Parliament of Southern Ireland
Parliament of Southern Ireland | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | Bicameral |
Houses | Senate, House of Commons |
History | |
Established | 1920 |
Disbanded | 27 May 1922 |
Preceded by | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
Succeeded by | Provisional Parliament[1] |
Leadership | |
Sir John Ross (last) | |
Speaker of the House of Commons | Gerald Fitzgibbon (first & last) |
Seats | 64 Senators 128 members of parliament (MPs) |
Elections | |
House of Commons voting system | STV |
Last House of Commons election | 1921 Irish elections (first & last) |
Meeting place | |
The Royal College of Science for Ireland Location for the first official meeting of both Houses. Now Government Buildings | |
Footnotes | |
See also: Parliament of Northern Ireland |
The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a
The parliament was bicameral, consisting of a House of Commons (the lower house) with 128 seats and a Senate (the upper house) with 64 seats.[4] The parliament as two houses sat only once, in the Royal College of Science for Ireland in Merrion Street. Due to the low turnout of members attending, the parliament was adjourned sine die and was later officially disbanded by the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922.
History
Under the Act of Union 1800 the separate Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were merged on 1 January 1801, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.[5] Throughout the 19th century Irish opposition to the Union was strong, occasionally erupting in violent insurrection.[6]
In the 1870s the
On 11 April 1912, the Prime Minister,
Two attempts were made by the
After the
House of Commons
The House of Commons consisted of 128 members who were styled as members of parliament with a presiding officer known as the Speaker of the House of Commons. The basic features of the House were modelled on those of the
Election
On 24 May 1921, elections were held for the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, the same day as the elections for Northern Ireland. No contests occurred as all 128 MPs were returned unopposed, with Sinn Féin winning all 124 seats which made up the borough and county constituencies and the seats allocated to the National University of Ireland, and Unionists the four seats for graduates of Dublin University.[15] Dáil Éireann chose to regard that election as elections to the Second Dáil.[16] The 124 Sinn Féin candidates elected, plus the six Sinn Féin members elected to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland elected at the same time (five of whom also had seats in Southern Ireland), assembled as the Second Dáil.
1921 Southern Ireland general election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Leader | No. of seats | % of seats | |
Sinn Féin | Éamon de Valera | 124 (unopposed) | 96.9 | |
Independent Unionist | 4 (unopposed) | 3.1 | ||
Totals | 128 | 100 |
June 1921 meeting
On 28 June 1921, the House of Commons and the Senate formally assembled in the Royal College of Science for Ireland, now Government Buildings, in Merrion Street, for a State Opening by Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent, the last Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Only the four Unionist MPs attended the Commons. After electing Gerald Fitzgibbon to be Speaker, the House adjourned sine die. This was the only formal meeting of the House.[17]
January 1922 Treaty ratification meeting
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in London on 6 December 1921 by representatives of the British Government and envoys of the Irish Republic who claimed plenipotentiary status. On 7 January 1922, Dáil Éireann ratified the Treaty. However, in accordance with its terms, the Anglo-Irish Treaty needed also to be ratified "at a meeting of members of the Parliament elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland" and the British Parliament.
A meeting in the Mansion House was convened on 14 January 1922 by Arthur Griffith as Chairman of the Irish Delegation of Plenipotentiaries[18][failed verification] (who had signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty) of "members of the Parliament elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland". Griffith's actions led to discussions between the Irish Treaty delegation and the British Government over who had authority to convene the 'meeting' as under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (then Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent) was the office-holder with the entitlement and power to convene a meeting of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland.[19] The meeting was attended by 64 pro-Treaty Sinn Féin TDs and four Unionist MPs from the University of Dublin; it elected Alderman Liam de Róiste, one of the representatives of Cork Borough, as chairman (although at this time Eoin MacNeill was Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann),[20] duly ratified the Treaty and nominated Michael Collins for appointment as Chairman of the Provisional Government.[21] Collins was installed in his post by the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin Castle on 16 January 1922 and formed the Provisional Government of Ireland.[21] The members at this meeting did not take the British Oath of Allegiance, which was required by MPs in the House of Commons.
Senate
The Senate of Southern Ireland was the upper house of the Parliament of Southern Ireland established by the Government of Ireland Act 1920.[4] The Senate convened in 1921 but was boycotted by Irish nationalists. Fifteen members attended its first meeting,[22] and it sat only three times.
Composition
The Fourth Home Rule Bill provided for a Senate of 64 members. The composition was specified in the Second Schedule, and the mode and time of selection in the Fourth Schedule. The bill stipulated that the membership be composed of:[23]
- 3 ex officiomembers:
- The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, intended as the presiding officer of the Senate. The Lord Chancellor had previously been the chairman of the Irish House of Lords in the Parliament of Ireland prior to its abolition.[24]
- The Lord Mayor of Dublin and the Lord Mayor of Cork.
- 17 "Representatives of Commerce (including Banking), Labour, and the Scientific and Learned Professions" to be nominated by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for a term of 10 years.
- 44 members elected by various interest groups from among their respective memberships, using the single transferable vote for 10-year terms, except for county councillors.
