bill for five days in a row. He was interned in
Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol ( ga, Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the lead ...
in 1882 under the new Act but, as a very capable negotiator, was released when he renounced violent extra-Parliamentary action in exchange for repeal of the Act; in response,
William Edward Forster William Edward Forster, PC, FRS (11 July 18185 April 1886) was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party statesman. His supposed advocacy of the Irish Constabulary's use of lethal force against the National Land League ea ...
resigned as Chief Secretary for Ireland, as did the Lord Lieutenant,
John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, KG, KP, PC (27 October 1835 – 13 August 1910), known as Viscount Althorp from 1845 to 1857 (and also known as the "Red Earl" because of his distinctive long red beard), was a British Liberal Party poli ...
.


Balance of power

From 1885 to 1915, the
Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...
led by Parnell frequently held the balance of power at Westminster between the Liberal and Conservative parties and used it to extract concessions for Ireland. The Conservative minority government of
Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
enacted the
Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885 The Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c.73), commonly known as the Ashbourne Act is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed by a Conservative Party government under Lord Salisbury. It extended the terms that had ...
("Ashbourne Act") in return for the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party. Parnell's movement campaigned for "Home Rule," by which Ireland would govern itself in domestic affairs inside the United Kingdom, in contrast to O'Connell who wanted complete independence subject to a shared monarch and Crown. Two Home Rule Bills (
1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...
and
1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...
) were introduced by Liberal Prime Minister Ewart Gladstone, but neither became law, mainly due to opposition from the House of Lords. The issue divided Ireland, for a significant unionist minority (largely based in
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
), opposed Home Rule, fearing that a Catholic-Nationalist parliament in Dublin would mean rule by Rome and a degradation of Protestantism. To them, it also portended economic stagnation by Catholic peasants who would discriminate against businessmen and would impose tariffs on industry, which was located mostly in Ulster. Joseph Hocking, for example, warned that "history teaches that Rome Rule means corruption, decadence, and ruin." The last phase of Gladstone's career was devoted to the Irish question. He sought repeatedly to pass a home rule bill but failed in 1886 and again in 1893.


Fenianism

There were some who would not be placated by home rule under a British government. From the middle of the 18th century to almost the end of the 19th, the
Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...
s carried on an intermittently violent campaign against British rule. Most notably for British politics, a breakaway
Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...
faction calling itself the
Irish National Invincibles The Irish National Invincibles, usually known as the Invincibles, were a freedom fighter organization based in Ireland active from 1881 to 1883. Founded as splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the group had a more radical agenda, ...
assassinated the British Chief Secretary for Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish and his Permanent Under-secretary (chief civil servant) in 1882, in an incident known as the
Phoenix Park Murders The Phoenix Park Murders were the fatal stabbings of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland, on 6 May 1882. Cavendish was the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland and Burke was the Permanen ...
.


