Editing Government of Ireland Act 1920 (section)

== Aftermath ==
=== Northern Ireland ===
The [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] came into being in June 1921. At its inauguration, in [[Belfast City Hall]], King [[George V]] made a famous appeal for Anglo-Irish and north–south reconciliation. The speech, drafted by the government of [[David Lloyd George]] on recommendations from [[Jan Smuts]]{{efn|Jan Smuts was one of the best Boer commanders of the [[Second Boer War]]. His deep Commando raids into [[Cape Province]] caused considerable embarrassment and difficulties for the British Army. After the war he decided that his future and that of South Africa lay in reconciliation between [[Afrikaner]] and the British. In 1914 at the start of [[World War I]] the Boer "bitter enders" rose against the government in the [[Boer Revolt]] and allied themselves with their old supporter Germany. General Smuts played an important part in crushing the rebellion and defeating the Germans in Africa, before fighting on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. The South African establishment, of which Smuts was a part, in contrast to the British establishment in 1916, was lenient to the leaders of the revolt, who were fined and spent two years in prison. After this revolt and lenient treatment the "bitter enders" contented themselves with working within the system. It was his experience of the Boer–British rapprochement which he was able to bring to the attention of the British government as an alternative to confrontation.}} Prime Minister of the [[Union of South Africa]], with the enthusiastic backing of the King, opened the door for formal contact between the [[British Government]] and the [[Irish republicanism|Republican]] administration of [[Éamon de Valera]].

Though it was superseded in large part, its repeal remained a matter of controversy until accomplished in the 1990s (under the provisions of the 1998 [[Good Friday Agreement]]).{{sfn|Jackson|2004|p=368–370}}

=== Southern Ireland ===
All 128 MPs elected to the [[House of Commons of Southern Ireland]] in the [[1921 Irish elections|May 1921 elections]] were returned unopposed; 124 of them, representing [[Sinn Féin]], declared themselves [[Teachta Dála|TD]]s (''Teachtaí Dála'', [[Irish language|Irish]] for ''Dáil Deputies'') and assembled as the [[Second Dáil]] of the [[Irish Republic]].

With only the four [[Independent Unionist]] MPs, who had been elected for the [[Dublin University (constituency)|Dublin University]] constituency and fifteen appointed senators turning up for the state opening of the [[Parliament of Southern Ireland]] at the Royal College of Science in Dublin (now [[Government Buildings]]) in June 1921, the new legislature was suspended. Southern Ireland was ruled, for the time being, directly from London as it had been before the Government of Ireland Act.

The [[Provisional Government of the Irish Free State]] was constituted on 14 January 1922 "at a meeting of members of the Parliament elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland". That meeting was not convened as a meeting of the [[House of Commons of Southern Ireland]] nor as a meeting of the [[Dáil]]. Instead, it was convened by [[Arthur Griffith]] as "Chairman of the Irish Delegation of Plenipotentiaries" (who had signed the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]]) under the terms of the Treaty.{{efn|This followed discussions between the Irish Treaty delegation and the British Government over who had authority to convene the "meeting".}}

[[1922 Irish general election|Elections in June 1922]] were followed by the meeting of the [[Third Dáil]], which worked as a [[Constituent Assembly]] to draft a [[Constitution of the Irish Free State|constitution]] for the [[Irish Free State]]. For the purposes of British law the constitution was confirmed by the [[Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922]]; the new state then came into being on 6 December 1922.

=== Consequences ===
The Treaty provided for the ability of Northern Ireland's Parliament, by formal address, to opt out of the new [[Irish Free State]], which as expected, the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] brought into effect on 7 December 1922 (the day after the establishment of the Irish Free State). An [[Irish Boundary Commission]] was set up to redraw the border between the new [[Irish Free State]] and Northern Ireland, but it remained unchanged in return for financial concessions and the British and Irish governments agreed to suppress its report. In regards to the possible loss of territory due to the Boundary Commissions findings, on 25 January 1922 [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]], the 1st [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]] stated: ""I will never give in to any re-arrangement of the boundary that leaves our Ulster area less than it is under the Government of Ireland Act"<ref>Macardle, Dorothy (1999), ''The Irish Republic'', Wolfhound Press, New York, pg. 658, ISBN 9780552078627.</ref> The newly formed Government of Northern Ireland refused to appoint a representative to the Boundary Commission. The [[Council of Ireland]] never functioned as hoped (as an embryonic all-Ireland parliament), as the new governments decided to find a better mechanism in January 1922.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.difp.ie/docs/1922/Collins-Craig-agreement/226.htm|title=The Collins – Craig agreement from Michael Collins & James Craig – 23 January 1922 – Documents on Irish Foreign Policy|website=difp.ie|access-date=3 December 2018|archive-date=4 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204005703/https://www.difp.ie/docs/1922/Collins-Craig-agreement/226.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In consequence of the establishment of the Irish Free State, the British parliament passed the [[Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922]], which made a number of adjustments to Northern Ireland's system of government as set up by the 1920 Act. Most notably, the office of Lord Lieutenant was abolished, being replaced by the new office of [[Governor of Northern Ireland]].