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The recent deal to restore power-sharing at Stormont, and the trend of events and surveyed opinion in Northern Ireland since Brexit suggest to many that a united Ireland is becoming ever more likely, even inevitable. Irish Republicans however should curb their enthusiasm. If and when Irish unity does happen they might find themselves regretting that they have achieved their desire. A united Ireland would not only pose enormous challenges of economic and political management, it would expose cent
Road to Partition: how the border was drawn up
A very different border could have been chosen, but by the time the Better Government of Ireland act passed on 23 December 1920, the line between what would become Northern Ireland and the rest of the island had been drawn.
• 21 Dec 2020
In early 1919 Lloyd George s coalition government was engaged in the realignment of European borders at the Paris Peace Conference but, by the Autumn of that year, attention was focused again on the Irish question.
Conscious that the outdated 1914 Home Rule Act was on the Statute Book and would operate automatically after the European treaties were finalised, the Prime Minister set up a special cabinet committee under the chairmanship of Unionist Walter Long to advise on new Home Rule legislation.