Devolution in IrelandPhoto of Irish forces outside Liberty Hall, 1916

• The Home Rule party• Sinn Fein, 1905

– Meaning: “we ourselves” or “ourselves alone”

• Home Rule bill voted on again in 1912, 1913, and 1914– Signed into law by George V, r.

1910-1936

• The Irish Volunteers and the Citizen Army

• The Easter Rising, 1916– Padraig Pearse, 1879-1916– Declaration of a Provisional

Government, with Pearse as President.

Proclamation of the Irish Republic, 1916

• “We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty… Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a sovereign independent state, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations…”

Statue of Dying Cuchulain, by Oliver Shepherd, 1911. Installed at Dublin Post Office in 1935.

Devolution in IrelandPhoto of Eamon de Valera in British custody, 1916.

• The Irish Convention, June 1917-March 1918• Eamon de Valera, 1882-1975• Formation of the Irish Republican Army, 1917

– Michael Collins (d. 1922) as Director of Intelligence

• Dáil Éireann, 1919• War between Dáil, IRA and British forces 1919-

1922– Black and Tans

• The Anglo-Irish Treaty signed December 1921• The Irish Free State, 1922-1937

– Civil war, 1922-1923– De Valera formed Fianna Fail (Warriors of Fal), 1926

• Eire, 1937-1949• The Republic of Ireland, 1949-present• President (Uachtarán) and Prime minister

(Taoiseach)• Queen Elizabeth II visited in May 2011

Devolution in Northern IrelandPhoto of Belfast graffiti, 1990s

• “Solemn League and Covenant,” 1912

– The Orangemen

• Establishment of the Ulster Volunteers and a Provisional Government of Ulster, 1913

• Home Rule in Northern Ireland, 1920-1972

– The Anglo-Irish Treaty, December 1921

• Bloody Sunday, January 20, 1972– 13 unarmed civilians shot dead by British

troops in Derry

– Northern Irish parliament suspended

• Northern Ireland Assembly Government, 1998-present

• IRA agreed to cease fire in 2005• Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionist

Party formed a coalition government, 2007

Devolution in Scotland• No call for Home Rule until 1910

– Supported by the Scottish Liberal Party• Representation of the People Act, 1918

– From 779,012 voters (1910) to 2,205,383, including women over 30• Scottish Labour Party

– 1918 platform: 1) the complete restoration of the land of Scotland to the Scottish people and 2) the self-determination of the Scottish people

• Government of Scotland Bill proposed in 1924, but failed• National Party of Scotland (founded 1928) joined forces with other

nationalist parties to form the Scottish National Party, 1934• London parliament sought to placate Scottish calls for Home Rule

– Secretary of State for Scotland became a real office in 1926– Offices dealing with Scottish issues moved to Edinburgh in 1934-1936

• Secretary of State Tom Johnston (1941-1945)– Scottish Council on Industry– North of Scotland Hydro-electric Board– Emergency medical system for war workers (predecessor for the National Health

System)

Devolution in Scotland• Scottish National Party petitioned for an independent parliament,

1949– 2 million signatures on the petition, but no interest shown by other Scottish political

parties• Theft of the Stone of Destiny, Christmas Day 1950• Scottish Labour Party did not embrace Home Rule again, but did

push for economic development– National Plan for Scotland, 1965

• By the late 1960s, SNP began to push again for devolution• Parliament proposed a (powerless) Scottish Assembly, 1975• Development of North Sea oil fields, 1975 onward• Scotland Act 1978

– 32.9% yes-30.8% no (40% approval required)• Claim of Right for Scotland, 1988

– Scottish Constitutional Convention• Scotland Act 1998

– 75% approved; Scotland’s parliament restored in 1999

Scottish referendum of 1997, by council (maps from Wikipedia; green = yes, pink = no)

• Question 1: should Sctland have its own parliament?

• Question 2: should the Scottish parliament have tax-varying powers?

Devolution in Wales• Welsh Home Rule Bill, 1914• Representation of the People Act, 1918

– From ~900,000 voters (1884) to 1,172,000, including women over 30• David Lloyd George (1863-1945)

– Originally a member of Cymru Fydd– Prime Minister 1916-1922– Debates over nationalization of the coal industry

• By the 1920s, neither Labour nor Liberal Parties called for Home Rule• Plaid Genedlaethol Gymru (the National Party of Wales), 1925

– Not a major political party until the 1960s• Council of Wales formed, 1948

– A council that would advise parliament on Welsh issues, but no other powers• Cymdeithas ar Iaith Gymraeg, founded 1885 reconstituted in 1960s• Secretaryship of Wales established in 1964• Wales Act, 1978

– 58% of electorate voted, with 75% voting against the Act• Wales Act, 1998

– 50.3% for, 49.7% against

Welsh Act, 1997Left—map of Wales c. 1500

Right—map of Welsh Act voting, 1997 (from Wikipedia)

• Question: do you agree there should be a Welsh assembly? green = yes; blue = no

“Cornwall has a unique and special culture heritage. An increasing number of people describe themselves as Cornish and it is important in all our equality and diversity work that we actively recognise Cornish as

a minority group and continue to support the Cornish Language and the Cornish indigenous culture.” Cornish Republican, 6/27/10

http://thecornishrepublican.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html

Cartoon by Michael Cummings, for the Daily Express, 1974.

Recent news

• http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/05/world/europe/scotland-dead-dialect/index.html

• http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/05/world/europe/scotland-dead-dialect/index.html