1900 to 1922


Passage of Home Rule, 1910–14

As a minority party after 1910 elections, the Liberals depended on the Irish vote, controlled by
John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as leader of the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) from ...
. To gain Irish support for the budget and the parliament bill, Asquith promised Redmond that
Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...
would be the highest priority. It proved much more complex and time-consuming than expected. Support for self-government for Ireland had been a tenet of the Liberal Party since 1886, but Asquith had not been as enthusiastic, stating in 1903 (while in opposition) that the party should not form a government which depended on the Irish Nationalist Party for its existence. After 1910, though, Irish Nationalist votes were required to stay in power. Retaining Ireland in the Union was the declared intent of all parties, and the Nationalists, as part of the majority that kept Asquith in office, were entitled to seek enactment of their plans for Home Rule, and to expect Liberal and Labour support. The Conservative and Unionist Party, with die-hard support from the Protestant Orange Order, strongly opposed Home Rule. The desire to retain a veto for the Lords on such bills had been an unbridgeable gap between the parties in the constitutional talks prior to the second 1910 election. The cabinet committee (not including Asquith) which in 1911 planned the
Third Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 90), also known as the Home Rule Act, and before enactment as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home rule (self-governm ...
opposed any special status for Protestant Ulster within majority-Catholic Ireland. Asquith later (in 1913) wrote to
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, stating that the Prime Minister had always believed and stated that the price of Home Rule should be a special status for Ulster. In spite of this, the bill as introduced in April 1912 contained no such provision, and applied to all Ireland. Neither partition nor a special status for Ulster was likely to satisfy either side. The self-government offered by the bill was very limited, but Irish Nationalists, expecting Home Rule to come by gradual parliamentary steps, favoured it. The Conservatives and Irish Unionists opposed it. Unionists began preparing to get their way by force if necessary, prompting nationalist reciprocation. The Unionists were generally better financed and more organised. In April 1914 the
Ulster Volunteers The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...
smuggled in 25,000 rifles and bayonets and over 3 million rounds of ammunition purchased from Germany. As the crisis deepened, with the Ulster Volunteers drilling openly, Churchill arranged for a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
squadron to cruise off Belfast''The Gathering Storm'' Vol 1 without first raising the issue in Cabinet. It appeared to the Unionist leaders that Churchill and his friend, War Secretary John Seely, were seeking to provoke the Unionists into an act that would allow Ulster to be placed under some form of military rule. Asquith cancelled the move two days later.


Parliament Act

There had been an overwhelming Conservative-Unionist majority in the Lords after the Liberal split in 1886. With the Liberal Party attempting to push through popular significant welfare reforms, disagreement seemed certain to arise between the houses.Bradley, Ewing (2007). p. 203. Between 1906 and 1909, several important measures were watered down or rejected outright:Jackson, Leopold (2001). p. 168. for example,
Augustine Birrell Augustine Birrell KC (19 January 185020 November 1933) was a British Liberal Party politician, who was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916. In this post, he was praised for enabling tenant farmers to own their property, and for exte ...
introduced the Education Bill 1906, which was intended to address
nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...
grievances arising from the Education Act 1902, but it was amended by the Lords to such an extent that it effectively became a different bill, whereupon the Commons dropped it. This led to a resolution in the House of Commons on 26 June 1907, put forward by Liberal Prime Minister
Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1 ...
, declaring that the Lords' power ought to be curtailed. In 1909, hoping to force an election, the Lords rejected the financial bill based on the government budget (the "
People's Budget The 1909/1910 People's Budget was a proposal of the Liberal government that introduced unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of Britain's wealthy to fund new social welfare programmes. It passed the House of Commons in 1909 but was blo ...
") put forward by
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
, by 350 votes to 75. This action, according to the Commons, was "a breach of the constitution and a usurpation of the rights of the Commons." The Lords suggested that the Commons demonstrate at the polls the veracity of its claim that the bill represented the will of the people. The Liberal government sought to do so through the January 1910 general election. Their representation in parliament dropped heavily, but they retained a majority with the help of a significant number of Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) and
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
MPs. The IPP saw the continued power of the Lords as detrimental to securing Home Rule.Keir (1938). p. 477. Following the election, the Lords relented on the budget (which had been reintroduced by the government), and it passed the Lords on 28 April, a day after the Commons vote. The Lords was now faced with the prospect of a Parliament Act, which had considerable support from the Irish Nationalists. However, home rule for Ireland was the main point of contention, with (UK) Unionists looking to exempt such a law from the Parliament Act procedure, by means of a general exception for "constitutional" or "structural" bills. The Liberals supported an exception for bills relating to the monarchy and Protestant succession, but not home rule.Ensor (1952). p. 422. The government threatened another dissolution if the Parliament Act were not passed, and followed through on their threat when opposition in the Lords did not diminish. The December 1910 general election produced little change from January. King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
was asked if he would be prepared to create sufficient peers, which he would only do if the matter arose. This would have meant creating over 400 new Liberal peers.Bradley, Ewing (2007). p. 204. The King did, however, demand that the bill would have to be rejected at least once by the Lords before his intervention.Ensor (1952). p. 423. Two amendments made by the Lords were rejected by the Commons, and opposition to the bill showed little sign of abating. This led Asquith to declare the King's intention to overcome the majority in the House of Lords by creating sufficient new peers.Keir (1938). p. 478. The bill was finally passed in the Lords by 131 votes to 114 votes, a majority of 17. This reflected a large number of abstentions.


