Neville Chamberlain

The Right Honourable Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869–9 November, 1940) was a British politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937–1940.

Relations with Ireland

When Chamberlain became Prime Minister, relations between the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State had been heavily strained for some years. The government of Eamon de Valera, seeking to transform the country into an independent republic, had proposed a new constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann. The constitution was adopted at the end of 1937, turning the Free State into Éire, an internally republican state which only retained the monarchy as an organ for external relations. The British government accepted the changes, formally stating that it did not regard them as fundamentally altering the position of Ireland within the British Commonwealth.

Related Topics:
Irish Free State - Eamon de Valera - Bunreacht na hÉireann - 1937 - Éire - British Commonwealth

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De Valera also sought to overturn other aspects of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, most notably the partition that had created Northern Ireland, as well as seeking to reclaim control of the three "Treaty Ports" which had remained in British control. Chamberlain, mindful of the deteriorating European situation, the desirability of support from a friendly neutral Ireland in time of war, and the difficulty of using the ports for defence if Ireland was opposed, wished to achieve peaceful relations between the two countries. The United Kingdom was also claiming compensation from Ireland.

Related Topics:
Anglo-Irish Treaty - Northern Ireland

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Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs Malcolm MacDonald, and de Valera held a conference starting in January 1938 in an attempt to resolve the other conflicts between their countries. De Valera hoped to secure, at the very least, the British government's neutrality on the matter of ending partition, but the devolved government of Northern Ireland was implacably opposed to any attempt to create a United Ireland. In February 1938, a Northern Ireland general election gave Lord Craigavon's government an increased majority, strengthening the Unionists' hand and making it difficult for the government to make any concessions. Despite this, de Valera proved willing to discuss the other points of contention.

Related Topics:
Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs - Malcolm MacDonald - 1938 - Government of Northern Ireland - United Ireland - Northern Ireland general election - Lord Craigavon's

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The result of the conference was a strong and binding trade agreement between the two countries. Britain agreed to hand over the Treaty Ports to Irish control, while Ireland agreed to pay Britain £10 million with wider claims cancelled. No settlement on partition was reached, and Chamberlain's hopes of being able to establish munitions factories in Ireland were not realised during the Second World War, but the two countries also issued a formal expression of friendship. Chamberlain had forged a strong relationship with de Valera, as evidenced by the latter's letter upon Chamberlain's resignation:

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I would like to testify that you did more than any former British Statesman to make a true friendship between the peoples of our two countries possible, and, if the task has not been completed, that it has not been for want of goodwill on your part.

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The agreement was criticised at the time and subsequently by Winston Churchill, but he was the lone voice of dissent; the Diehard wing of the Conservative Party was no longer willing to fight over the issue of Ireland. Others have pointed out that the issue's resolution resulted in Ireland taking a stance of benevolent neutrality during the Second World War (known in Ireland as The Emergency) and recent evidence has shown the extent to which the state helped the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
Winston Churchill - Diehard - The Emergency

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