- 4 Archbishops or Bishops of the Catholic Church holding Sees situated wholly or partly in Southern Ireland.
- 2 Archbishops or Bishops of the Seessituated wholly or partly in Southern Ireland.
- 16 Peers (not necessarily members of the Peerage of Ireland) who were taxpayers or ratepayers in respect of property and had residences in Southern Ireland.
- 8 Members of His Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland of no less than two years standing who were taxpayers or ratepayers in respect of property in and had residences in Southern Ireland.
- 14 Representatives of county councils, for a term of three years, with:
- 4 from each of Connaught
- 2 from the three Ulster counties not in Northern Ireland (Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan)
- 4 from each of
In practice, however, only forty senators were selected, as the labour movement, the Catholic Church and the county councils (controlled by Sinn Féin) refused to co-operate. Of those elected, many had participated in the Irish Convention of 1917–18.[25] Of the incomplete membership, not all attended its few sessions. Some were subsequently members of the Free State Seanad (upper house), either appointed by W. T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council, or elected by the members of the Dáil (lower house).
Donal O'Callaghan was Lord Mayor of Cork throughout the existence of the Senate, but was also returned for Cork Borough in the 1921 election to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. Section 18(4) of the 1920 Act precluded anyone from sitting in both Houses at once; but since O'Callaghan boycotted both, the question was moot in his case.
Meetings
The Senate assembled three times,[26] though its chairman, Sir John Ross, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was too ill to attend. Only 15 senators attended its first meeting. Since 124 of the 128 members of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland boycotted that chamber, the Parliament could not function. On 21 June 1921, the week before its first meeting, the Senate sent a petition to David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, arguing for more powers for the Parliament, and stating it would not serve in the event that the elected lower house was replaced by a body appointed by the Lord Lieutenant.[27]
Abolition
The
See also
- Irish Home Rule Movement
- Irish Republic
- Parliament of Northern Ireland, set up under the same legislation to legislate for Northern Ireland
- Peerage of Ireland
Notes
- ^ a b Southern Ireland did not become a state. Its constitutional roots remained the Act of Union, two complementary Acts, one passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, the other by the Parliament of Ireland.
References
- ^ Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922- Section 2 thereof provides that "For the purpose of giving effect to article 17 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty... as soon as may be and not later than four months after the passing of this Act the Parliament of Southern Ireland shall be dissolved and such steps shall be taken as may be necessary for holding, in accordance with the law now in force with respect to the franchise number of members and method of election and holding of elections to that Parliament, an election of members for the constituencies which would have been entitled to elect members to that Parliament, and the members so elected shall constitute the House of the Parliament to which the Provisional Government shall be responsible, and that Parliament shall, as respects matters within the jurisdiction of the Provisional Government, have power to make laws in like manner as the Parliament of the Irish Free State when constituted.
- ^ SR&O 1921/533)
- ^ a b Jackson (2004), p. 198
- ^ a b c "Government of Ireland Act 1920: Provisions as to Parliaments of Southern and Northern Ireland".
- ^ Act of Union 1800
- ^ Murphy, James H. Ireland, A Social, Cultural and Literary History, 1791–1891. p. 116.
- ISBN 0-571-08066-9.
- ^ "Hansard online, start of the debate 11 April 1912". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 11 April 1912. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- KiB) (SN/PC/675)
- ^ Jackson (2003), p. 164
- ISBN 0-415-17420-1.
- ^ Jackson (2003), p. 166
- ^ "Defeat Suffered By Government; Amendment Providing Senate For Southern Ireland Passed By Lords". Herald-Journal. Spartanburg. 2 December 1920. p. 2. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ "Government of Ireland Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 42. House of Lords. 1 December 1920. col. 783–906.
- ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ^ "Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 10 May 1921 - PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT. - ELECTIONS". Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ISBN 0-8132-0793-2.
- ^ "Information on Arthur Griffith from the Parliament of the United Kingdom". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-4067-2035-8.
- ^ "Irish Treaty Ratified". Times. London, England. 16 January 1922. p. 10. Retrieved 29 September 2014 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ ISBN 0-552-07862-X.
- ^ "Oireachtas Historical Debates". Archived from the original on 9 July 2011.
- ^ "Ark elections". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ^ Roderick O'Flanagan, J. (1870). The Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland – from the earliest times to the reign of Queen Victoria.
- HMSO. 1918. Archived(PDF) from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ "ARK Northern Ireland Elections – The Senate of Southern Ireland, 1921". Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- ^ "Ask New Irish Act; Senators for South Ireland Send Memorial to Lloyd George" (PDF). The New York Times. Associated Press. 22 June 1921. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ Text of Anglo Irish Treaty (New York Times).
- ^ "Final debate on -accessed 22 January 2009". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 31 March 1922. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ^ "An Act to give the force of Law to certain Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, and to enable effect to be given thereto, and for other purposes incidental thereto or consequential thereon." – preamble to the Act
- ^ Source: Macardle (1999), pg 718 and DCU Website. Archived 12 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- Jackson, Alvin (2004). Home Rule – An Irish History. Oxford University Press.
- Jackson, Alvin (2003). Home Rule: An Irish History 1800—2000. Phoenix Press. ISBN 0-7538-1767-5.