Government of Ireland Act 1914

The Parliament Act meant that the Unionists in the House of Lords could no longer block Home Rule, but could only delay Royal Assent by two years. Asquith decided to postpone any concessions to the Unionists until the bill's third passage through the Commons, when he believed the Unionists would be desperate for a compromise. Historian Roy Jenkins concluded that had Asquith tried for an earlier agreement, he would have had no luck, as many of his opponents wanted a fight and the opportunity to smash his government.
Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Unionism in Ireland, Irish u ...
, leader of the Irish Unionists in Parliament, threatened a revolt if Home Rule was enacted. The new Conservative leader, Bonar Law, campaigned in Parliament and in northern Ireland, warning Ulstermen against "Rome Rule", that is, domination by the island's Catholic majority. Many who opposed Home Rule felt that the Liberals had violated the Constitution by pushing through major constitutional change without a clear electoral mandate, with the House of Lords, formerly the "watchdog of the constitution", not reformed as had been promised in the preamble of the 1911 Act and thus justified actions that in other circumstances might be treason. Bonar Law was pushing hard certainly blustering and threatening, and perhaps bluffing but in the end his strategy proved both coherent and effective. The passions generated by the Irish question contrasted with Asquith's cool detachment, and he deemed the prospective partition of the county of Tyrone, which had a mixed population, "an impasse, with unspeakable consequences, upon a matter which to English eyes seems inconceivably small, & to Irish eyes immeasurably big". As the Commons debated the Home Rule bill in late 1912 and early 1913, unionists in the north of Ireland mobilised, with talk of Carson declaring a Provisional Government and
Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign ...
s (UVF) built around the
Orange Lodge The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It als ...
s, but in the cabinet, only Churchill viewed this with alarm. These forces, insisting on their loyalty to the British Crown but increasingly well-armed with smuggled German weapons, prepared to do battle with the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, but Unionist leaders were confident that the army would not aid any attempt to force Home Rule on Ulster. As the Home Rule bill awaited its third passage through the Commons, the
Curragh incident The Curragh incident of 20 March 1914, sometimes known as the Curragh mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The Curragh Camp was then the main base for the British Army in Ireland, which at the time still formed part of the ...
occurred in April 1914. Some sixty army officers, led by Brigadier-General
Hubert Gough General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough ( ; 12 August 1870 – 18 March 1963) was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A favourite of the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, he experienced a meteori ...
, announced that they would rather be dismissed from the service than obey. With unrest spreading to army officers in England, the Cabinet acted to placate the officers with a statement written by Asquith reiterating the duty of officers to obey lawful orders but claiming that the incident had been a misunderstanding. War minister John Seely then added an unauthorised assurance, countersigned by General John French (the head of the army), that the government had no intention of using force against Ulster. Asquith repudiated the addition, and required Seely and French to resign. Asquith took control of the War Office himself, retaining the additional responsibility until the
Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
began in 1914. On 12 May, Asquith announced that he would secure Home Rule's third passage through the Commons (accomplished on 25 May), but that there would be an amending bill with it, making special provision for Ulster. However the Lords made changes to the amending bill unacceptable to Asquith, and with no way to invoke the Parliament Act on the amending bill, Asquith agreed to meet other leaders at an all-party conference on 21 July at Buckingham Palace, chaired by the King. When no solution could be found, Asquith and his cabinet planned further concessions to the Unionists, but this was suspended when the crisis on the Continent erupted into war. In September 1914, the Home Rule bill went on the statute book (as the
Government of Ireland Act 1914 The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 90), also known as the Home Rule Act, and before enactment as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home rule (self-governm ...
) but was immediately suspended. It never went into effect.


