The Long Way to Independence (1916-1921)[]
The Conscription Crisis & Home Rule[]
Following the Easter Rising of 1916, its surviving leaders and volunteers were imprisoned mainly in the Frongoch internment camp in Wales. The instigators found themselves in the peculiar position of having rapidly growing popular support, but no political or military vessel for this popularity, and themselves in British custody. At home, despite the growing popularity of complete separatism, Home Rule remained the far more influential policy politically, having been developed over the previous decades. While in Frongoch, the 1916 veterans ended up devising what to do next, and began to develop guerrilla war tactics, leading to the camp being referred to as the “University of Revolution”.
The most significant new force on the Irish political scene at the time was Sinn Féin, founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905. It was set up originally to propose an alternative to Home Rule, favouring instead a system inspired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whereby Ireland would share a monarch with Great Britain, and some key ministerial positions, but would have relative independence otherwise. Despite having practically nothing to do with the 1916 Rising, but ending up being attributed to it by much of the press, Griffith found Sinn Féin being used as a political vehicle by the remaining instigators of 1916, and the significant republican following they had obtained, even though Sinn Féin had been founded as a monarchist party. Griffith and Sinn Féin’s overall aim was Irish freedom, and he pragmatically proposed that the form of government that Ireland took after it was achieved, could be decided by the people after the fact. He later resigned as the President of the party following the large influx of new party members, but he continued on with them as a political agitator, with American-born veteran of 1916, Éamon de Valera (not executed due to his American citizenship), becoming the new party President.
1917 saw the continuation of the Weltkrieg, with Sinn Féin winning three by-elections in shock results, with most of their leadership back in Ireland. Their new policy of abstentionism meant that they did not recognise Westminster, and so refused to take their seats in parliament. Wishing to avoid the mistakes of previous failed rebellions, Sinn Féin decided to bide their time and not enter into further armed conflict immediately, partaking in electoral politics to build up a popular mandate for full independence first, unlike what had happened in 1916.
With the German breakthrough on the Western Front in the Spring of 1918, the worsening manpower concerns made the British government reconsider their position on leaving Ireland exempt from conscription. The introduction of the draft in May led to widespread civil disobedience and draft dodging outside of Ulster. This eventually led to draft riots, with Westminster becoming increasingly anxious about the delicate situation. The introduction of conscription meant almost the entirety of the Ulster Volunteer Force left to serve on the Western front, but in the rest of the country, the opposition to conscription from all sides was a concern to the government.
Much of the resistance to conscription was led by Sinn Féin, which declared its support for a total boycott of the draft and low-level resistance to the Royal Irish Constabulary. As a result, de Valera was rearrested in May and imprisoned in England. The position of president of Sinn Féin was again taken up by Arthur Griffith, but more as a ceremonial role. Griffith proved to be a popular and well-respected but rather unimposing leader, allowing other members of Sinn Féin to steadily grow in influence, most importantly, Michael ColIins.
Growing Insurrection & Rebellion[]
Public opposition to conscription began to grow in earnest in the late summer of 1918, with riots and strikes engulfing the island. A large general strike had taken place earlier in the year, and abhorrence of conscription was shared by republicans, socialists, as well as “Home-Rulers” and the church. In a poorly thought out plan to appease the Irish, Westminster decides to bring in Home Rule in an effort to resolve the tumultuous situation, and lessen the blow of conscription. In an attempt to assuage most of the Unionists, 6 of the 9 counties of Ulster were made temporarily exempt from the Home Rule elections, with a plan to review this status post-war, further increasing the general unrest. The Irish widely rejected this proposal, but the British government pressed on with their plan for Home Rule. Throughout Ireland, Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks were raided and all their weapons put towards the burgeoning rebellion.
Home Rule had been planned since its inception as partial independence for all of Ireland. The legislative partition of Ireland that was put forward as a compromise in this iteration of Home Rule, had been actively opposed before the Weltkrieg, while the Irish Volunteers were still at their strongest and most influential. Many within the Irish Parliamentary Party and broader Home Rule movement had seen Home Rule as simply the most realistic and achievable next step in terms of Irish freedom, while others were simply more interested in greater autonomy within the British Empire. Either way, the movement lost much popular support following the events of 1916, which unexpectedly radicalised the broader population to more ambitious goals.
