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“The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 was designed to solve the Irish problem, but it
satisfied no single party in Ireland.” To what extent would you agree with this statement? (35)
(⅔) (require evaluation and conclusion)
The end of the First World War raised the issue of the Government of Ireland Act 1914,
which was supposed to come into operation once the war had ended. Belatedly, in
September 1919, Prime Minister Lloyd George established the Long Committee to give
shape to his Irish policy. Yet the “Irish problem” in 1920 was complex, making satisfaction
impossible for all parties.
The Irish problem first required a solution to the Anglo-Irish War, with Sinn Fein demanding a
Republic. And both were not achieved.
- The Anglo-Irish war continued until a truce in July 1921, and Sinn Fein simply
refused to recognise it given its failure to concede its demands for an all-Ireland
republic.
- The 1920 Act is also said to have brought them permanent partition, and the system
of proportional representation did little to satisfy the Catholic minority, as the elections
were marked with intimidation and double-voting.
- The redrawing of electoral boundaries also did nothing to help Catholic minorities.
This is evident in 1921; out of the 16 MPs, only one was nationalists.
- Therefore, Sinn Fein ignored the 1920 Act, using the May 1921 election to elect a
second Dail rather than a Home Rule parliament.
- This has also shown that the Nationalists in Ireland were completely dissatisfied with
the bill as they thought it only dealt with the Ulster problem rather than the Irish
problem as a whole.
On the other hand, the Irish problem also involved a solution to the Ulster unionists, backed
by the Conservatives, seeking no less than the 1916 offer of six counties' permanent
exclusion from Home Rule.
- This seems satisfactory at first glance. Ulster Unionists, led by Sir James Craig,
feared that a nine-county excluded area would be too precarious and believed that a
growing Catholic population would outvote them into an all-Ireland state within a few
years.
- He has then won the battle of the more “ethnographic” six counties block against the
Long Committee’s original nine counties.
- Moreover, he ensured the N.I’s senate was harmless. They were also to be entitled
to representation at Westminster at Westminister.
- Most importantly, the two-in-one majority of Unionists over nationalists in the six
counties ensured a permanent majority in parliament. They believed six counties
were enough without the fear of being “outbred” by the Catholic majority.
However, it was not all to be satisfied. Whilst Craig won the fight for the six-county area, the
Ulster Unionists lost other battles.
- The Council of Ireland was established. It consisted of equal numbers from both
Parliaments and dealt with matters of common interest, which the Unionists opposed.
- There was the imposition of proportional representation on both parts of Ireland to
protect both minorities, Protestants in the south and Catholics in the north. In
addition, unionists in the three counties that were left out, Cavan, Monaghan and
Donegal, were very bitter at what they saw as their abandonment by the UUC and a
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