Analysis: Discussions and arguments over Ireland and the Commonwealth have had a fairly long existence, even since we left in 1949
By Martin O'Donoghue, Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory
When did Ireland join the Commonwealth?
The Irish Free State joined the Commonwealth as part of the terms of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty becoming which stated it would have the "same constitutional status in the Community of Nations known as the British Empire as the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand and the Union of South Africa".
The 'Empire-Commonwealth' of the interwar period, as termed by the historian Deirdre McMahon among others, was a very different organisation than today. It was made up of the UK and the dominions named above, as well as Newfoundland (which gave up its independence in 1934). Other parts of the empire like India had 'observer' status at imperial conferences but were not given self-governing status like the dominions.
From BBC What's New, what is the Commonwealth and where did it come from?
What was Ireland's relationship with the Commonwealth?
To begin with, independent Ireland’s relationship was always ambiguous. Historians have variously characterised the Irish Free State as the 'restless dominion’ (David Harkness), the ‘captive dominion’ (Donal Lowry), or even the ‘conscript dominion’ (John M Ward).
Some Irish nationalists had expressed anti-colonial solidarity with other independence movements across the British empire. From 1922, however, with a few exceptions, Irish politicians tended to be uncomfortable about too close an analogy with other dominions of the period like Canada, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. In the Treaty debates, Austin Stack pointedly rejected the British analogy that the Treaty gave the Free State the same level of autonomy as Canada.
Debating the Free State Constitution, Darrell Figgis emphasised Ireland was an ‘ancient nation’. He argued that ‘Ireland was never a Colony or a Dominion. Under this Constitution Ireland is not a Dominion. Ireland is dealt with in this Constitution as being entirely different from any of the Constitutions of the so-called co-equal communities. The whole conception is entirely different from other Constitutions’.
The announcement in 1948 that the state would become a republic and leave the Commonwealth was abrupt and unexpected
Future Chief Justice Hugh Kennedy had agreed, having written in a memo that ‘Ireland’s sovereignty is recognised by signing with her a Treaty. In the one case the sovereignty is conferred by the Mother on her children state. In the other sovereignty is recognised to have existed as between two equal states. In other words, Ireland is not a dominion at all’.
Cumann na nGaedheal participated fully in imperial conferences in the 1920s, seeking diplomatic routes to expand upon the Treaty settlement — as well as seeking reunification. In 1926, Kevin O'Higgins used the imperial conference to consider reviving the old Sinn Féin idea of Ireland becoming part of a dual-monarchy. The implication was a fuller embrace of the crown could appeal to British and unionist leaders and smooth the path to unity.
De Valera and the Commonwealth
After Fianna Fáil entered government in 1932, Irish participation at imperial conferences diminished and ended in 1937. Éamon De Valera set about 'dismantling' the Treaty and moving the state towards a republic.
From AP/Movietone, newly elected President of the Executive Council Éamon De Valera discusses his plans and policies in Dublin in February 1933
The 1920s had been important in defining the autonomy of dominions, and in 1931, the Statute of Westminster had gone further, essentially removing the power of the British parliament to legislate for the dominions. However, these advances merely provided more scope for de Valera’s constitutional campaign of change, abolishing the oath of allegiance to the Crown and the office of Governor-General. It was a turbulent time for Anglo-Irish relations with a trade war erupting over de Valera’s refusal to continue making Land Annuities payments to Britain which related back to land legislation of the home rule era.
Debates on the benefits of Commonwealth persisted, but often hinged on the question of partition. While the 1937 Bunreacht na hÉireann gave Ireland many of the features of a republic, as Kate O’Malley noted, de Valera was reluctant to declare a republic or leave the Commonwealth because of the risk posed to chances of unity.
Why did Ireland leave the Commonwealth and become a republic?
While the entire Commonwealth would change after 1945 with a wave of decolonisation, the announcement in Ottawa in 1948 by Fine Gael taoiseach John A. Costello that the state would become a republic and leave the Commonwealth was abrupt and unexpected. It gave rise to claims Costello had made the declaration spontaneously, even angered by the appearance in Canada of a 'Roaring Meg' from the Siege of Derry, though historians, including David McCullagh, have sought to show it was not quite the impulsive move that it may have appeared.
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From History Hub, David McCullagh on John A Costello's Ottawa announcement about Ireland leaving the Commonwealth and becominga a republic
The official date for the state to become a republic and exit the Commonwealth was set for April 18th 1949. From early that month, Irish newspapers covered Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's meetings in London on relations with Commonwealth. Events were obviously seen through Irish lens.
The pro-Fianna Fáil Irish Press could not help but reflect that Britain was ‘willing to put aside the symbol of the crown to keep India’s goodwill’ in an editorial pointedly titled ‘Thirty Years Too Late’. In fact, the Press called the outcome of India's London negotiations a 'triumph’ as it reflected an arrangement it saw as similar to de Valera’s proposed compromise for Ireland during the Treaty debates of 1921-2. By contrast, the Cork Examiner noted sharply, ‘there must be some material advantage in the association, or the Indians would not be so keen to remain a member of the Commonwealth’.
What arguments did Irish people make for the Commonwealth?
Discussions about Ireland and the Commonwealth thus have a fairly long lifespan. In recent years, Oireachtas members such as Fine Gael's Frank Feighan and Fianna Fáil's Malcolm Byrne have floated the idea. While the Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell recently suggested Irish re-entry would help 'global politics’, he was in fact echoing similar suggestions by figures like former Irish Party MP Henry Harrison in the 1930s.
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From RTÉ Archives, excerpt from To the People, Radio Éireann broadcast from Minister for External Affairs Seán MacBride on the day Ireland left the Commonwealth in 1949
In the same period, TDs James Dillon and Frank MacDermot had seen participation in the Commonwealth and making concession to British identity were crucial to unity. Both men’s influence saw Commonwealth membership included among the head of policy of Fine Gael at the party’s foundation in 1933.
It is not clear, however, that the olive branch of Commonwealth participation would have had the effect Dillon and MacDermot foresaw. During the Anglo-Irish tariff war, the Unionist politician Arthur Black wrote in the journal The Round Table in 1934 that, ‘the Northern Irishman has a near neighbour possessing Dominion status, and he is not greatly impressed by its advantages, either political or commercial’.
It should be noted that for Dillon and MacDermot the Commonwealth was not simply a vehicle for voluntary reunion, but also a stage they felt would ensure economic prosperity and the development of Ireland’s role on the world stage. In this way, perhaps such views perhaps pre-dated Irish perspectives on the advantages of joining a trading bloc like the European Economic Community. From an Irish perspective, that union was devoid of the imperial connotations many disliked about the Commonwealth. Indeed, in the view of the Irish Commonwealth scholar, Nicholas Mansergh, by the 1970s, Ireland had chosen 'geography over recent history' by leaving the Commonwealth and joining the EEC.
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Dr Martin O'Donoghue is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt. He is a former Research Ireland awardee.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