The Home Rule elections of November 1918 massively backfired for the British, as Sinn Féin swepped the electoral board and almost decimated the Irish Parliamentary Party. Notably, the Labour Party chose to forgo the election, as while they favoured independence, they did not want to end up in a crossfire between the two larger parties, and wanted the “national question” settled first. Sinn Féin convened its own legislative assembly, Dáil Éireann, claiming to be the sole legitimate government of Ireland and declaring the establishment of a new Irish Republic. 1916 veteran Cathal Brugha was chosen to be temporary President of Dáil Éireann by the elected TDs (Teachtaí Dála, literally “deputies to the Dáil”) that were in attendance, as opposed to being in jail. On the same day, acting entirely of their own accord, an IRA unit initiated the infamous Soloheadbeg ambush, killing two RIC constables. The IRA, or Irish Republican Army, was the new military wing of Sinn Féin. The killing would be enough to spark use of draconian measures under the DORA protocols and see South Tipperary declared a Special Military Area. While no war was officially declared, this is widely agreed to be the beginning of the Irish War of Independence.
Soon after the beginning of the war, in early February, a daring raid to break de Valera out of Lincoln Jail would be authorised, with Collins himself among the conspirators. Unfortunately for de Valera, the escape of four Irish prisoners from Usk prison in Wales resulted in the authorities in Lincoln Jail stepping up security and the escape attempt failing. He was subsequently transferred to a more secure location leaving the would-be president trapped in prison. Shortly after this, Germany officially recognized the Republic and vaguely promised to aid it in its struggle for independence. Their support, however, wouldn’t truly be felt until the spring of 1919 when clandestine shipping routes would be properly organised. Thereafter, German political support and secret material assistance greatly augmented the fighting capacity of the IRA. The southwest of Ireland became a hotbed for not only Irish Republicanism, but also radical socialism, and the power of various trade unions grew in the region substantially. While the socialist movement never grew large enough to truly threaten the already chaotic status quo, it contributed further to the breakdown of order. As a result, the British government declared the area in and around the city of Limerick to be a “Special Military Area” and began to use even harsher methods there to suppress dissent. In turn, the socialist groups there declared a Russian-style Soviet. While the Soviet was defeated within weeks, it affected the attitudes of the British public greatly, with many in power fearing that all of Ireland could fall to Bolshevism. It also plays greatly in the mythos of the later socialist movement.
By the Summer of that year, Lord French, Viceroy of Ireland, frustrated with the performance of the RIC, suggested to the Crown to use some of the troops returning from France in Ireland. However, under British Law, troops could not be directly used in that manner against British citizens. Using army troops in Ireland would have required acknowledgement of a state of war in Ireland; this would mean treating captured IRA as prisoners of war, which would prevent the authorities from jailing and deporting them. However, British Secretary of State for War Winston Churchill came up with the idea of an "Auxiliary" unit for the RIC, made up of former Army troops, which would skirt around British laws. These units, because of the colour of their mismatched uniforms, came to be known as the "Black and Tans".
By the time the Black and Tans began to have an impact on the war, Sinn Féin had completely paralysed and replaced the court system in the vast majority of the country with their own. Mastermind by Cabinet minister Austin Stack, the Dáil courts were popularly supported by Irish society and their verdicts were also enforced by the IRA. The success of this tactic impressed many, and helped undermine the credibility of British rule while cementing that of the Republic. The paralysis of the British court system later prevented the captured IRA members from being prosecuted by the RIC. Frustrated and facing a protracted war, in the winter of 1919, British units began to regularly commit atrocities against Irish civilians, with such attacks often sanctioned directly by the Prime Minister.
December of 1919 also saw a general election in the United Kingdom, with Ireland as a whole now sending a reduced number of MPs to Westminster, as per the Home Rule Act. Sinn Féin did not participate in this election in the 26 southern counties, with the election to Westminster not seen as legitimate, considering they had been elected to instead attend Dáil Éireann only a year previous, and the Dáil had not been dissolved. However, Sinn Féin did contest the seats in the the 6 Ulster counties that had been previously excluded from Home Rule. These counties did not take part in the 1918 Home Rule election, with Sinn Féin having not yet displayed any form of mandate there, even limited. Predictably, the Unionist Party won two-thirds of the seats, but the election did further highlight the nationalist majorities in rural areas like counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, southern halves of counties Armagh and Down, as well as Derry City, with those areas now sending elected representatives to Dáil Éireann.
The other 26 counties in the election did not actually see any polling due to Sinn Féin not participating, and token Unionist candidates were elected unopposed. The Labour party debated whether or not to participate, but did not due to the "national question" still not being settled, and debates were ongoing within the party regarding responding to the evolving situation in France. Following this election was the "Better Government for Ireland” Act, which created a second Irish Parliament for the six previously excluded counties, and was seen as the foundation of Northern Ireland. The impact of the act was minimal outside of Northern Ireland, with public opinion being pushed ever more in favor of the revolutionary government in Dublin.
