Speeches and Statements. Irish Unity, Northern Ireland, Anglo-Irish Relations. August 1969-October 1971 by the Taoiseach John Lynch (HQ734)

Published 1971: First Edition / Softcover / Very Good Condition

Original stiff card covers. 106 very clean and bright pages. Slight shelf wear on the covers and slightly rubbed with time consistent with age. Scarce! (HQ734)

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Between 12 and 14 August 1969, the Irish and British governments were confronted with history and with their respective policies on Northern Ireland since 1920. The civil unrest in Northern Ireland that had begun in 1968 reached a peak in the summer of 1969. The ‘marching season’ sparked riots in Derry in July but the worst rioting occurred in August 1969 following the annual Apprentice Boys march in Derry. After three days of rioting, which became known as the ‘Battle of the Bogside’, the British Government agreed that British troops could be deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland in a peace-keeping capacity. When Ireland was divided in 1920, the Parliament of Westminster, by the various provisions of ‘The Government of Ireland Act’, retained supreme authority over the northern government in Belfast. All power vested in this latter government was delegated to it from Westminster, which retained the power to intervene at any time on any matter. In practice, however, London all but ignored events in the North. In the five years leading up to the Battle of the Bogside in 1969, the House of Commons devoted less than one sixth of one per cent of its available time to discussing Northern Ireland. Although James Callaghan, as Prime Minister, had, until that point, avoided getting ‘sucked into the Irish bog’, the decision to deploy British troops meant that the British government would inevitably take a more active role in Northern Irish affairs.

https://historyhub.ie/the-evolution-of-anglo-irish-relations