World War, Partition of Ireland and Irish Independence

On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Asquith agreed with Redmond, the leader of the INP, that the Home Rule Bill would be signed into law, accompanied by an Act suspending it for the duration of the war. This was done. This solution was supported at the time by a majority of the Irish population. Ireland was equally at war with Germany and most Unionist and Nationalist volunteer forces freely enlisted in the new British Service Army (the
Military Service Act 1916 The Military Service Act 1916 was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during the First World War to impose conscription in Great Britain, but not in Ireland or any other country around the world. The Act The Bill which became ...
("Conscription Act") did not apply to Ireland). Nevertheless, Republican journals openly advocated violence, denounced recruiting, and vigorously promoted the views of the
Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...
(IRB). When one paper was suppressed, another took its place. Gunrunning was organised, paid for by multimillion-dollar fundraising in the United States. The IRB asked the Kaiser to include freedom of Ireland as a German war aim. Germany promised to send 20,000 rifles and machine guns, ammunition, and explosives in the custody of Sir
Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...
. London knew trouble was brewing but decided to be extremely cautious, fearing that a full-scale clampdown on the IRB would have highly negative repercussions in the United States, which remained neutral in the war until April 1917. Instead, London decided to rely on the loyalty of Redmond and the well-established Irish Parliamentary party.


Easter Rising

A unilaterally declared "
Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...
" was proclaimed in Dublin at Easter 1916 the Easter Rising. British attention was focused on the Western Front, where the Allied armies were not doing well. The uprising was very poorly organised and led, and was crushed after six days of fighting. The death total was 134 government soldiers, and 285 rebels; when the rebels surrendered, Dubliners booed them and the newspapers called their venture a foolish, futile, cruel, and mad act. Most of its leaders were court-martialled and executed. Historians Clayton Roberts and David Roberts argue: Very large numbers of Nationalists across Ireland now deserted the IPP and gave their support to
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...
, the Republican party demanding outright independence. In 1917, coalition Prime Minister
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
tried to introduce Home Rule at the close of the 1917–18
Irish Convention The Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Dublin, Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the '' Irish question'' and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wi ...
. He failed because he also was desperate for soldiers and imposed conscription on Ireland, causing the conscription crisis. As a result, in the 1918 Irish general election, Sinn Féin won a large majority of Irish seats but its MPs refused to take their seats at Westminster. Instead they set up the
First Dáil The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the United ...
(parliament) in Dublin, announced an independent
Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...
and declared war against the British government, which was still in control in Ireland. The coalition government in London had three choices: implement the 1914 Home Rule Act with an amending bill to exclude Ulster; repeal it; or replace it with new legislation: it took the third route. The
Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...
partitioned Ireland, North and South. The policy had broad support in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, as well as England Wales and Scotland, with support from Conservatives and Liberals, although the small new Labour Party opposed partition.


Irish War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence was fought between the
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...
(IRA) and those of the United Kingdom, between January 1919 and July 1921. The IRA, led by
Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...
, consisted of roughly 3,000 rebels and used
asymmetric warfare Asymmetric warfare (or asymmetric engagement) is the term given to describe a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This is typically a war between a standing, professional ar ...
against British forces, which included the
Black and Tans Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
and the Auxiliary Division. In 1920, in the height of the war, Prime Minister
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
introduced the
Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...
which partitioned Ireland into
Southern Ireland Southern Ireland, South Ireland or South of Ireland may refer to: *The southern part of the island of Ireland *Southern Ireland (1921–1922), a former constituent part of the United Kingdom *Republic of Ireland, which is sometimes referred to as ...
and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
from May 1921. In December 1921, the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom agreed an
Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
to end the war. It created a largely autonomous
dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...
, the
Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
, to replace the (failed) Southern Ireland. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland, or Ulster, (with home rule) remained part of the United Kingdom. The Dáil majority ratified the treaty, but De Valera, President of the Dáil, rejected it. De Valera led a civil war in Ireland but was defeated. The treaty with Britain went into effect and Northern Ireland remained with the UK.


