NoRtHeRn IrElAnD A. 1920–1960


In 1920, the British government passed the Government of Ireland Act which created the state of Northern Ireland. This state contained six of the nine counties of Ulster. There were majorities of unionists in four of these counties, while Fermanagh and Tyrone contained large unionist minorities.


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Fig 16.1 A map of Ulster and Northern Ireland including the percentage of Protestants and Catholics in Ulster in the early twentieth century.


Unionists in the 1920s


Following the Government of Ireland Act, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom and had its own parliament in Stormont. This parliament was dominated by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). James Craig was chosen as Prime Minister in 1920.


Unionists were delighted when the Boundary Commission decided in 1925 to keep the six counties within Northern Ireland. Craig said, ‘we are a Protestant parliament and a Protestant state’. Northern Ireland was still represented by 13 MPs (11 of whom were members of the UUP) in the British parliament, Westminster.


Nationalists in the 1920s


Fig 16.2 James Craig became Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1920.


Nationalists in Northern Ireland were generally Catholic. Due to their position as a minority population within Northern Ireland, they had little hope of getting into power. In 1921, nationalists won only 12 seats in Stormont in comparison to the 40 seats that unionists won. Nationalists wished to become part of the Irish Free State and were hostile to British involvement in Ireland.


Unionist Control of Power


This hostility toward British involvement meant that unionists saw nationalists as a threat to the state of Northern Ireland. The unionists used a variety of methods to ensure that they kept their power:


1. The police force in Northern Ireland was the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). They were backed up by a part-time police force called the B-Specials. Both these forces were almost exclusively Protestant and they discriminated against nationalists.


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