By mid-1920, the chaos in Ireland had captured the attention of Liberal British media, with various publications covering the abusive actions and unprofessionality of the RIC, slowly turning British opinion against the continuation of the war. Throughout 1920, the war continued to grow in scale with order in Ireland quickly becoming all but non-existent. For most Catholics who yet remained loyal to the Crown, the November massacre of Gaelic Football fans by the RIC in Croke Park, and December looting of Cork would sway their opinion as well as that of the British public, and as a result, by 1921, the island became consumed in all out open war. Shortly after returning from the Commune of France to gain support for independence, Roddy Connolly formed the Irish Syndicalist Party, though it would be banned immediately and mass arrests carried out against supporters. Fears of the spread of syndicalism in Ireland, the costs of suppressing the rebellion, ever-greater anti-war sentiment and general bankruptcy following the Weltkrieg became so great that by the summer 1921, the British government began to seek an exit and a truce was signed between the government and the IRA on July 11th but this treaty was not observed in the North and the Belfast Pogroms would erupt leading to further sectarian violence. After tense negotiations, on November 10th, 1921, the Republic and the United Kingdom signed what became known as the “Anglo-Irish Treaty” ending the war.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty[]
Main Article: Anglo-Irish TreatyCollins and Griffith were the main negotiators on the Irish side with Collins carrying the negotiations throughout. External Association, while originally envisioned by de Valera correspondence from prison, was largely championed by Griffith due to de Valera’s continued imprisonment, and Griffith somewhat usurped the position. For the purposes of the treaty negotiations, the Dáil voted to give Griffith the combined title of head of state and head of government, so that there would be no question on the legitimacy of any possible Treaty agreement. Despite Sinn Féin’s pre-election statement on a referendum after the fact, this was to be the only time that the form of Head of State was formally voted upon by either the Dáil or the population at large.
The terms of the treaty were as follows:
- Crown forces would withdraw from most of Ireland.
- Ireland was to become a self-governing Republic. Ireland would be a sovereign state associated with, but not a member of, the Commonwealth; the British monarch would be head of the association, but not head of state of Ireland. This is known as External Association, a concept created by de Valera, and supported by Griffith and Collins.
- Northern Ireland (which had been created earlier by the Government of Ireland Act) would have the option of entering into the Irish Republic within 5 years of the Treaty coming into effect, but only upon the agreement of the newly created Council of Ireland.
- A Boundary Commission would be constituted to draw the boundary between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
- Britain, for its own security, would continue to control a limited number of ports, known as the Treaty Ports, for the Royal Navy.
- The Republic of Ireland would assume responsibility for a proportionate part of the United Kingdom's sizable debt, as it stood on the date of signature.
- The treaty would have superior status in Irish law, i.e., in the event of a conflict between it and the new 1922 Constitution of the Republic of Ireland, the treaty would take precedence.
A Republic is Born - The MacNeill Administration[]
Despite partition, the treaty was generally considered to be a success, and was considered to have gained the best possible terms from Britain given the circumstances. Overall popular support for the treaty was high within the Sinn Féin party itself and the general population, though it did lead to a split in both the party and the IRA. The resultant splinter party was a broad-reaching “Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin”, led by former cabinet minister and 1916 veteran Austin Stack. Abstentionist in nature and claiming that the republic created via the treaty was illegitimate on account of partition, they called for it to be declared void with a unified republic established. Due to the big-tent nature of the party, internal ideological squabbling and the popularity of the treaty, it found itself sidelined politically, though able to win some seats in the Dáil, which it did not take due to abstentionism. Later in the year, a mysterious book, Facts and Figures of the Belfast Pogrom 1920-1922, written by the elusive “G.B Kenna” and published by the fictitious “O’Connell Publishing Company” began to appear though by order of the government all copies would be pulped with only eighteen surviving. While not banned outright, the government sought to control its distribution so as not to give the Anti-Treaty SF any support.
Griffith’s next task was to arrange a team to draft a formal written constitution for the new republic, titled the 1922 Constitution of the Republic of Ireland. Labour party leader Thomas Johnson, as well as Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin, questioned the need for any written constitution and disliked the fact that it would give precedence to the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, but nonetheless the referendum on the enactment of the constitution was also a clear success for Griffith. The constitution was that of a semi-Presidential parliamentary Republic, with a directly elected President acting as Head of State, elected on the same day as the members of the Dáil. The Príomh-Aire would be the Head of Government, and would be appointed by the President from among the elected TDs (Members of Parliament). The Príomh-Aire would have many responsibilities in the running of the government, with executive authority split between themselves and the President. Elections would be held every four years at minimum.
