46
Pete Hodson
Introduction
Following the Irish Act of Union in 1800, the thirty-two counties
of Ireland formed part of the United Kingdom for the entirety of the
nineteenth-century. After a period of largely democratically-expressed
mutual antagonism, the 1910s gave rise to the militarisation of Irish
nationalism and unionism (Jackson 2003: 120). Brinksmanship ensued
over the expected ratification of Irish Home Rule (a limited form of
national self-determination within the constitutional framework of the
United Kingdom) which would have resulted in a Dublin Parliament
overwhelmingly nationalist in composition. The constitutional deadlock
receded with the onset of World War I. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)
and the nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) united in defence of
the British Empire, both hoping to coax with Westminster and advance
their respective political causes. Not all Irish nationalists followed suit.
The 1916 Easter Rising – or more accurately the staggered execution of
some of its leaders and the combined threat of Irish conscription – unleashed popular enthusiasm for separatism among the nationalist bloc
(Laffan 1999: 128). Bitter conflict, negotiation and settlement between
1920 and 1921 resulted in the partition of Ireland. The six predominantly
unionist north-eastern counties remained part of the United Kingdom
(UK) (with a domestic Parliament in Belfast) and the remainder formed
the majoritarian nationalist Irish Free State, a Dominion remaining (albeit aversely) within the British Empire. The gun, however, was not
removed from Irish political life. The two new States were inclined to
defend majoritarian democracy peacefully, but a violent streak remained
readily discernible.
In some respects it is somewhat unsurprising, given that both States were
born out of the same revolutionary process, that strong parallels can be
identified between the problems incurred and the remedies implemented
by the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland Governments. Four core
areas will be scrutinised in this article – law and order, administration,