From the NS archive: The “fact” of partition 2 July 1921: How to end the guerrilla war in Ireland.
By mid 1921 it was clear that an end to the hostilities between the British state and Irish republicans was tangible. As the writer of this editorial put it: “The policy of martial law and ‘reprisals’ is played out. It cannot be maintained.” The prime minister, David Lloyd George, invited the republican leader É
amon de Valera to London for a conference to decide how to bring the fighting to an end and map out a future for the island of Ireland. At the time this piece was written, De Valera had yet to respond. He was, said the writer, in a difficult position, not least because he was not a “leader of outstanding intellectual distinction or moral authority”. Furthermore, he needed to weigh up conflicting messages coming from London – some adamant, others conciliatory. Above all, were peace to be achieved, the republicans needed to accept the fact that “‘parti
BBC News
By Ciaran McCauley
Just over a century ago, Ireland was united as one island under British rule. But that was just about to change forever.
With the passing of the Government of Ireland Act by Westminster on 23 December 1920, the island would be partitioned, with new governments to be formed in Dublin and Belfast to oversee two new jurisdictions.
This was the culmination of one of the most tumultuous decades in Irish, and European history and set the path to an eventual Irish Republic.
Below we look at the years between 1916 and 1922 and the key moments that led to partition and the establishment of Northern Ireland.