A report on United Ireland, Partition of Ireland and Irish nationalism

Map of Ireland showing the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
Political map of Ireland
The national flag of the Republic of Ireland, which was created to represent all of Ireland
Ireland in Europe
Result in Ireland of the December 1910 United Kingdom general election showing a large majority for the Irish Parliamentary Party.
Government Buildings in Dublin
Proclamation of the Irish Republic, presented to the Irish people during the Easter Rising of 1916.
Ulster Volunteers marching in Belfast, 1914
The green harp flag was first used by Irish Confederate troops in the Eleven Years War, and became the main symbol of Irish nationalism from the 17th to the early 20th century.
Result of the 1918 Irish general election
Result of the 1918 general election in Ireland showing the dramatic swing in support for Sinn Féin
"Daniel O'Connell: The Champion of Liberty" poster published in Pennsylvania, 1847
Voting on the Brexit referendum in Northern Ireland
Catholic-owned businesses destroyed by loyalists in Lisburn, August 1920
A flowchart illustrating all the political parties that have existed throughout the history of Northern Ireland and leading up to its formation (1889 onwards). Nationalist parties are in green.
Johnson and Macron meet during Brexit negotiations, 2019
Crowds in Belfast for the state opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament on 22 June 1921
Poster for a 1913 anti-Carson meeting, hosted by Protestants of Ballymoney. Speakers included Roger Casement and Robert Glendinning.
Map of predominant national identity in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland
Members of the Irish negotiation committee returning to Ireland in December 1921
RED C/Sunday Times poll carried out in 2010 in the Republic of Ireland.
North East Boundary Bureau recommendations May 1923
James Craig (centre) with members of the first government of Northern Ireland
The Boundary Commission's proposed changes to the border
A republican anti-partition march in London, 1980s

Achieving a united Ireland is a central tenet of Irish nationalism, particularly of both mainstream and dissident Irish republican political and paramilitary organisations.

- United Ireland

The Act intended for both territories to remain within the United Kingdom and contained provisions for their eventual reunification.

- Partition of Ireland

Ireland has been partitioned since May 1921, when the implementation of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 created the state of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.

- United Ireland

At the time of the partition of Ireland most of the island was Roman Catholic and largely indigenous, while a sizeable portion of the country, particularly in the north, was Protestant and chiefly descended from people from Great Britain who colonised the land as settlers during the reign of King James I in 1609.

- Irish nationalism

However, it also had a significant minority of Catholics and Irish nationalists.

- Partition of Ireland

Irish nationalists now support Irish reunification with a unified secular state.

- Irish nationalism
Map of Ireland showing the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

4 related topics with Alpha

Overall
Hazards of separation from Great Britain. Unionist postcard (1912)

Unionism in Ireland

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Political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution.

Political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution.

Hazards of separation from Great Britain. Unionist postcard (1912)
Detail of the Battle of Ballynahinch 1798 by Thomas Robinson. Government Yeomanry prepare to hang United Irish insurgent Hugh McCulloch, a grocer.
1899 penny print of Henry Cooke's 1841 speech in "reply to Daniel O'Connell"
William Gladstone writing legislation under pressure from the Land League. Caricature 1881.
God Save the Queen, Erin Go Bragh, Ulster Unionist Convention, Belfast, 1892
Flag of the Congested Districts Board for Ireland, 1893–1907
Unionist march in Belfast, 9 April 1912
Signing the Ulster Covenant Declaration, "Ulster Day” 1912
An Orange Order banner showing Carson the signing of the Ulster Covenant 1912
The 1918 general election result in Ireland. Sinn Féin sweeps the south and west
The Coat of Arms of the Government of Northern Ireland used between 1924 and 1973
The statue of Lord Edward Carson in front of Parliament Buildings, Stormont
Anti-Faulkner Unionist election poster
Mural for the Red Hand Commando (UVF) which, uniquely, had an Irish-language motto, Lamh Dearg Abu (Victory to the Red Hand)
Campaign against the Anglo-Irish Agreement
Detail from 2015 Sinn Féin election flyer, North Belfast
The cross of St. Patrick superimposed on the Scottish Saltire with a six-county star, Red Hand of Ulster and no crown: the "Ulster national flag" variously employed by Loyalist groups to represent an independent, or distinctly Ulster-Scot, Northern-Ireland identity.
A flowchart illustrating all the political parties that have existed throughout the history of Northern Ireland and leading up to its formation (1889 onwards). Unionist parties are in orange.

As the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, following Catholic Emancipation (1829) unionism mobilised to keep Ireland part of the United Kingdom and to defeat the efforts of Irish nationalists to restore a separate Irish parliament.