1921–1922: establishment of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State

Resolution of the Irish issue became feasible when the Conservative Party changed from its inflexible commitment to union of Great Britain with all of Ireland. The new factors included Lloyd George's bargaining skills; new, more and flexible Conservative leaders; relaxation of die-hard determination after the guarantee of permanent union of most of Ulster in the UK; and general disapproval of the policy of coercion. The Treaty of 1921 was inconsistent with Labour Party Irish policy. Nevertheless, the two Labour MPs supported it in debate as did the Labour press. Labour wanted an end to the Irish imbroglio so Britain could return to class-based issues. With the Free State at arm's length and Northern Ireland securely part of the UK, the Irish issue faded away and became much less central to British politics.


1923 to 2015


Irish Free State, Ireland

In 1937, taking advantage of the
Edward VIII abdication crisis In early December 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire arose when King-Emperor Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who was divorced from her first husband and was pursuing the divorce of her second ...
and the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Irish Free State distanced itself further from the United Kingdom, changing its name to "Ireland" (or, in
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
, ''"
Éire () is Irish for "Ireland", the name of both an island in the North Atlantic and the sovereign state of the Republic of Ireland which governs 84% of the island's landmass. The latter is distinct from Northern Ireland, which covers the remaind ...
"''). A
trade war A trade war is an economic conflict often resulting from extreme protectionism in which states raise or create tariffs or other trade barriers against each other in response to trade barriers created by the other party. If tariffs are the exclus ...
took place in the 1930s; as part of the settlement in 1938, the British were no longer allowed access to three naval ports. Ireland declared itself neutral in the Second World War. In 1948, Ireland declared itself a republic and so left the
British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
. Britain's political interest in this part of the island formally ceased with its passage of the
Ireland Act 1949 The Ireland Act 1949 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to deal with the consequences of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 as passed by the Irish parliament, the Oireachtas. Background Following the secession of most ...
at Westminster. Nevertheless, the two states co-operated formally and informally to try to resolve the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The (failed)
Anglo-Irish Agreement The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a 1985 treaty between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Irela ...
(treaty) of 1985 and the British-Irish treaty element of the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
of 1998 are the more important of these.


Northern Ireland, The Troubles

The
Government of Northern Ireland The government of Northern Ireland is, generally speaking, whatever political body exercises political authority over Northern Ireland. A number of separate systems of government exist or have existed in Northern Ireland. Following the partitio ...
from 1921 was fashioned by such Protestant leaders as Sir
Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Unionism in Ireland, Irish u ...
and
Sir James Craig James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1912 ...
. It presided over social, cultural, political and economic discrimination against the Catholic minority. Northern Ireland became, in the words of
David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He wa ...
, a "cold place for Catholics." From the civil rights marches of 1968 through years of inter-communal violence known as "
The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
" until the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
in 1998, Northern Ireland was in a state of near civil war. This spilled over on occasion to Great Britain, including notably for British politics the assassination of Airey Neave and the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her ministers.


2016 to 2019


Balance of power again

At the 2017 United Kingdom general election, the Conservative government lost its overall majority. A Northern Irish political party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), held the balance of power and negotiated favourable terms to Northern Ireland in exchange for a
confidence and supply In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of par ...
arrangement to support the government. This arrangement did not extend to supporting the Government's Brexit plans. The DUP, however, vetoed Prime Minister Theresa May's draft agreement of December 2017 and voted against both the November 2018 draft and the proposal for an UK/EU customs union proposed by
Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...
: either would have had the effect of avoiding a trade barrier between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.


