NI Constitution 1921-1972
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 sought to establish separate political institutions for Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. The Northern Ireland institutions were established on May 3, 1921. However, the institutions for Southern Ireland were never realized. The elections to the Parliament of Southern Ireland were regarded as elections to the Second Dail under the unrecognized provisional government.
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 was the final Home Rule Act among four. The first Home Rule bill, introduced by the Liberal Government, was defeated in Parliament in 1886, followed by a second defeat in 1893.
In 1911, the Parliament Act allowed for the override of House of Lords’ veto, enabling legislation to pass Parliament after three successive sessions.
The Liberal Government introduced the third Home Rule bill in 1912, which was vetoed by the House of Lords twice. Ultimately, it became law as the Home Rule Act 1914.
Under this act, a 40-member Senate and 164-member House of Commons were established in Dublin. Forty-two MPs continued to sit in the Westminster Parliament, replacing the existing 103. The Lord Lieutenant remained in place.
The bill faced rejection in the House of Lords in 1912 and 1913 despite passing the House of Commons. In 1914, using the Parliament Act, the bill gained force after passing the House of Commons.
Between 1912 and 1914, the Irish Volunteers and Ulster Volunteers respectively formed two substantial military forces, escalating the threat of civil war. The Unionist opposition aimed for a realistic exclusion of Ulster.
In 1914, during the civil war, the government proposed an amending bill for the temporary exclusion of Ulster, but the specifics regarding the period of exclusion were not defined. This bill intended limited local economies for Ulster within Ireland’s settlement. However, it was abandoned in August 1914, and a Suspensory Act suspended the Government of Ireland Act for the duration of the war.
Nationalist sentiment in Ireland surged after the Easter Rising. In the December 1918 election, the Sinn Fein party won 73 out of 105 Irish seats in the Westminster election, meeting in January 1919 as the first Dail, proclaiming an Irish Republic.Following this, the right of the government to exercise jurisdiction over Ireland was contested.
The Irish Convention from 1917 to 1918 sought reconciliation between unions and national possession, alongside the implementation of home rules. However, the introduction of conscription, concurrent with the convention’s findings, undermined the Irish party’s position and significantly strengthened Sinn Fein’s standing.
Lloyd George assumed power from Asquith, the Liberal Leader, with the support of Conservatives and Unionists in December 1916. He proposed, after the 1916 rising, that the Home Rule Act should become operational before the end of the wars, excluding certain counties.
In 1920, amidst the Anglo-Irish conflict, the British government chose the partition of Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act, creating separate Parliaments for Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland, with a Council of Ireland. The act theoretically allowed for eventual unification by mutual agreement and joint parliamentary determination of partition. It also outlined a Council of Ireland with 20 representatives from each Parliament, but this council never functioned.
Only four members of the Parliament of Southern Ireland attended its open meeting on June 28, 1921. The 124 unopposed Sinn Fein Congress saw this as hindering the membership of the second Dail.
Negotiations for a treaty between Great Britain and Ireland began in July 1921, resulting in the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December 6, 1921. The six counties of Northern Ireland had the option to join the Irish Free State by presenting an address to the King, which was done on December 17, 1922.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty envisaged a boundary commission to determine boundaries between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland, respecting the inhabitants’ wishes as much as possible. The commission members were to be nominated by the British government, the Free State, and the Northern Ireland government.
However, the Northern Ireland government refused to appoint a member, leading the British government to appoint a Northern Ireland representative. The South African Judge, Mr. Joseph Fetham, chaired the commission, and the Free State representative was Professor Eoin MacNeill, Minister of Education.
Initially, the southern representatives hoped for substantial transfers of territory from the six counties to the Irish Free State. However, the interpretation of the treaty by the South African chair favored Northern Ireland, resulting in minimal boundary changes. This caused shock and disappointment in the Irish Free State. Eoin MacNeill resigned, and no awards were made by the remaining commissioners.
After further negotiations, the existing boundary was retained unchanged.
The Council of Ireland was dissolved on April 1, 1926, and the sections of the Government Ireland Act relating to Southern Ireland were repealed in 1927.
In 1936, the Free State Parliament passed the External Affairs Act, recognizing the British monarch as the head of state, though it retained the means for appointing Irish diplomats. In 1949, the Irish Free State became the Republic of Ireland and ceased its connection to the British Commonwealth.
The Government of Ireland Act 1949, passed by the UK Parliament, guaranteed Northern Ireland’s autonomous constitutional position. It ensured that Northern Ireland or any part thereof could not cease to be part of His Majesty’s dominions or the United Kingdom without the Parliament of Northern Ireland’s consent.