After the general election in December 1910, John Redmond's Irish Parliamentary Party held the balance of power in the House of Commons.
Its support for Herbert Asquith's Liberal administration depended on the introduction of a third Home Rule Bill, the prospect of which increased immeasurably after the Parliament Act of the follow year reduced the House of Lords' power of veto.
The prospect of a Catholic-majority Home Rule government prompted Edward Carson's declaration at Craigavon on 23 September 1911 that 'we must be prepared . . . the morning Home Rule passes, ourselves to become responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of Ulster'.
For the leader of the Irish Unionist Party, the threat of secession in 1911 was an expression of the determination of the north-east to resist Home Rule rather than a serious proposal to partition Ireland.
Partition becomes a reality
The first formal proposal to exclude part of Ulster from a Home Rule government came from Liberal backbencher Thomas Agar-Robartes in June 1912. The Third Home Rule Bill, which offered a limited measure of self-government to Ireland had been introduced to parliament on 11 April 1912.
To expediate its passage through the House of Commons, Agar-Robartes proposed an amendment to the Bill which would see the permanent exclusion of Antrim, Armagh, Down, and Londonderry from an Irish home rule parliament.
'I think everyone will admit', he said 'that Ireland consists of two nations different in sentiment, character, history, and religion'.
The proposal was met with fierce parliamentary opposition, not least from members of his own party. The exclusion amendment failed, and the Home Rule Bill continued its path through parliament but, significantly, the once inconceivable notion of partition was now opened to debate.
By 1919 the political landscape had changed entirely. The intervening years saw a world war, an Irish uprising, and the abandonment by the Irish electorate of the once monolithic Irish parliamentary party in favour of Sinn Fein and its republican manifesto.
The implementation of the Government of Ireland (Home Rule) Act had been suspended in 1914 for the duration of the international war, holding the controversial issue of exclusion in stasis. In the meantime, private political negotiations in 1916 about the treatment of Ulster miscarried and no compromise was reached at the 1917 Irish Convention.
Cartoon showing Lloyd George being tangled up by the Irish question, with Éamon de Valera, Edward Carson and Joseph Devlin looking on. Photo: Literary Digest, 10 August 1919
The outdated Home Rule Act of 1914 was due to come into effect automatically once the post-war peace treaties were finalised in 1919. The 'Ulster question' remained unresolved and the government faced new resistance from a breakaway republican government in Ireland.
Lloyd George, leader of the coalition government dominated by Unionists, appointed a special cabinet committee to draft new Home Rule legislation.
On 4 November 1919 the committee, chaired by Unionist Walter Long, recommended two polities, each with a Home Rule parliament: one for the nine-county province of Ulster, the other for the rest of the country. They decided against plebisites arguing that they would 'inflame religious and political passion' and recommended a Council of Ireland comprised of an equal number of MPs from the two parliaments.
On 22 December 1919 Lloyd George unveiled the two-parliament policy to the House of Commons. The Ulster Unionist Council, however, was concerned that the Northern Parliament of Ireland would not be able to govern the three Ulster counties with a nationalist majority, namely Cavan Monaghan and Donegal.
As standing committee member John Gunning-Moore observed, nine counites 'will be such a rickety parliament that it must [almost] at once be absorbed into the Dublin one'.
The Cabinet agreed to the Ulster unionist preference for a six-county northern parliament on 24 February 1920 and the next day the Better Government for Ireland Bill was introduced to the House of Commons. The bill became law on 23 December 1920 and came into effect on 3 May 1921. The Northern Ireland parliament was officially opened on 22 June 1921.
Walter Long, circa 1902. (Source: The Print Collector/Getty Images)
On 4 November 1919 the committee, chaired by Unionist Walter Long, recommended two polities, each with a Home Rule parliament: one for the nine-county province of Ulster, the other for the rest of the country.
They decided against plebisites arguing that they would 'inflame religious and political passion' and recommended a Council of Ireland comprised of an equal number of MPs from the two parliaments.
On 22 December 1919 Lloyd George unveiled the two-parliament policy to the House of Commons. The Ulster Unionist Council, however, was concerned that the Northern Parliament of Ireland would not be able to govern the three Ulster counties with a nationalist majority, namely Cavan Monaghan and Donegal.
A contemporary image showing how the final border divided Ulster .Photo: 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
As standing committee member John Gunning-Moore observed, nine counties 'will be such a rickety parliament that it must [almost] at once be absorbed into the Dublin one'.
The Cabinet agreed to the Ulster unionist preference for a six-county northern parliament on 24 February 1920 and the next day the Better Government for Ireland Bill was introduced to the House of Commons. The bill became law on 23 December 1920 and came into effect on 3 May 1921. The Northern Ireland parliament was officially opened on 22 June 1921.
This article is based on The Atlas of the Irish Revolution edited by John Crowley, Donal Ó Drisceoil, Mike Murphy and John Borgonovo and its contents do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ.