Following the success of the constitution referendum in February, Griffith saw it fit that a snap election be called for May of that year, to further cement the mandate of the new constitution. Now in ill health, he went on to complete this term as President of Ireland, and died later in the year. Leading Sinn Féin into this next election, was the scholar Eoin MacNeill. A northerner and Irish speaker, MacNeill was widely respected and chosen on the grounds of being a unifying figure. On the surface all was well, but cracks began to form as he allowed Collins to remain as his prime minister. While Collins was a respected war hero and referred to by Griffith as ‘the man who won the war’, the seeds of doubt remained within Sinn Féin and culminated primarily from Cathal Brugha, who argued that Collins would manipulate the unimposing MacNeill (much like he had arguably done with Griffith) and subvert Irish democracy. With MacNeill backing Collins, Brugha led dissenters from Sinn Féin, most notably de Valera, to form a new party; Cumann an tSaorstáit, a socially conservative hardline republican party which would quickly become the main opposition to Sinn Féin in the February 1922 election. Other parties in this election included the abstentionist, big-tent, Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin lead by Stack, Johnson’s Labour party, the small Farmer’s Party, as well as the anglophile National League Party, made up of remnants of the Irish Parliamentary Party that did not join Sinn Féin.
MacNeill’s Sinn Féin's success continued in this election; it scored an overall majority, dwarfing the limited success of Stack’s Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin. However, while the republic had secured its independence, the issue of Northern Ireland, which was still directly ruled from Westminster, was contentious at best. In public, MacNeill and Collins took a more amicable approach declaring that there would be no coercing of the North-East and that goodwill was to be promoted. In June of 1922, MacNeill met his northern counterpart, Sir James Craig, and the two signed off on an agreement declaring peace in Ulster which attempted to begin cooperation between Protestants and Catholics. The day after the Agreement was signed, sectarian violence erupted and culminated in the Arnon Street murders with MacNeill’s demands for an inquiry falling on deaf ears, a point seized on by Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin who decried MacNeill’s incompetence and ‘bending’ to the British. Around this time, under the direction of Collins, the Republican government began to tacitly support the Ulster IRA with both monetary and material support.
Troubled Times (1924-1926)[]
The British Revolution - A Threat or Opportunity?[]
The year of 1923 saw little real events for Ireland beyond further political failings from MacNeill often blamed on his unimposing personality and weak presidential powers. Support for the Ulster IRA continued, as covert plans for an invasion and guerrilla war were drawn up though never finalised. Jim Larkin returned from America and attempted to retake leadership of the Union movement from William X. O’Brien but fail in his gambit, instead being sued by the leadership of the ITGWU for malicious behaviour. Following this rebuffing, Larkin formed the left-wing political party, the Irish Workers’ League, heavily modelled on the Syndicalist Party of Great Britain.
The next year, as chaos unfolded across the Irish Sea, the Amalgamated Unions in Ireland (those Unions affiliated with the British TUC), particularly in Ulster, began to strike in tandem with the General Strike in Britain. O'Brien, leader of the largest two trade unions in the country, and de facto head of the Irish union movement, ordered the Irish Trade Union Congress and Irish Transport & General Workers Union not to strike. The ITUC obeyed, though some in the ITGWU went against the orders and struck anyway. The strikes, poorly organised and lacking support, failed and were crushed, but frightened the Irish government and led to emergency legislation banning the ITGWU and temporarily banning striking, as full-scale revolution erupted in Britain. While the ITGWU was disbanded and stamped out to the fullest possible extent, the ITUC was allowed to continue operating, albeit with something of a gentleman’s agreement struck between O’Brien and MacNeill to refrain from striking until the crisis had fully passed, though many of the radical ex-ITGWU members began to flock to the Larkin’s left-wing party, the IWL. Around a similar time, with the red scare beginning to heat up, Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin would expel the far-left leg of the party to make it more palatable in the stifling political atmosphere. The now expelled members, predominantly made up of bitter leftist IRA veterans and having never given up their links to the Irish Citizen Army (a republican and socialist paramilitary group involved in the 1916 Rising), quickly reorganized as Saor Éire; a radical and authoritarian syndicalist group violently opposed to the Treaty and the republic. The remainder of Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin, under the influence of the hardline Catholic John J. O’Kelly and Brian O’Higgins, began to look to Catholic integralism for inspiration.
