The Anglo-Irish Treaty and its aftermath

Extract from article published in the Cork Examiner newspaper, January 9th 1922 (courtesy of www.irishnewsarchives.com)

One of the last chapters of The War of Independence carried over from 1921, was the debate in Dáil Éireann on the Anglo-Irish Treaty. This debate was ongoing at the time of the Christmas adjournment, but it came to an end when the Treaty was approved by 64 votes to 57 on January 7^th. Not surprisingly the tight margin meant unresolved issues which produced much friction during the first half of the year in the Irish independence movement. At the same time the process of British withdrawal slowly commenced. Meanwhile tensions were also simmering in the separate state that was emerging in Northern Ireland.

Even before the Treaty went before the Dáil, it had been endorsed only by a margin of one in the seven-member cabinet and divisiveness was not long coming to the fore after the passing of that Treaty. Eamon De Valera, who had been the leader of the opponents of the Treaty, immediately resigned as Dáil president. He only failed to be re-elected by a margin of two and walked out with his followers before the vote to elect Arthur Griffith as the new president took place.

Manifestations of the new state soon became evident with the replacement of imperialist trappings by an independent Irish set up. The regular British troops were recalled to barracks before being sent home. The two special police back- up units, the ‘Black and Tans’ and ‘The Auxiliaries’ were disbanded, as was the RUC. Meanwhile the Free State Army had moved into its new HQ at Beggars Bush. Michael Collins became Chairman of the Provisional Government on January 14^th when the pro-Treaty TDs assembled as the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, with four southern Unionists. Collins took control of Dublin Castle from the outgoing Lord Lieutenant FitzAlan. This changeover was not without incident and the killing of four constables at Clones Railway Station in February brought the withdrawal to a temporary halt. Over a week later recruitment began for a new Irish police force called the Civic Guard, eventually to become An Garda Síochána.

Despite attempts to avert potential trouble in Northern Ireland, the violence that erupted there was way beyond the scale predicted. Early in the year, Collins and the northern premier Sir James Craig came to an agreement whereby the latter promised to protect Northern Catholics in return for an end to a boycott of Belfast goods that had been initiated in 1920 by the Dáil. This ineffective pact required updating in March, as another Craig plan to alleviate the plight of Northern Catholics was matched by a pledge from Collins to move against IRA units attacking the North from the South. However, little or nothing came from this and the following month, Collins had to protest at the increasing violence against Catholics, with a monthly death toll well into double figures which had passed 60 in March. This situation worsened and the combined death toll for June and July among both Northern communities was 453, with much attendant forcing of Catholics from their homes and destruction of property.