The Unionist Anti-Partition League (UAPL) was a unionist political organisation in

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 ...

which campaigned for a

united Ireland United Ireland, also referred to as Irish reunification, is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically; the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the maj ...

within 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 ...

. Led by

St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alli ...

, it split from the

Irish Unionist Alliance The Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA), also known as the Irish Unionist Party, Irish Unionists or simply the Unionists, was a unionist political party founded in Ireland in 1891 from a merger of the Irish Conservative Party and the Irish Loyal and ...

on 24 January 1919 over disagreements regarding the

partition of Ireland The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) 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. ...

.Desmond Keenan, ''Ireland Within The Union 1800-1921'' (Xlibris Corporation), 228.

History

The Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA) had been formed in 1891 from the

Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union (ILPU) was a unionist political organisation in Ireland, established to oppose the Irish Home Rule movement. The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union was formed in Dublin in May 1885 by a small number of souther ...

to oppose plans for

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 ...

for Ireland. By 1919, the IUA was wracked by internal disagreements between southern and

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 ...

unionists over the proposed partition of Ireland. Southern unionists saw partition as the defeat of their aim to keep a united Ireland within the United Kingdom. Ulster unionists were more receptive to the notion of partition, seeing it as the only way to safeguard

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

unionist interests in the north of Ireland. At a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

meeting of the party on 24 January 1919, the anti-partition leader of the IUA, Lord Midleton, proposed a motion which would have denied Ulster unionists a say on government proposals affecting the south of Ireland.Pádraig Yeates, ''Dublin: A City in Turmoil: Dublin 1919 - 1921'' (Gill & Macmillan Ltd, 28 Sep 2012) The motion was defeated, with a majority of both southern and northern unionists rejecting the plan. As a result, Midleton's wing of the party split from the IUA, establishing the Unionist Anti-Partition League that evening. The split of the IUA had the effect of ending the realistic electoral hopes of unionists in southern Ireland. The UAPL attracted numerous leading figures from the southern unionist community, including Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore,

Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh, (29 March 1874 – 14 September 1967) was an Anglo-Irish businessman, politician, oarsman and philanthropist. Born in London, he was the eldest son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh. ...

John Arnott Sir John Arnott, 1st Baronet JP (26 July 1814 – 28 March 1898) was a Scottish-Irish entrepreneur and a major figure in the commercial and political spheres of late-19th century Cork. He was also founder of the Arnotts department chain. Backg ...

, Sir Maurice Dockrell and Valentine Browne, 5th Earl of Kenmare. Among the UAPL's more prominent members was William Morgan Jellett, KC, who was MP for Dublin University 28 July 1919 – 1922. However, the majority of ordinary southern unionists remained with the IUA, which was left without effective leadership outside

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 ...

following the split. The UAPL developed into a think-tank, with a focus on minority rights and constitutional affairs. The group argued against

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 ...

's policy of absenteeism from the British parliament, believing that it left Irish domestic interests without proper representation. The UAPL was supportive of the work of the Proportional Representation Society of Ireland, seeing

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

as a way of ensuring unionist voices were heard in government. In June 1919 the leadership of the League was approached by

Sir Horace Plunkett Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett (24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932), was an Anglo-Irish agricultural reformer, pioneer of agricultural cooperatives, Unionist MP, supporter of Home Rule, Irish Senator and author. Plunkett, a younger brother of Jo ...

, who invited them to join the new Irish Dominion League. The idea was rejected, as the Dominion League was perceived to be too sympathetic to

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 ...

.Wells, Warre B, ''Irish Indiscretions'' (London: Allen & Unwin, 1922), 90. The establishment of 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 ...

in 1922 and the consequent decrease in the number of southern unionists resulted in the disestablishment of the League.

References

{{Historic Irish parties 1919 establishments in Ireland Conservative parties in Ireland Defunct political parties in Ireland Political parties disestablished in 1922 Political parties established in 1919 Unionist Unionism in Ireland 1922 disestablishments in Ireland