The success of the British Revolution in 1925 would come as a great shock to Ireland and leave it fearful of its future. The makeup of the new British establishment had in years before supported Irish independence, but questions began to arise if this would change now they were in power, and the question of Ulster opened up old wounds. With the British government fleeing to Canada and the North vulnerable, there were growing calls in the Dáil and Sinn Féin itself to launch an invasion and seize it by force, though for the time being MacNeill put off these proposals, not wishing to invoke a reaction from either the British government-in-exile or the socialist regime in London. The Irish left would ironically suffer the most from this as no decisive answer to relations with Britain or its role in any Irish revolution could be answered.
Shortly after the collapse, the Ulster Unionist Party issued an unequivocal denunciation of the treatment of the Royal Family and British Members of Parliament while declaring its hostility to the new British government. Communication between the UUP and the British government in exile in Canada was limited, with received instructions infrequent and lacking in detail, with the general message being to sit tight and await further instructions. While the revolution did cause a good deal of unrest in Ulster, the Ulster Volunteers, although heavily depleted from the Weltkrieg, maintained local order and prevented any serious syndicalist activity. In spite of their success however, the spectre of socialism hung heavily over the area, leading Michael Collins to convince MacNeill to hastily organize several secret meetings with their counterparts in the North. Unthinkable to either side even a year earlier, Collins’ purpose was a peaceful merger of the two Irish political entities for their mutual protection. To say Ulster leaders were cautious would be a gross understatement, but with only the exhausted Ulster Volunteers standing between Ulster and revolution or perhaps invasion, the two sides began to take the negotiations to reunite the island in a mutually agreeable fashion all the more seriously.
By the end of 1925, little progress had been made, though violence in the North began to escalate, and prominent Irish politicians began to grow angered with MacNeill and Collins’ continuing to attempt negotiations with the UUP. Even the notoriously stubborn political elite in Ulster showed signs of nervousness at this point, fearing more than ever that socialist violence was just over the horizon. By early 1926, unconfirmed reports of a socialist army mustering in Liverpool to attack Ulster and with no word from Canada, a deal was struck. Ulster agreed to join the Republic, whilst the South promised to defend Ulster from any invading force in the interim while the region was integrated into the now united Ireland. The Union of Britain itself had never actually officially laid claim to Ulster and claimed the supposed army massing in Liverpool were just militias securing the city. The changing narrative led many in Ulster to point fingers at Collins and the South, creating an atmosphere of distrust right from the get-go. Around the same time the Republic officially took control of the now abandoned Treaty Ports citing the ‘incapacitation of the British government’; neither Canada nor Britain protested and the matter was settled. With that the Emerald Isle of Ireland was once again controlling the island fully
Conditions of the Annexation of Northern Ireland[]
While a bitter pill to swallow, the threat of a syndicalist invasion or integration into the republic by force was too much, and after promises of special protections for Protestants were put in place, eventually the Ulster elite gave way and accepted the compromise.
- The six counties of Ulster that he had previously split off would immediately rejoin the Republic of Ireland.
- The Republic of Ireland’s government would protect these six counties from a Union of Britain invasion.
- The six counties would not attempt to subvert or delay the peaceful and orderly integration of said provinces into the Republic’s political framework.
- Ulster political parties would be allowed to reorganize and run for election in the new republic.
- The rights of protestants in Ulster would be safeguarded by special legal provisions. These were known as the “Ulster Privileges”, and consisted of -
- a) increased levels of autonomy and authority to the county councils of the six counties, not present to the other similar county councils on the island.
- b) The President’s Council of State would always maintain a minimal threshold of representation of Ulster loyalists.
- c) Any previous Boundary Commission to consider changing the borders of Northern Ireland would be abandoned, either adding/removing counties or their respective areas within them, including electoral boundaries.
- d) There would be a guaranteed cabinet seat in the form of a Minister for Ulster Affairs, reserved for an Ulster loyalist TD, with its associated “Aireacht” / Ministry.
The Protestant Ascendancy and the Fall of MacNeill[]
To the shock of much of the republic, MacNeill and Collins had done what was widely regarded impossible in securing the peaceful annexation of Northern Ireland, though once the honeymoon was over, things were anything but good. While MacNeill attempted to campaign for peace and was a unifying figure, being from Antrim himself, the UUP would still remain distant, with many Ulster protestants remaining suspicious of the Dublin government. Attempts at integration were slow and in some cases resisted with hardline elements of the Ulster loyalists provoking sectarian clashes and attempts to fully disband the RUC and USC being met with intense opposition. Eventually the first of the new laws associated with the so-called Ulster Privileges was passed, allowing RUC and USC constables to continue in their positions in the Gardaí if they so wished.
