Loyalism in Development

ANGLO IRISH TREATY AND PARTITION

Faced with the wide-spread damage caused by almost two years of violent conflict, a truce was called as a prelude to negotiations between the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, and the Irish team led by Michael Collins (representing the IRA) and Arthur Griffith (representing Sinn Féin). The opening of formal negotiations began at 10 Downing Street on 11 October 1921. On the 6 th of December, following drawn out negotiations, the Irish team were given an ultimatum, stating that a failure to accept the treaty as offered would result in an immediate resumption of a full scale attack by British forces. As a result of this declaration, the ‘Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland’ were signed by both delegations. The agreement, known as the

Anglo-Irish Treaty, secured the partition of Ireland which had been passed through the Government of Ireland Act the previous year. As such, there would be no Republic for the IRA and Sinn Féin. The treaty declared the creation of the Irish Free State – or Eire – a twenty-six county state with Dominion status similar to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The treaty meant the withdrawal of British troops and the creation of the Irish National Forces (Free State Army). The document also required a two-part oath for all new members of the Irish parliament – one oath to the Irish Free State, and the other to His Majesty King George V.

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