Since Partition (1921), as Ulster Unionism its goal has been to maintain Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and to resist a transfer of sovereignty to an all-Ireland republic.

The traditional counties of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

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Part of the United Kingdom that is variously described as a country, province, territory or region.

Part of the United Kingdom that is variously described as a country, province, territory or region.

The traditional counties of Northern Ireland
Cannon on the Derry city walls
Scrabo Tower, County Down
Signing of the Ulster Covenant in 1912 in opposition to Home Rule
Result of the 1918 general election in Ireland
Crowds in Belfast for the state opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament on 22 June 1921
The Coat of arms of Northern Ireland used between 1924 and 1973
James Craig (centre) with members of the first government of Northern Ireland
Opening of the Northern Ireland parliament buildings (Stormont) in 1932
Responsibility for Troubles-related deaths between 1969 and 2001
First Minister Ian Paisley (DUP) centre, and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) left, and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond right in 2008
A flowchart illustrating all the political parties that have existed throughout the history of Northern Ireland and leading up to its formation (covering 1889 to 2020).
Parliament Buildings at Stormont, Belfast, seat of the assembly
Unionist mural in Belfast
ESA Sentinel-2 image of Northern Ireland
Köppen climate types of Northern Ireland
Lough Neagh
Hare's Gap, Mourne Mountains
The Giant's Causeway, County Antrim
Marble Arch Caves
Goliath crane of Harland & Wolff in Belfast
An NIR C3K railcar
2011 census: differences in proportions of those who are, or were brought up, either Catholic or Protestant/Other Christians
Map of predominant national identity in the 2011 census
Map of most commonly held passport
Approximate boundaries of the current and historical English/Scots dialects in Ulster. South to north, the colour bands represent Hiberno-English, South-Ulster English, Mid-Ulster English and the three traditional Ulster Scots areas. The Irish-speaking Gaeltacht is not shown.
Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Irish in the 2011 census
Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Ulster Scots in the 2011 census
An Orange march
The logo for the Northern Ireland assembly is based on the flower of the flax plant.
People carrying the Irish flag, overlooking those with the unionist Ulster Banner
George Best, Northern Irish international footballer and 1968 Ballon d'Or
Peter Canavan, Tyrone captain 2003
Prominent Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy
Queen's University Belfast
Broadcasting House, Belfast, home of BBC Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, creating a devolved government for the six northeastern counties.

Meanwhile, the majority in Southern Ireland (which became the Irish Free State in 1922), and a significant minority in Northern Ireland, were Irish nationalists and Catholics who wanted a united independent Ireland.

Map of Ireland in 1609 showing the major Plantations of Ireland

Irish republicanism

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Map of Ireland in 1609 showing the major Plantations of Ireland
Wolfe Tone circa 1794. Tone is considered by many as the father of Irish Republicanism
The Battle of Killala marked the end of the rising
Michael Dwyer
Depiction of Robert Emmet's trial
William Smith O'Brien, leader of the Young Ireland movement
Some of the founding members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
A depiction of the Easter Rising
Seán Hogan's IRA flying column during the Irish War of Independence.
The funeral procession of Irish republican politician Martin McGuinness, Derry, Northern Ireland

Irish republicanism (poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic.

During the late 1980s the British Government became increasingly willing to give concessions to Irish Nationalism, such as the Anglo-Irish Agreement and extending to, the Northern Ireland Security, Peter Brooke's declaration of "no selfish, strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland.", causing uproar amongst strands of Unionism.

A variant of this is Irish republican legitimism, which also rejects the Republic of Ireland because of its tacit acceptance of partition and continuing British rule in Northern Ireland.

Parliament Buildings at Stormont, in Belfast, seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Good Friday Agreement

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Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in Northern Ireland that had ensued since the late 1960s.

Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in Northern Ireland that had ensued since the late 1960s.

Parliament Buildings at Stormont, in Belfast, seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly
The offices of the North/South Ministerial Council on Upper English Street, Armagh, Northern Ireland
A 'Yes' campaign poster for the Good Friday Agreement during simultaneous referendums in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland.
Anti-Northern Ireland Protocol poster. Main Street, Larne March 2021

Two were broadly labelled nationalist: the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and Sinn Féin, the republican party associated with the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

As part of the agreement, the British parliament repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920 (which had established Northern Ireland, partitioned Ireland and asserted a territorial claim over all of Ireland) and the people of the Republic of Ireland amended Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland, which asserted a territorial claim over Northern Ireland.

that a substantial section of the people of Northern Ireland, and the majority of the people of the island of Ireland, wished to bring about a united Ireland.