Surprisingly, despite achieving peaceful reunification against all odds, 1926 quickly became a poor year electorally for Sinn Féin, not helped by the economy being in near free fall from the collapse of Britain and the Great Depression in America. With elections in May, Cumann an tSaorstáit seized on the economic crisis, as Sinn Féin’s plans for industrialisation had stalled and much of the economy was being sunk into keeping the Ulster industries alive. Due to the special privileges afforded to Ulster (a major point of contention), Catholics found themselves bearing the brunt of layoffs and economic hardship with no help forthcoming. A politically weak president, an economy in downfall and the hated special treatment granted to Ulster were a perfect storm and in the elections, Sinn Féin took a beating, with Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin and other parties also failing to gain any ground, as Cumann an tSaorstáit managed to eke out a slim but respectable majority, with Cathal Brugha being inaugurated as the new president.
Moving forward (1926 - )[]
The Rise and Fall of Cathal Brugha[]
Upon taking office, Brugha and Cumann an tSaorstáit’s main priority was to fix the economy by moving Ireland away from its dependency on the Anglo-American markets and instead by cooperating with Germany. Brugha established a Central Bank and a new currency, the Irish punt, which was pegged to the German mark. German investment provided a much needed boost to the economy which was still struggling and Irish beef and dairy products, particularly butter, sold well on the German market, though Brugha resisted proposals for Ireland to fully join the Mitteleuropa economic bloc, out of attempts to placate the party and Prime Minister/“Príomh-Aire” de Valera, who wished for Ireland to pursue autarkic ambitions. With the economy still suffering, far-left sentiment gained ground and Britain watched eagerly for any signs of revolutionary activity in their Western neighbour, marking the beginning of Operation Whale. To counter this, the Irish Red Scare truly began, with many prominent left-leaning individuals being sacked, face arrest or be publicly disavowed. Labour struggled immensely and was forced to distance itself from radical leftism. In a rare victory for Brugha, Larkin’s IWL party was banned, with Larkin narrowly escaping arrest.
Now in the wilderness, Sinn Féin began to undergo something of a revival with Collins becoming its new president, and seizing on any gaffe or troubles the Brugha administration experienced. Able to shrug off the faults of the MacNeill administration, Collins became a rapidly more popular figure. Around the same time, the UUP would begin to find its footing in the Dáil and renamed itself the Ulster Democratic Party over the “dirtying” of the term Unionist. Already strong in the Northeast, the UDP managed to secure small amounts of support further South by rallying support from the Anglo-Irish, mostly in parts of Dublin and in pockets of Munster. In the Dáil itself, they find themselves firmly right of centre on most issues, and while rarely introducing legislation themselves, were often able to force the amending of proposed bills. Finding a mutual adversary in Cumann an tSaorstáit, the UDP and Sinn Féin began to cooperate though purely out of realpolitik with both regarding the other with suspicion. Likewise in the wilderness, the Irish socialist movement began to reorganise with many prominent figures looking towards Britain. The Syndicalist Party of Great Britain’s successful gambit via entryism through the British Labour party, was copied with many ex-IWL and ITGWU members flooding into the Irish Labour party. Around the same time, Jim Larkin Jr. and fellow socialist Seán Murray went to the Union of Britain to study the implementation of syndicalism, and reform Roddy Connolly’s banned Irish Syndicalist Party while in exile, much to the chagrin of Saor Éire, with its president Peadar O’Donnell accusing them of being too subservient to British interests.
As time went on with no real recovery to the economy, Brugha’s administration found its own cracks emerging in the form of growing leftist discontent and the failure to solve the lingering Ulster issue, fearing that attempting to repeal the Ulster Privileges would create a crisis that could prove too much for the government to handle at a time of economic and political instability. While not a measure of the population of any sort; increasing leftist violence and agitation, rightfully suspected to be funded by the Union of Britain, would create even more political strain on the government and lead to small far-right groups taking the fight to the leftists and Ulstermen themselves.
