Northern Ireland

:For an explanation of often confusing terms like Ulster, (Republic of) Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology).

History

Main article: History of Northern Ireland; for events before 1900 see History of Ireland.

Related Topics:
History of Northern Ireland - 1900 - History of Ireland

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The area now known as Northern Ireland has had a diverse history. From serving as the bedrock of Irish resistance in the era of the plantations of Queen Elizabeth and James I in other parts of Ireland, it became itself the subject of major planting of Scottish and English settlers after the Flight of the Earls in 1607 (when the native Gaelic aristocracy left en masse for Catholic Europe).

Related Topics:
Irish resistance - Plantation - Queen Elizabeth - James I - Scottish - English - Flight of the Earls - 1607 - Aristocracy - Catholic - Europe

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The all-island Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1801) was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain merged under a central parliament, government and monarchy based in London. In the early 20th century Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson, opposed the introduction of Home Rule in Ireland. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but were in the majority in the four counties of Armagh, Antrim, Down, and Londonderry, thereby forming a narrow majority in the northern province of Ulster.

Related Topics:
Kingdom of Ireland - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - 1801 - Act of Union - Great Britain - London - Unionists - Sir Edward Carson - Home Rule - Ulster

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Ulster's Unionists, though generally opposed to the introduction of Home Rule to Ireland as a whole, were willing to accept a divided Ireland, with the nine counties of Ulster remaining under direct rule from London. An example of the Unionists' sheer determination not to have Home Rule forced upon them was when they resorted to the Larne Gun Running in 1912, when they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for the Ulster Volunteer Force.

Related Topics:
Home Rule - Larne Gun Running - 1912 - Imperial Germany - Ulster Volunteer Force

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The First World War being over, Lloyd George proposed in 1919 that rather than 28 counties of Ireland having Home Rule, with four counties remaining under the control of Westminster, Ireland should instead be divided into two separate Home Rule areas, twenty-six counties being ruled from Dublin, six being ruled from Belfast; provision was made for the eventual amalgamation of both parliaments into one parliament for all Ireland.

Related Topics:
First World War - Lloyd George - Westminster

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The Unionists of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Londonderry, Down, Fermanagh, and Tyrone were loathe to abandon their brethren in Ulster's three other counties to a Dublin government that would be, they felt, a tool of the Vatican, but they conceded that Lloyd George's solution was a pragmatic one. A nine-county 'Northern Ireland', taking in the entire province of Ulster, could not guarantee the political dominance of Unionists, since with five counties having predominantly Nationalist populations, it was conceivable that the Belfast parliament might some day have a Nationalist majority. A four-county 'Northern Ireland' might well reflect demographic reality, but it might not be feasible as an economic unit. A six-county 'Northern Ireland' seemed an elegant compromise, despite the wishes of hundreds of thousands of Nationalists who found themselves still in the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
Vatican - Nationalist

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Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 between six of the nine Ulster counties in the northeast (forming Northern Ireland) and the remaining twenty-six counties of the south and west (forming the Irish Free State in 1922). When the latter achieved dominion status, the six Northern Ireland counties — under the procedures laid out in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, 1921 — opted out, and so remain as part of the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
1921 - Government of Ireland Act 1920 - Irish Free State - 1922 - Dominion status - Anglo-Irish Treaty - United Kingdom

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The Ireland Act 1949 gave the first legal guarantee to the Parliament and Government that Northern Ireland would not cease to be part of the United Kingdom without consent of the majority of its citizens, and this was most recently reaffirmed by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This status was echoed in the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, which was signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic, was amended in 1999 to remove a claim to sovereignty over the whole of Ireland (in Article 2), a claim qualified by an acknowledgement of British rule in the northeast. The new Articles 2 and 3, added to the Bunreacht to replace the earlier articles, implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its relationships with the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of voters in Northern Ireland. An acknowledgement that a decision on whether to remain in the United Kingdom or join the Republic of Ireland rests with the people of Northern Ireland was also central to the Belfast Agreement, which was signed in 1998 and ratified by plebiscites held simultanously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. However, many unionist leaders equivocate when asked if they would peacefully accept a reunited Ireland if a majority in Northern Ireland sought it.

Related Topics:
Ireland Act 1949 - Parliament - Government - United Kingdom - Northern Ireland Act 1998 - Anglo-Irish Agreement - Republic of Ireland - Bunreacht na hÉireann - 1999 - Articles 2 and 3 - Belfast Agreement - 1998

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A plebiscite within Northern Ireland on whether it should remain in the United Kingdom, or join the Republic, was held in 1973. The vote went heavily in favour of maintaining the status quo with approximatley 57% of the total electorate voting in support, but most nationalists boycotted the poll. Though legal provision remains for holding another plebiscite, and former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble some years ago advocated the holding of such a vote, no plans for such a vote have been adopted as of 2005.

Related Topics:
Plebiscite - 1973 - Ulster Unionist Party - David Trimble - As of 2005

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