Repartition of Ireland

The repartition of Ireland has been suggested as a possible solution to the Troubles. It implies that the essential problem was that the partition of Ireland was gerrymandered, and as a result Northern Ireland contains a large Irish nationalist minority. Much of the nationalist population lives in the south and west of the region, but a significant percentage lives in Belfast and some smaller communities in the north and east. Whilst unionists constitute a majority of the population in the north and east of the region with some smaller communities in the south and west. Eastern areas have a much higher population density, and thus collectively Northern Ireland has a unionist majority. [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/polsol.htm CAIN: An Outline of the Main Political 'Solutions' to the Conflict] ]

1920 to 1969

The idea was first mooted at the time the border was drawn up. Some Irish republicans, including Cahir Healy, while objecting to the partition in principle, argued in particular that County Fermanagh and County Tyrone should not be included in the North, as they had a majority nationalist population. John Redmond also indicated that he would be prepared to accept this option.

The Boundary Commission agreed the current border in 1925, although it did propose minor adjustments to the boundary. Its decision was confirmed by the three governments by December 1925, and approved by the Dáil (the Dublin parliament) by a vote of 71 to 20. A deal was done whereby the border remained unchanged, and in return the new Irish Free State was released from its obligation under the Anglo-Irish Treaty to pay its share of the imperial debt.

1969 to 1980

Repartition resurfaced as an option with the start of The Troubles. In 1972 the Conservative MP Julian Critchley published a pamphlet for the Bow Group advocating repartition, titled "Ireland: A New Partition".

Civil servants in London prepared a "last ditch" plan in 1974, for possible use in the event of a full scale civil war which would see Roman Catholic inhabitants of the north east forceably moved to Fermanagh, Southern Londonderry, Tyrone, South Armagh and South Down. Protestant inhabitants in those areas moved into North Down, Antrim, Northern Londonderry, and North Armagh. The nationalist areas would then have been ceded to the Republic of Ireland. An alternative plan simply involved "moving individual Catholics from their homes in Northern Ireland to new homes in the Republic". The plan was kept secret at the time and was revealed in 2002. [ [http://archives.tcm.ie/downdemocrat/2003/01/07/story975.asp Down Democrat: An unrecognisable map of home] ] [ [http://republican-news.org/archive/2003/January09/09cabi.html An Phoblacht: Britain Considered Repartition] ] Then in a 2006 essay Garret FitzGerald, the Irish Foreign Minster in 1974, revealed his government's opinions on repartition or a complete British withdrawal. [ [http://www.ria.ie/cgi-bin/ria/papers/100573.pdf Garret FitzGerald's 2006 essay] ]

1980 to 1998

Pollsters have rarely asked the population of Northern Ireland about their attitudes to repartition but it was asked twice in the early 1980s. In June 1981 and February 1982 the percentages of Protestants agreeing to repartition was 9% and 8%; the percentages for Catholics were 22% and 24%. [John Whyte, "Interpreting Northern Ireland" (Clarendon Press, 1996), p. 82.]

In 1986 the economic historian of Queen's University of Belfast, Liam Kennedy, published a book-length study of repartition called "Two Ulsters: A Case for Repartition".

During the late 1980s, repartition was repeatedly proposed by assorted individuals and small groups. It became popular in some sections of the Ulster nationalist movement, who were keen to establish a state with a large Protestant majority. Conversely, the Ulster Movement for Self-Determination proposed an enlarged state of Ulster, including all the historic province. This state, were it to have been created, would have had almost equal numbers of nationalists and unionists.

On 16 January 1994, the Dublin-based "Sunday Independent" newspaper published a plan allegedly by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) which was dubbed the "Doomsday document". Purporting to be a plan for a civil war situation, it contained maps of a repartitioned Northern Ireland which appeared to be based on Liam Kennedy's earlier maps.Margaret Thatcher revealed in 1998 that when it became obvious that the Anglo-Irish Agreement was in trouble, she too had considered repartition, although again she had not pursued the scheme. [ [http://republican-news.org/archive/1998/October29/29sean.html An Phoblacht: Partition Once Again?] ]

A variation on repartition calls for a united Ireland, with unionist communities able to opt for a degree of self-government or co-operation with Great Britain. None of these proposals are currently supported by any political party in Ireland.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.newint.org/issue255/seven.htm New Internationalist: Seven roads to salvation]