As the year of 1929 arrived, the economy's sluggish performance and lack of growth was evident. Brugha’s administration had made too little effort into improving the economy and had seen the worst political violence in the young republic’s brief history. Brugha’s calls for an end to the some of the Ulster Privileges only alienated the UDP, and had proved a major stumbling block for the CanS government, whose reluctance to potentially bite off more than they could chew made their promises look empty. Seeing opposition parties gaining in the polls, Brugha made the decision to call an election before they had the chance to prepare for a campaign. This decision would backfire as a furore at the ballot box saw Sinn Féin, Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin (whose leader, Austin Stack, had died, being succeeded by O'Kelly, confirming the party's turn to the far-right) and Labour able to easily capitalise on the growing anger, resulting in no party having a majority in the Dáil. Michael Collins was quick to make arrangements with the UDP to support Sinn Féin in a confidence and supply agreement, a decision that brought him to the helm of Irish politics once more, but also invited criticism and skepticism from his party's right-wing.
The Return of Sinn Féin and the First Collins Presidency[]
The 1929 election marked the return of Sinn Féin, buoyed by the support of the UDP. Collins had become leader of the party himself, and ran his election on a platform of himself as President, with long-time confidante and War of Independence leader Richard Mulcahy as Príomh-Aire. Collins, like his predecessors, felt that the road to fixing the economic woes lied with Germany, and so barriers to financial investment and trade were lowered. Fortunately for Collins, the gamble paid off and German investment flowed with the sale of the Belfast industries to German investors, seeing much needed capital finding its way into the government coffers. Soon enough Ireland’s economic prospects turned around and it found itself going into the Mitteleuropa economic bloc with only more prosperity on the horizon, and Collins’ personal popularity booming at the expense of the imploding Cumann an tSaorstáit.
In the political arena, with a series of entirely legal, but barely-passed and heavily scrutinised referendums, Collins expanded the power of the Presidency at the expense of the power of the Dáil and the Príomh-Aire, citing a desire to move further away from the ‘flawed’ British system of democracy and towards that of America. Making use of his newfound political power, Collins clamped down hard on far-left and far-right agitators with Sinn Féin adopting a somewhat politically authoritarian and harsh law-and-order bent, in a bid to maintain Ireland’s influence from radicalism. Elsewhere though, the party became more socially liberal and urban-focused, loosening conservative restrictions of the Brugha administration, making Dublin one of Europe’s more cosmopolitan cities. This new “liberal” direction would not go unchallenged with the right of the party also opposing continued cooperation with the UDP, whose influence could be felt in the more hardline anti-syndicalist stance adopted at times. These inter-party tensions came to a head in May of 1931 when Eoin O’Duffy, the leader of an anti-Collins and anti-German faction within SF, would be sacked from his post as Gardai Commissioner, with Collins citing repeated incidents of alleged discrimination against Protestants in the North. Outraged, O’Duffy abandoned the party and much of the right-wing also left in solidarity.
In early 1930, the Congress of Irish Unions (CIU) would split from the ITUC, blaming syndicalist entryism into the Labour party. Sinn Féin would immediately begin to promote the CIU as a more ‘moderate’ alternative to the ITUC and ‘syndicalist’ Labour, as did the opposition, with former Príomh-Aire de Valera warning that “We may very well see the beginning of our own Labour dictatorship in Ireland, should these liars and thugs be given any confidence.” Towards the end of the year, Jim Larkin Jr. and Seán Murray, while still in the Union of Britain, published “The Road to Wigan Pier: An Investigation into the Rebuilding of Britain and the Implementation of Syndicalism in Ireland”, though it was banned immediately. Both Murray and Larkin Jr. were then invited by the Communard government to study at the Sorbonne, though only Larkin Jr. accepted the offer, with Murray remaining in Britain. Larkin Sr. would follow his son to Paris and begin to study the French implementation of syndicalism, though in his absence the Irish syndicalist movement would begin to suffer.
For Cumann an tSaorstáit, its prospects began to change with fresh leadership in the form of de Valera. Like Collins before him, he had managed to distance himself from Brugha’s mistakes and in mid-1931 renamed the party “an Saorstát Críostúil”, or “the Christian Republic”, putting it onto the path of a firmly conservative and isolationist doctrine, attracting support from the rural parts of the country. Later that year, O’Duffy rose to political prominence once more after launching the far-right, corporatist, and somewhat integralist “Aontas Náisiúnta”, meaning “National Union”, in response to the unique privileges allowed to many in the northeast. Composed of a merger of the ex-SF members and various small far-right groups including the rump Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin, Aontas Náisiúnta came to immediate prominence, particularly among Ulster Catholics. O'Kelly, former president of Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin, became the new vice-president, and found the party quickly suppressed by the government, albeit not banned. Early onto his presidency, Collins sought to greatly suppress the growing British socialist influence and political violence by banning Saor Éire and the Irish Syndicalist Party from running in elections, while illegalising the Irish Citizen Army and other paramilitary groups. Still licking its wounds from the 1929 election, leader of the Labour Party Thomas J. O’Connell was forced out of his position, only having overseen a single election after taking over from Thomas Johnson. O’Connell was replaced by William X O’Brien the union organiser, who vowed to root out a syndicalist plot and spared no time in purging the party of syndicalist sympathisers.