Brexit and the Irish border

After
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...
, the
Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border The Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, sometimes referred to as the Irish border or British–Irish border, runs for Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland, 1999
on the island of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
would be the only significant external EU land border between the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, with potentially severe impact on Northern Ireland if there were a hard border. Both the UK and the EU have prioritised avoidance of a 'hard border' in the Withdrawal Agreement with the
Irish government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...
, in particular, seeing an
open border An open border is a border that enables free movement of people (and often of goods) between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and is lacking substantive border control. A border may be an open border due to intentional legislation ...
on the island of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
as an essential element of the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
. The British government was faced with a
trilemma A trilemma is a difficult choice from three options, each of which is (or appears) unacceptable or unfavourable. There are two logically equivalent ways in which to express a trilemma: it can be expressed as a choice among three unfavourable option ...
among three competing objectives: (a) an
open border An open border is a border that enables free movement of people (and often of goods) between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and is lacking substantive border control. A border may be an open border due to intentional legislation ...
on the island; (b) no border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain; and (c) no British participation in the European Single Market and the
European Union Customs Union The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekel ...
. The 'backstop' would have resolved the trilemma by retaining participation in the Single Market until a means to have an 'invisible' border in Ireland could be delivered. Many Brexit-supporting Conservative and DUP MPs opposed the
Northern Ireland backstop The Irish backstop (formally the Northern Ireland Protocol) was a proposed protocol to a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement that never came into force. It was developed by the May government and the European Commission in December 2017 and fina ...
because it lacked a specified end-date, potentially tying the UK to many EU rules indefinitely. The EU side (especially the Irish Government) saw a time-limited guarantee as without value, in particular due to scepticism about any near-term delivery of 'alternative arrangements' for the Irish border.


2020 onwards


Northern Ireland Protocol, Border in the Irish Sea

At the 2019 United Kingdom general election (December 2019), the Conservative Party achieved a substantial majority and no longer needed DUP support. Prime Minister Boris Johnson completed negotiations on the
Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...
that resolved the trilemma by including the
Northern Ireland Protocol The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol, is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs the unique customs and immigration issues at the border on the island of Ireland betw ...
which established controls over exports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, over-riding DUP opposition.


Effect of Northern Ireland on UK/EU relations

Within six months of signing the agreement, the Johnson government sought to renegotiate it. , the continuing stand-off over the arrangements for Northern Ireland threatened other areas in the relationship between the UK and the EU.


See also

* All-for-Ireland League, 1906–1918 *
Cork Free Press The ''Cork Free Press'' (11 June 1910 – 9 December 1916) was a nationalist newspaper in Ireland, which circulated primarily in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, and was the newspaper of the dissident All-for-Ireland League p ...
1910 – 16 * History of Ireland (1801-1923) *
History of Northern Ireland History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
*
Home Rule Act 1914 The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 90), also known as the Home Rule Act, and before enactment as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide home rule (self-governm ...
*
Ireland and World War I During World War I (1914–1918), Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and Russia. In part as an effect of chain ganging, the ...
*
Irish Convention The Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Dublin, Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the '' Irish question'' and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wi ...
*
Irish Home Rule movement The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...
, 1870–1921 *
Irish Land Acts The Land Acts (officially Land Law (Ireland) Acts) were a series of measures to deal with the question of tenancy contracts and peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by ...
, 1870–1901 *
Irish Land and Labour Association The Irish Land and Labour Association (ILLA) was a progressive movement founded in the early 1890s in Munster, Ireland, to organise and pursue political agitation for small tenant farmers' and rural labourers' rights. Its branches also spread into ...
, 1890s *
Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nation ...
, IPP, 1874–1918 *
Irish Reform Association The Irish Reform Association (1904–1905) was an attempt to introduce limited devolved self-government to Ireland by a group of reform oriented Irish unionist land owners who proposed to initially adopt something less than full Home Rule. It ...
, `1904-5 *
Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...
*
Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...
*
Land Conference The Land Conference was a successful conciliatory negotiation held in the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland between 20 December 1902 and 4 January 1903. In a short period it produced a unanimously agreed report recommending an amiable solution to t ...
, 1902 *
Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...
, 1846–1906 *
National Volunteers The National Volunteers was the name taken by the majority of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the movement split over the question of the Volunteers' role in World War I. Origins The Nati ...
*
No Rent Manifesto The No Rent Manifesto was a document issued in Ireland on 18 October 1881, by imprisoned leaders of the Irish National Land League calling for a campaign of passive resistance by the entire population of small tenant farmers, by withholding rents ...
, 1881 *
Plan of Campaign The Plan of Campaign was a stratagem adopted in Ireland between 1886 and 1891, co-ordinated by Irish politicians for the benefit of tenant farmers, against mainly absentee and rack-rent landlords. It was launched to counter agricultural distres ...
, 1886–91 *
Unionism in Ireland Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution. As the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, following ...
*
United Irish League The United Irish League (UIL) was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto ''"The Land for the People"''. Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazi ...
, 1898-1920s


