Editing Irish Free State (section)

==Background==
The [[Easter Rising]] of 1916 and its aftermath caused a profound shift in public opinion towards [[Irish republicanism|the republican cause in Ireland]].<ref>Marie Coleman, ''The Republican Revolution, 1916–1923'', Routledge, 2013, chapter 2 "The Easter Rising", pp. 26–28. {{ISBN|140827910X}}</ref> In the [[1918 Irish general election|December 1918 General Election]], the republican [[History of Sinn Féin|Sinn Féin]] party won a large majority of the Irish seats in the British parliament: 73 of the 105 constituencies returned Sinn Féin members (25 uncontested).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ferriter |first1=Diarmuid |title=The Transformation of Ireland, 1900–2000 |date=2004 |publisher=Profile |isbn=1-86197-307-1 |page=183 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXa7m8wG84MC&pg=PA183 |access-date=19 March 2019 |archive-date=22 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922125539/https://books.google.com/books?id=lXa7m8wG84MC&pg=PA183 |url-status=live }}</ref> The elected Sinn Féin MPs, rather than take their seats at Westminster, set up their own assembly, known as [[Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic)|Dáil Éireann]] (Assembly of Ireland). It affirmed the formation of an Irish Republic and passed a [[Irish Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref>[[J. J. Lee (historian)|J. J. Lee]], ''Ireland 1912–1985 Politics and Society'' p. 40, Cambridge University Press (1989) {{ISBN|978-0521266482}}</ref> The subsequent [[Irish War of Independence|War of Independence]], fought between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British security forces, continued until July 1921 when a truce came into force. By this time the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] had opened, established under the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]], presenting the republican movement with a ''fait accompli'' and guaranteeing the British presence in Ireland.<ref>Garvin, Tom: ''The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics'' : p. 143 ''Elections, Revolution and Civil War'' Gill & Macmillan (2005) {{ISBN|0-7171-3967-0}}</ref> In October negotiations opened in London between members of the British government and members of the Dáil, culminating in the signing of the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] on 6 December 1921.<ref name=Lee50>Lee (1989), p. 50</ref>

<span class="anchor" id="Northern Ireland "opts out""></span> The Treaty allowed for the creation of a separate state to be known as the Irish Free State, with dominion status, within the then British Empire—a status equivalent to Canada.<ref name=Lee50/> The Parliament of Northern Ireland could, by presenting an address to the king, opt not to be included in the Free State, in which case a [[Irish Boundary Commission|Boundary Commission]] would be established to determine where the boundary between them should lie.<ref>Lee (1989), p. 51</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Ged|editor1-last=Anderson|editor1-first=Malcolm|editor2-last=Bort|editor2-first=Eberhard|title=The Irish Border: History, Politics, Culture|date=1999|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=0853239517|page=68|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59OPsS6a4j4C&pg=PA68|access-date=8 September 2015|chapter=The Origins of Partition|quote=It is certainly true that the Treaty went through the motions of including Northern Ireland within the Irish Free State while offering it the provision to opt out|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129062001/https://books.google.com/books?id=59OPsS6a4j4C&pg=PA68|archive-date=29 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Members of the parliament of the Free State would be required to take an [[Oath of Allegiance (Ireland)|oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Free State]] and to declare that they would be "faithful" to the king (a modification of the oath taken in other dominions).<ref name=Lee50/>

The [[Second Dáil|Dáil]] ratified the Treaty on 7 January 1922, causing a split in the republican movement.<ref>Lee (1989), pp. 53–54</ref> A [[Provisional Government of Ireland (1922)|Provisional Government]] was formed, with [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] as chairman.<ref>Lee (1989), pp. 54–55</ref>

The Irish Free State was established on 6 December 1922, and the Provisional Government became the [[Executive Council of the Irish Free State]], headed by [[W. T. Cosgrave]] as [[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|President of the Executive Council]].<ref>Lee (1989), [https://books.google.com/books?id=KiIZ_x8IWQUC&pg=PA94 p. 94]</ref> The following day, the Commons and the Senate of Northern Ireland passed resolutions "for the express purpose of opting out of the Free State".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fanning |first1=Ronan |title=Fatal Path: British Government and Irish Revolution 1910-1922 |date=2013 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-29739-9 |page=342}}</ref>{{efn|group=notes|Whether the Treaty, or the [[Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922]] which gave it force of law, had the legal effect under United Kingdom law of making Northern Ireland a part of the Irish Free State for one or two days is a point legal writers have disagreed on. One writer has argued that the terms of the Treaty legally applied only to the 26 counties, and the government of the Free State never had any powers—even in principle—in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morgan|first1=Austen|title=The Belfast Agreement: A Practical Legal Analysis|date=2000|publisher=The Belfast Press|pages=66, 68|url=http://austenmorgan.com/Assets/PDFs/Belfast_Agreement.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926012213/http://www.austenmorgan.com/Assets/PDFs/Belfast_Agreement.pdf|archive-date=26 September 2015|quote=it was legally clear that the treaty, and the associated provisional parliament and government, applied only to the 26 counties...[Article 11] implied politically – but not legally – that the Irish Free State had some right to Northern Ireland. But partition was acknowledged expressly in the treaty...following the text of article 12, [the address] requested that the powers of the parliament and government of the Irish Free State should no longer extend to Northern Ireland. This does not mean they had so extended on 6 December 1922.}}</ref> Another writer has argued that on the day it was established the jurisdiction of the Free State was the island of Ireland.<ref name="Legal Analysis">{{cite web|title=A Legal Analysis of Incorporating Into UK Law the Birthright Commitment under the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement 1998|first=Alison|last=Harvey|date=March 2020|publisher=Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission|at=para. 91|quote=The jurisdiction of the Free State was the island of Ireland. The Northern Ireland Parliament gave notice, as it was entitled to do, that it did not wish to come under the jurisdiction of the Free State. In ''Re Logue'' [1933] 67 ILTR 253 it was held that, because the notice took effect after the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) had come into operation, most of those domiciled in Northern Ireland had become Irish citizens under Article 3 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann).|url=https://www.ihrec.ie/app/uploads/2020/03/Birthright-Commitment-Report-1-FINAL-amended-30.03.20.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.ihrec.ie/app/uploads/2020/03/Birthright-Commitment-Report-1-FINAL-amended-30.03.20.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref> A 1933 court decision in Ireland took the latter view.<ref name="Legal Analysis"/> The ''de facto'' position was that Northern Ireland was treated as at all times being within the United Kingdom.}}