Ireland

:This page is about the island of Ireland. For the political territories on the island, see Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the History section below.

History since partition

Irish Independence: The Irish Free State, Éire, Ireland

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was narrowly ratified by the Dáil in December 1921 but was rejected by a large minority, resulting in the Irish Civil War which lasted until 1923. In 1922, in the middle of this civil war, the Irish Free State came into being. For its first years the new state was governed by the victors of the Civil War. However in the 1930s Fianna Fáil, the party of the opponents of the treaty, were elected into government. The party introduced a new constitution in 1937 which renamed the state to simply "Éire or in the English language, Ireland" (preface to the Constitution).

Related Topics:
Irish Civil War - 1923 - 1922 - Irish Free State - 1937 - Éire

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The state was neutral during World War II but offered some assistance to the Allies. In 1949 the state declared itself to be a republic and that henceforth it should be described as the Republic of Ireland. The state was plagued by poverty and emigration until the 1990s. That decade saw the beginning of unprecedented economic success, in a phenomenon known as the "Celtic Tiger". By the early 2000s, it had become one of the richest countries (in terms of GDP per capita) in the European Union, moving from being a net recipient to a net contributor and from a population with net emigration to one with net immigration.

Related Topics:
World War II - 1949 - Republic of Ireland - Celtic Tiger - European Union

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Northern Ireland

From its creation in 1921 until 1972 Northern Ireland enjoyed limited self-government within the United Kingdom, with its own parliament and prime minister. However the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland each voted almost entirely along sectarian lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by "first past the post") was always controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party. Consequently, Catholics could not participate in the government, which at times openly encouraged discrimination in housing and employment.

Related Topics:
1921 - 1972 - Protestant - Catholic - Sectarian - "first past the post" - Ulster Unionist Party - Discrimination

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Nationalist grievances at unionist discrimination within the state eventually led to large civil rights protests in 1960s, which the government suppressed heavy-handedly, most notably on "Bloody Sunday". It was during this period of civil unrest that the paramilitary Provisional IRA, who favoured the creation of a united Ireland, began its campaign against Unionist rule. Other groups, legal and illegal on the unionist side, and illegal on the nationalist side, began to participate in the violence and the period known as the "Troubles" began. Owing to the civil unrest the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed direct rule.

Related Topics:
Nationalist - Unionist - Civil rights - Bloody Sunday - Paramilitary - Provisional IRA - United Ireland - Troubles - British government

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In 1998, following a Provisional IRA cease-fire, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded and attempts began to be made to restore self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power sharing between the two communities. Violence has greatly decreased since the signing of the accord.

Related Topics:
1998 - Good Friday Agreement

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On July 28 2005, the Provisional IRA (PIRA) announced the end of its armed campaign and on September 25 2005 international weapons inspectors supervised the full disarmament of the PIRA.

Related Topics:
July 28 - 2005 - Provisional IRA (PIRA) - September 25

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