Notes


References


Sources

* * *


Further reading

* Akenson, Donald H. ''The Irish Education Experiment: The National System of Education in the Nineteenth Century'' (1981; 2nd ed 2014) * Asch, R.G. ed. ''Three Nations: A Common History? England, Scotland, Ireland and British History'' c.1600–1920 (1993) * Beales, Derek. ''From Castlereagh to Gladstone, 1815–1885'' (1969), survey of political histor
online
* Bew, Paul. "Parnell, Charles Stewart (1846–1891)", ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', (Oxford University Press, 2004) * Bew, Paul. ''Enigma: A New Life of Charles Stewart Parnell'' (Gill & Macmillan, 2011
excerpt
* Boyce, D. George and Alan O'Day, eds. ''Gladstone and Ireland: Politics, Religion, and Nationality in the Victorian Age'' (Palgrave Macmillan; 2011), 307 pp. * Boyce, D. G. ''The Irish Question and British Politics, 1868–1996'' (1996). * Bright, J. Franck. ''A History Of England. Period 4: Growth Of Democracy: Victoria 1837–1880'' (189
online
608pp; highly detailed political narrative ** Bright, J. Franck. ''A History of England: Period V. Imperial Reaction: Victoria 1880–1901'' (vol 5, 1904); detailed political narrative; 295pp
online
also
another copy
* Cannon, John, ed. ''The Oxford Companion to British History'' (2003), historical encyclopedia; 4000 entries in 1046p
excerpt and text search
* Connolly, S.J. ed. ''Kingdoms United? Great Britain and Ireland since 1500'' (1999) * Curtis, Lewis Perry. ''Coercion and Conciliation in Ireland 1880–1892'' (Princeton UP, 2015). * Dangerfield, George. ''The Strange Death of Liberal England'' (1935
online free
Classic account of how the Liberal Party ruined itself in dealing with the House of Lords, woman suffrage, the Irish question, and labour unions, 1906–1914. * Dooley, Chris. ''Redmond–A Life Undone: The Definitive Biography of John Redmond, the Forgotten Hero of Irish Politics'' (Gill & Macmillan Ltd, 2015). * Ensor, R. C. K. ''England, 1870–1914'' (1936
online
passim. influential scholarly survey * Flewelling, Lindsey. "The Ulster Crisis in Transnational Perspective: Ulster Unionism and America, 1912–14" ''Éire-Ireland'' 51#1 (2016) pp. 118–14
excerpt
* Foster, R. F. ''Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890–1923'' (2015
excerpt
* Golden, J. J. "The Protestant Influence on the Origins of Irish Home Rule, 1861–1871." ''English Historical Review'' 128.535 (2013): 1483–1516. * Havighurst, Alfred F. ''Modern England, 1901–1984'' (2nd ed. 1987
online
* Hachey, Thomas E., and Lawrence J. McCaffrey. ''The Irish Experience Since 1800: A Concise History'' 3rd ed. 2010). * Hickey, D. J., J. E. Doherty. eds. ''A New Dictionary of Irish History from 1800'', Gill & Macmillan, 2003, * Hilton, Boyd. ''A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People?: England 1783–1846'' (New Oxford History of England) (2008), scholarly synthesi
excerpt and text search
* Hoppen, Theodore. ''The Mid-Victorian Generation 1846–1886'' (New Oxford History of England) (2000
excerpt and text search
