While nationalists in the south of Ireland were trying to achieve independence, northern Unionists wanted to remain in the United Kingdom.
The new state of Northern Ireland was set up under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It had a form of Home Rule with its own parliament, later based at Stormont, Belfast. It was in control of internal affairs such as education and health care. This separation of the north and south of Ireland into two different states was called partition.
James Craig became Northern Ireland’s fi rst prime minister in 1920. The Unionists refused to join the Irish Free State in 1921. Northern Ireland sent 12 MPs to Westminster from 1920, while its Northern Ireland parliament was dominated by the Unionists. Nationalists in Northern Ireland, led by Joseph Devlin, would not take their seats for six years in protest against the new state. This left the Unionist Party without any opposition.