1932 saw the next major shifts in the political scene; the young and ambitious Sinn Féin TD, Seán Lemass broke off from Sinn Féin along with a small group of loyal cadres to unite with the fledgeling National Centre Party (centre-right party, made up of independents and farmers) and the National League Party (remnants of the old Home Rule party, the Irish Parliamentary Party), forming the National Development Party. The NDP organised on a primarily fiscally conservative, pro-business and civic nationalist doctrine, opposed to Sinn Féin’s repressive politics. While only a minor party, it quickly gained a following among the urban middle classes and elite and closely work with de Valera’s SC. Shortly after the NDP formed, talks began about the creation of a further new agrarian party owing to SC’s broader program, and the NCP having merged into the NDP. By October these talks resulted in the creation of Clann na Talmhan, headed by Michael Donnellan, and campaigned on a somewhat socially democratic and populist agrarian platform with its interests deeply aligning with Labour.
In July, Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin resigned his position as a civil servant at the Ministry of Defense, and headed to Ranafast to be immersed in the Irish language. Emerging a fluent speaker later in the year he earned an editorial position for Aontas Náisiúnta’s Irish language newspaper and quickly rose through the ranks to head its youth wing, the Young Ireland Association. Ó Cuinneagáin's growing popularity resulted in him being rallied around by the radicals of the party who, like Ó Cuinneagáin himself, sought nothing less than a complete revival of Gaelic Ireland, complete with an Irish monarchy, derived from the O'Neill dynasty (their claim bolstered by the current claimants being Portuguese nobility), that would raise the prestige of the Irish language and serve as a symbolic rejection of liberalism and the Flight of the Earls.
The Golden Age of Irish Democracy[]
In 1933, routine elections were held and Sinn Féin won yet again with 46% of the vote but just fell short of a full majority in the Dáil. Collins took the presidency once more and for the first time Ireland’s presidential history, the incumbent survived. Sinn Féin was quick to once again make arrangements with the UDP to boost the government in a confidence and supply agreement, while making periodic deals with other parties on specific votes, though its relations with the NDP soured as time went on. In a boon for Labour, O’Brien would bring it back from the brink and be declared ‘the Man who Saved Labour’ by his supporters.
All boded well on the surface but underneath situations grew more tense. Aontas Náisiúnta had de facto entered the Dáil for the first time in 1933 and progressively chipped away, gaining other seats via by-elections, thus raising their profile in the media. Though in reality its influence in the Dáil was stunted by the presence of the ever-growing, even more radical, Abstentionist faction within the party, led by the young and militant Ó Cuinneagáin. While Aontas Náisiúnta grew and fractured, it would only manage to not be banned on account of de jure disbanding its paramilitary wing, the National Guard (known as the “Blueshirts”), though the Collins government kept a close eye on the organisation.
Later that year, after spending a further three years in the Union of Britain witnessing the rise of dictatorship via central committee, Seán Murray returned to Ireland as part of Operation Whale, being seen as a ‘politically reliable’ candidate for a pro-British and syndicalist Ireland. With much of the Irish syndicalist movement in disarray, Peadar O’Donnell’s Saor Éire became more dependent on British support and effectively the main beneficiary under Operation Whale. Murray himself officially joined the group, heading up its Northern Irish branch and quickly oise through the ranks, becoming an informal liaison between the ICA and Irish RED agents.
For socialism, 1934 sew the Larkins’ return to Ireland and Larkin Sr. beginning to rebuild the syndicalist movement. Ostracised, and with Labour firmly in the reactionary camp, many of those on the far-left flocked to Larkin’s banner, and the illegal Irish Syndicalist Party would slowly grow among disaffected workers and the ideological remnants, particularly among those wary of the British influence and militant tendencies of Saor Éire, and their paramilitary wing the ICA.
Soon business normalised in politics and Collins enters the latter half of his second term showing a strong, if stunted, economy and peaceful relations with the North. Though if disaster were to strike, the persistent statesmen may not be able to weather the next storm…