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Centenary of the Government of Ireland Act » Mícheál Mac Donncha The centenary of the passing of the 1920 Government of Ireland Act falls on 23 December, the day 100 years ago when the legislation received ‘royal assent’ and became law, setting the British legal framework for the Partition of Ireland. The  British government plot to divide Ireland was long in the making and it was accomplished by a combination of deception and terror.  The principle of Partition was first introduced by British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith in the House of Commons when he proposed “county option wi...

There wasn't much seasonal cheer in official circles in Dublin, Belfast or London at Christmas 1920. There just wasn't time. These few weeks saw Partition become a reality for the first time, with the creation in law of Northern Ireland, and seemingly the hopes for peace on the island dashed, hopes that had flickered for a few precious months. And yet, and yet... No sooner than hope for peace had been crushed, it was raised again. The imposition of that most alien of concepts for Nationalists, the Partition of Ireland, had in fact created the conditions for making the peace with Britain, on t...