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Further Reading

The Free State

As a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, the remaining twenty-six counties formed the Irish Free State, which had dominion status within the British Empire. A significant Irish minority repudiated the treaty settlement because of the continuance of subordinate ties to the British monarch and the partition of the island. The establishment of the Free State was followed by a short civil war between those who accepted the Treaty as offering effective self-government and those who held out for a full republic. Despite its brevity (from June 1922 - May 1923), the Civil War, which was won by the pro-treaty forces, was to color attitudes and determine political allegiances for decades.

The first government of the new State was headed by W.T. Cosgrave of Cumann na nGaedheal, later the Fine Gael party. From the 1930s onwards the Fianna Fáil party, founded by Eamon de Valera, dominated Irish politics. In the first two decades after Ireland achieved independence in 1922, the institutions of the State were consolidated and a tradition of political stability was established. In 1932, Eamon de Valera, the political leader of the forces initially opposed to the treaty, became Prime Minister, and a new Irish constitution was enacted in 1937, which severed Ireland's formal links with Britain. The last British military bases were soon withdrawn, and the ports were returned to Irish control.

Ireland was neutral in World War II. World War II was the defining event of the twentieth century, in which the Allies were the champions of freedom against the tyranny of the Axis powers. How to understand Irish neutrality during a war that made moral claims and compelled taking a stand? Irish neutrality derived from Ireland's recent independence and complex relationship with Britain. During World War II the intransigent neutrality of the Irish Free State constituted a threat to the British lines of communication, but Ireland was not central to pre-war British military planning. The Germans attacked Ireland on a few occasions, including the famous bombing run on Dublin in 1941, though these attacks seemed intended discourage the Irish from abandoning neutrality or from becoming more friendly towards the Allies. Most of the Irish population realised that a British victory would be more beneficial, and Ireland repeatedly helped the Allies. The Irish government did not try to stop Irish citizens from going to work in British war industry, or to stop men deserting the Irish army to join the British forces seeking more action and more money. The IRA, being thoroughly anti-British, clearly favored a German victory; but it was marginalized after the internment of its members during the war. Taoiseach (Prime Minister) de Valera believed that Ireland was a small state that had no role in power politics, and that Ireland had no hope of defending herself were she to enter the war.

Neutrality doomed Ireland to isolation in the early years of the Cold War period, resulting in Ireland experiencing economic stagnation, which only began to be alleviated once Sean Lemass became Taoiseach, from 1959 to 1966. Lemass planned the establishment of the Irish air services and construction of the international airports, revival of the mercantile marine, reorganisation of road and rail transport, founding of the turf industry, expansion of the tourist trade, reformation of the insurance business, extension of the electricity and sugar enterprises, and the entire campaign to give the Irish economy an efficient industrial arm.

The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 severed Ireland's last formal links with Britain. Ireland was admitted to the United Nations (UN) in 1955, and joined what is now the European Union (EU) in 1973. New economic development policies led to substantial and rapid growth. As elsewhere in Europe coalition governments have become quite common and have normally involved one of the two larger political parties.

In the 1980s and 1990s when Ireland desperately needed the kind of infrastructure that would eventually make a first-world economy it was largely European money that helped start to build it. Crucially, membership of the EU gave Ireland economic independence from Britain. Our near neighbour lost its ability to dictate Ireland 's level and range of exports. Suddenly Ireland had valuable new markets for our products. We had, potentially, over 370 million new customers for Irish goods.

The "Celtic Tiger" period of the mid- to late 1990s saw several years of double-digit GDP growth, driven by a progressive industrial policy that boosted large-scale foreign direct investment and exports. GDP growth dipped during the immediate post-September 11, 2001 global economic slowdown, but averaged roughly 5% yearly between 2004 and 2007, the best performance for this period among the original EU 15 member states.