The 20th century

The 20th century - the conservative revolution

The radical republicanism of many Presbyterians in the north-east a century before had by now given way to a hard-line Unionism based on Belfast’s industrial integration into the British economy and the perception (not without foundation) that nationalism and Catholicism were two sides of the same coin. In Unionist eyes, the Home Rule campaign for a devolved Irish Parliament would lead to Catholic domination - Rome Rule. Armed militias were established on both sides. Despite their opposition and threats of Unionist mutiny, Home Rule looked likely to succeed when it was deferred on the outbreak of the First World War.

Up to this point, the vast majority of the Catholic/nationalist population aspired only to the idea of limited self-government under the Crown and Empire. A significant cultural revival had created a sense of self-reliance and confidence in an Irish identity, but there was little desire for, or belief in total independence from Britain.

Organisations such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians channelled people’s energies into constitutional nationalism and away from more extreme outlets. Progress was evident. Even though Dublin reputedly has the worst slums in Europe, public administration and infrastructure were much improved. The Catholic professional and business middle class had strengthened greatly in the previous thirty years and were now largely in control of local government. The Catholic Church had reached a dominant position of power and influence, especially in education and social services.

But a small group of idealistic thinkers and activists despised the Home Rulers as self-satisfied, subservient and lacking vision and ambition. As members of the secretive, oath-bound Irish Republican Brotherhood, the idealists saw themselves as keepers of a sacred tradition of complete independence, and believed that a heroic gesture, even if futile, was needed to shake their generation out of its complacency. Seizing control of a wing of the nationalist militia, they turned ‘manoeuvres’ schedules for Easter 1916 into a full-scale rebellion.

Within a week it was all over. The vast majority of the population disapproved of the rebellion, and to Unionists, it was a stab in the back to the thousands of Irishmen of all persuasions fighting in the Great War. But the callous executions of sixteen of the leaders over a period of weeks, and the subsequent threat of conscription into the British Army, radicalised the population. At the 1918 UK General Election, the old Irish Parliamentary Party which had won Home Rule was wiped off the electoral map, usurped by the Sinn Fein party on a platform of complete independence from Britain.

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The elected Sinn Fein representatives refused to take their seats in Westminster and set up a separatist assembly in Dublin, the first Dáil Eireann. Almost immediately, a guerrilla war against the British commenced, lasting for two years.

The Treaty which ended the hostilities provided for a partitioned Ireland – 26 counties would become the Irish Free State and have a high degree of independence under the Crown (like Canada) and 6 north-eastern counties with a Protestant/ Unionist majority would become Northern Ireland and remain within the United Kingdom with a separate parliament subservient to London. Many believed that partition was a temporary expedient.

Although most of the nationalist population accepted the Treaty, however grudgingly, as the best they could get, a substantial minority saw it as a betrayal of the ideal of an independent all-Ireland republic and wanted to fight on. The resulting split in the Sinn Fein party and the ensuing Civil War defined the nature of Irish politics down to the present day (and also contributed to the loss of valuable historical documents when the Public Records Office was burned).

The pro-treaty side defeated the anti-treaty ‘Irregulars’ and formed the government, eventually becoming the Fine Gael party. After refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the Free State for some years, the anti-treatyites under de Valera formed a new party, Fianna Fail, with the aim of dismantling the more objectionable parts of the Treaty. A tiny rump of the most uncompromising militant republicans laid claim to the original name of Sinn Fein.

The divisions embedded by the treaty split reflected to some degree the pre-existing demarcation lines of Irish society. The middle classes, business and property owners and larger farmers, formerly supporters of the constitutional Irish Parliamentary Party, gravitated towards the pro-treaty, later Fine Gael, side. Fianna Fail in its early years, promoted populist policies and appealed more to the less advantaged population and the ‘reformed’ physical force elements.

When Fianna Fail won power in the 1930s, its policies resulted in the ‘Economic War’ with Britain, which caused some hardship for larger farmers and agribusinesses. One response to this was the formation of the short-lived ‘Blueshirt’ movement. Though modelled on contemporary European fascist organisations (to which some of its leaders were attracted) most ordinary members were animated by local issues and it is unlikely that many of them would have appreciated the more sinister nuances involved.

But for the most part, the first half-century of independence was unadventurous, with a stifling, conservative atmosphere that discouraged creativity and entrepreneurial action. For many, emigration was not only a necessity but an aspiration to experience the opportunities elsewhere. It looked like the long-awaited independence could not deliver a better life for most, and the hopes for rapprochement between the different communities inhabiting the island looked to be in vain.

Things were to change dramatically in the succeeding years, but that brings us into the realm of current affairs.

END

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