Southern Ireland
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2008-07-11T16:55:22Z
Redking7
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 224620381 by [[Special:Contributions/82.152.221.125|82.152.221.125]] ([[User talk:82.152.221.125|talk]]) Undoing possible vandalism. SI did exist etc
{{dablink|This article is about a historic autonomous region that existed in United Kingdom. For the state that seceded from the United Kingdom, see [[Irish Free State]]. For the modern state, see [[Republic of Ireland]].}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|conventional_long_name = Southern Ireland
|common_name = Ireland
|continent = Europe
|region = British Isles
|country = Ireland
|subdivision = [[Devolution|Autonomous]] region
|nation = the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|UK]]
|year_start = 1921
|year_end = 1922
|date_start = 3 May
|date_end = 6 December
|event_start = [[Government of Ireland Act 1920|Establishment]]
|event_end = [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]]
|p1 = United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
|flag_p1 = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
|s1 = Irish Free State
|flag_s1 = Flag of Ireland.svg
|image_map = LocationIreland.png
|image_map_caption = Southern Ireland
|capital = [[Dublin]]
|common_languages = [[English language|English]], [[Irish language|Irish]]
|government_type = Constitutional monarchy
|title_leader = [[List of British monarchs#House of Windsor|Monarch]]
|leader1 = [[George V of the United Kingdom|George V]]
|title_deputy = [[Chairman of the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland|Chairman]]
|deputy1 = [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]]
|year_deputy1 = First
|deputy2 = W. T. Cosgrave
|year_deputy2 = Last
|currency = Pound sterling
|legislature = [[Parliament of Southern Ireland|Parliament]]{{smallsup|1}}
|house1 = [[Senate of Southern Ireland|Senate]]
|house2 = [[House of Commons of Southern Ireland|House of Commons]]
|footnotes = 1. A [[Council of Ireland]] was also envisaged "[w]ith a view to the eventual establishment of a Parliament for the whole of Ireland".
}}
'''Southern Ireland''' ({{lang-ga|Deisceart Éireann}}) was the short lived autonomous region (or ''[[constituent country]]'') of the [[United Kingdom]] established on [[3 May]] [[1921]] and dissolved on [[6 December]] [[1922]].<ref>[[3 May]] [[1921]] (SR&O 1921, No. 533).</ref>
Southern Ireland was established under the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] together with its sister region, [[Northern Ireland]]. It was envisaged that Southern Ireland would have the following institutions:<ref>See: [http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/1920/192000067.html#PROVISIONS_AS_TO_COURTS_OF_LAW_AND_JUDGES Government of Ireland Act 1920]</ref>
* a [[Parliament of Southern Ireland]], consisting of the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|King]], the [[Senate of Southern Ireland]], and the [[House of Commons of Southern Ireland]];
* a Government of Southern Ireland;
* the Supreme Court of Judicature of Southern Ireland;
* the Court of Appeal in Southern Ireland; and
* His Majesty's High Court of Justice in Southern Ireland.
It was also envisaged that Southern Ireland would share the following institutions with [[Northern Ireland]]:
* the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]];
* a [[Council of Ireland]]; and
* a High Court of Appeal for Ireland.
The Parliament, although legally established, never functioned (for example, it never passed an Act). No Government of Southern Ireland was ever established either. The [[Council of Ireland]] was to be established ''"[w]ith a view to the eventual establishment of a Parliament for the whole of Ireland"''. However, it never came into being. The notable exception to the failure of the institutions of Southern Ireland was its courts, all of which functioned. Nevertheless given that its most important institutions failed, arguably the autonomous region never achieved ''de facto'' existence.
==Home Rule==
The Government of Ireland Act, also known as the ''Fourth Home Rule Act'' was intended to provide a solution to the problem that had bedevilled Irish politics since the 1880s, namely the conflicting demands of Irish [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist]]s and [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]]s. Nationalists wanted a form of [[Devolution|Home Rule]], believing that Ireland was poorly served by the [[Her Majesty's Government|British government]] in Westminster and its Irish executive in [[Dublin Castle]]. Unionists feared that a nationalist government in Dublin would discriminate against [[Protestantism|Protestant]]s and would impose tariffs that would unduly hit the northeastern counties of Ireland, which were not only predominantly Protestant but also the only industrial area on an island whose economy was largely [[agriculture|agricultural]]. Extremist unionists imported arms from [[German Empire|Imperial Germany]] and established the [[Ulster Volunteer Force (1912)|Ulster Volunteer Force]] to prevent Home Rule in [[Ulster]]. In response to this, nationalists also imported arms and set up the [[Irish Volunteers]]. [[Partition of Ireland|Partition]], which was introduced in the Government of Ireland Act, was intended as a temporary solution to the problem, allowing Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland to be separately governed as regions of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. Ironically, one of those most opposed to this partition settlement was the leader of Irish unionism, Dublin-born [[Edward Carson, Baron Carson|Edward Carson]], who felt that it was wrong to divide Ireland in two. He felt this would badly affect the position of southern and western unionists.
