Government of Ireland Act
Quick Summary
The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 was a British law that aimed to create two self-governing entities within Ireland. One was to comprise 26 counties, forming the Irish Free State, while the other was to consist of six of Ulster's nine counties, becoming Northern Ireland. This act was a response to the complex political landscape, where Irish nationalists sought independence and unionists, particularly in the north, wished to remain part of the United Kingdom.12
The act established devolved parliaments for both regions, with Northern Ireland's parliament functioning from June 1921. However, the southern counties rejected this arrangement as insufficient, leading to further negotiations. Ultimately, the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 granted dominion status to the 26 southern counties as the Irish Free State, while Northern Ireland, opting out of this arrangement, remained a self-governing part of the United Kingdom. The partition of Ireland, formalized by this act and subsequent treaty, has had lasting political and social consequences.123
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Northern IrelandConstitutional frameworkAlthough the 1920 Government of Ireland Act envisaged separate parliaments exercising jurisdiction over southern and northern Ireland, the architects of the partition anticipated that the new constitutional entity to be known as Northern Ireland would prove too small to be viable and would be rapidly absorbed into a…
Read MoreAlthough the 1920 Government of Ireland Act envisaged separate parliaments exercising jurisdiction over southern and northern Ireland, the architects of the partition anticipated that the new constitutional entity to be known as Northern Ireland would prove too small to be viable and would be rapidly absorbed into a…
Read More- Northern IrelandHome Rule
The intended remedy was the Government of Ireland Act of 1920, which created two modestly self-governing units: one comprising six of Ulster’s nine counties (later to be known as Northern Ireland), the other comprising the three remaining counties of Ulster together with the 23 counties of the rest of Ireland.…
Read MoreThe intended remedy was the Government of Ireland Act of 1920, which created two modestly self-governing units: one comprising six of Ulster’s nine counties (later to be known as Northern Ireland), the other comprising the three remaining counties of Ulster together with the 23 counties of the rest of Ireland.…
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