* Jalland, Patricia. ''The Liberals and Ireland: the Ulster question in British politics to 1914'' (Harvester Press, 1980). * Kee, Robert. ''The Green Flag'', (Penguin, 1972) popular history of Irish nationalism * Hammond, J. L. ''Gladstone and the Irish nation'' (1938
online edition.
* Loughlin, J. ''Gladstone, home rule and the Ulster question, 1882–1893'' (1986)
online
* McCord, Norman and Bill Purdue. ''British History, 1815–1914'' (2nd ed. 2007), 612 p
online
university textbook * Lyons, F. S. L. ''Charles Stewart Parnell'' (1973) * Magnus, Philip M. ''Gladstone: A biography'' (1954
online
* Matthew, H. C. G. "Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–1898)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' (2004
online edition, May 2006.
* Mowat, Charles. ''Britain Between The Wars 1918–1940'' (1968) * {{cite DNB, wstitle=Parnell, Charles Stewart, volume=46 * Pearce, Malcolm, and Geoffrey Stewart. ''British political history, 1867–2001: democracy and decline'' (Routledge, 2013). * Pelling, Nick. ''Anglo-Irish Relations: 1798–1922'' (Routledge, 2005). * Searle, G. R. ''A New England?: Peace and War 1886–1918'' (New Oxford History of England) (2005
excerpt and text search
* Smith, Jeremy. ''Britain and Ireland: from home rule to independence'' (Routledge, 2014). * Smith, Jeremy. '' The Tories and Ireland 1910–1914: Conservative Party Politics and the Home Rule Crisis'' (2001) * Townshend, Charles. ''The British campaign in Ireland, 1919–1921: the development of political and military policies'' (Oxford UP, 1975). * Vincent, J. ''Gladstone and Ireland'' (1978). * Warren, Allen. "Disraeli, the Conservatives, and the government of Ireland: part 1, 1837–1868." ''Parliamentary History'' 18.1 (1999): 45–64. * Woodward, Llewellyn. ''The Age of Reform, 1815–1870'' (2nd ed. 1962) pp 328–65. brief scholarly overvie
online


Historiography

* Connolly, S. J. ed. ''Oxford Companion to Irish History'' (2002), 650pp * English, Richard. "Directions in historiography: history and Irish nationalism." Irish Historical Studies 37.147 (2011): 447–460. * Gkotzaridis, Evi. ''Trials of Irish History: Genesis and Evolution of a Reappraisal'' (2006) * Kenealy, Christine. "Politics in Ireland'' in Chris Williams, ed., ''A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Britain'' (2006) pp 473–89. * Raftery, Deirdre, Jane McDermid, and Gareth Elwyn Jones. "Social Change and Education in Ireland, Scotland and Wales: Historiography on Nineteenth‐century Schooling." ''History of Education'' 36.4–5 (2007): 447–463. Irish nationalism 19th century in Ireland 20th century in Ireland 21st century in Ireland
1801 Events January–March * January 1 ** The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland is completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the abolition of the Parliament of I ...
Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations Modern history of the United Kingdom 19th century in the United Kingdom 20th century in the United Kingdom 21st century in the United Kingdom