==1921 General election==
In reality, however, while Northern Ireland did become a functioning entity, with a parliament and executive that existed until it was prorogued in 1972, Southern Ireland never became a functioning reality. An [[Irish Republic]] had been proclaimed by the extra-legal parliament known as [[Dáil Éireann]], formed by [[Sinn Féin]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]]s elected from Ireland in the United Kingdom [[Irish general election, 1918|general election]] in 1918. The first general election to the [[House of Commons of Southern Ireland]] in 1921 was used by Sinn Féin to produce a new Dáil, the [[Second Dáil]]. Sinn Féin won 124 of the 128 seats, all without a contest. (Four were won by [[Dublin]] unionists.) When the new Parliament of Southern Ireland was called into session in June 1921, only the 4 unionist members of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, and a handful of appointed senators, turned up in the [[Government Buildings|Royal College of Science]] in Dublin, where the meeting was scheduled to take place.
==Treaty and Free State==
[[Image:Northern and Southern Ireland.png|thumb|left|Northern and Southern Ireland.]]
It is sometimes said that the most important function that the institutions of Southern Ireland performed was to approve the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] on 14 January 1922 for the Irish side in accordance with the Treaty. This however is not strictly true. In accordance with the Treaty, the Irish side approved it at:
''“a meeting summoned for the purpose [of approving the Treaty] of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland.”'' <ref> [http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/anglo_irish/dfaexhib2.html Anglo-Irish Treaty].</ref>
The Treaty did not say that the Treaty was to be approved by the [[House of Commons of Southern Ireland]]. Rather, it said it was to be approved by the Irish side by the members elected to sit in that body. The difference is subtle but was fully grasped by those who entered the Treaty. Hence, when that “meeting” was convened, it was convened by [[Arthur Griffith]] in his capacity as ''“Chairman of the Irish Delegation of Plenipotentiaries”'' (who had signed the Treaty). Notably it was not convened by Lord Fitzalan, the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]] who under the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] was the office-holder with the entitlement to convene a meeting of the [[House of Commons of Southern Ireland]].
The [[Provisional Government of Southern Ireland]] envisaged under the Treaty was constituted on 14 January 1922 at the above-mentioned ''meeting of members of the Parliament elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland''. It took up office two days later when [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] became Chairman of the Provisional Government. Collins took charge of Dublin Castle at a ceremony attended by [[Edmund Fitzalan-Howard, 1st Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent|Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent]]. The new Government was not an institution of Southern Ireland as envisaged under the Government of Ireland Act. Instead, it was a Government established under the Anglo-Irish Treaty and legislation which implemented it.
Like its sister region [[Northern Ireland]], Southern Ireland was never a "state" (or pejoratively, a ''statelet'').<ref>In some circles, Southern Ireland might be described as having been a ''[[constituent country]]'' of the [[United Kingdom]]. However that term is of recent provenance and was not used by the British Government to describe Southern Ireland (or Northern Ireland) in 1921 or 1922.</ref> Its constitutional roots remained the [[Act of Union 1800|Act of Union]], two complimentary Acts, one passed by the [[Parliament of Great Britain]], the other by the [[Parliament of Ireland]]. With the establishment of the [[Irish Free State]] on 6 December 1922 under the terms of the Treaty, Southern Ireland ceased to exist.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Irish states since 1171}}
[[Category:History of the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Home Rule in the United Kingdom|Ireland, Southern]]
[[Category:Former Countries in Ireland]]
[[Category:Short-lived states|Ireland, Southern]]
<!--Other languages-->
[[ca:Irlanda del Sud]]
[[da:Sydirland]]
[[de:Südirland]]
[[es:Irlanda del Sur]]
[[no:Sør-Irland]]
[[pl:Irlandia Południowa]]
[[pt:Irlanda do Sul]]
[[simple:Southern Ireland]]