大象传媒

Contributor:

Professor Richard Bourke

Talk Title:

Unionisms and Partition

Talk Synopsis:

This talk explores the background to the Government of Ireland Act (1920) and how it was 鈥榓 departure from unionism in its original, 鈥渃lassic鈥� sense鈥�. It describes how the creation of a 鈥榩arliamentary federation鈥� was 鈥榓 setup which unionist statecraft had been determined to avoid鈥� and how it 鈥榚nvisaged the creation of yet another union: an Irish union鈥� which would be facilitated by the formation of a Council of Ireland. It suggests that UK government policy in the early 1920s 鈥榳as neither unionist nor partitionist in complexion鈥� 鈥� something that was reflected in the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty which 鈥榩rospectively incorporated鈥� Northern Ireland into the Irish Free State. It also looks at differing views of partition as either 鈥榰ndemocratic鈥� or 鈥榓 matter of democratic right鈥� and the effect of subsequent political developments. And it looks to how Ulster unionism might think about its future and constitutional relations 鈥� 鈥榩ursuing a lasting settlement instead of protesting as its future is shaped behind its back鈥�.

Short biography:

Richard Bourke is Professor of the History of Political Thought, and a Fellow of King鈥檚 College, at the University of Cambridge.

Further Reading:

A Fool鈥檚 Paradise: Being a Constitutionalist鈥檚 Criticism of the Home Rule Bill of 1912 鈥� A. V. Dicey
Ulster鈥檚 Stand for Union - Ronald McNeill,
Home Rule: An Irish History, 1800鈥�2000 鈥� Alvin Jackson
Peace in Ireland: The War of Ideas 鈥� Richard Bourke
鈥淕enealogies of Partition: History, History-Writing and 鈥榯he Troubles鈥� in Ireland,鈥� Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 9: 4 (December 2006), pp. 619鈥�34 鈥� Margaret O鈥機allaghan
鈥楧emocracy, Sovereignty and Unionist Political Thought during the Revolutionary Period鈥�, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 27 (December 2017), pp. 211鈥�32 鈥� Colin Reid

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