The Irish Revolution, 1916-1923 (32 page)

Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland signed in London on the 6th of December 1921

1. Ireland shall have the same constitutional status in the Community of Nations known as the British Empire as the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand and the Union of South Africa, with a Parliament having powers to make laws for the peace, order and good government of Ireland and an Executive responsible to that Parliament, and shall be styled and known as the Irish Free State.

…

3. The representative of the Crown in Ireland shall be appointed in like manner as the Governor-General of Canada and in accordance with the practice observed in the making of such appointments.

4. The oath to be taken by Members of the Parliament of the Irish Free State shall be in the following form:

I …………………. do solemnly swear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State as by law established and that I will be faithful to H.M. King George V, his heirs and successors by law, in virtue of the common citizenship of Ireland with Great Britain and her adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations.

5. The Irish Free State shall assume liability for the service of the Public Debt of the United Kingdom as existing at the date hereof and towards the payment of war pensions as existing at that date in such proportion as may be fair and equitable, having regard to any just claims on the part of Ireland by way of set-off or counter-claim, the amount of such sums being determined in default of agreement by the arbitration of one or more independent persons being citizens of the British Empire.

…

7. The Government of the Irish Free State shall afford to His Majesty's Imperial Forces:

(a) In time of peace such harbour and other facilities as are indicated in the Annex hereto, or such other facilities as may from time to time be agreed between the British Government and the Government of the Irish Free State; and

(b) In time of war or of strained relations with a Foreign Power such harbour and other facilities as the British Government may require for the purposes of such defence as aforesaid.

… 10. The Government of the Irish Free State agrees to pay fair compensation on terms not less favourable than those accorded by the Act of 1920 to judges, officials, members of Police Forces and other Public Servants who are discharged by it or who retire in consequence of the change of Government effected in pursuance hereof.

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12. If … an address is presented to His Majesty by both Houses of the Parliament of Northern Ireland to that effect, the powers of the Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State shall no longer extend to Northern Ireland, and the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (including those relating to the Council of Ireland) shall, so far as they relate to Northern Ireland continue to be of full force and effect, and this instrument shall have effect subject to the necessary modifications.

Provided that if such an address is so presented a Commission consisting of three Persons, one to be appointed by the Government of the Irish Free State, one to be appointed by the Government of Northern Ireland and
one who shall be Chairman to be appointed by the British Government shall determine in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants, so far as may be compatible with economic and geographic conditions, the boundaries between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland, and for the purposes of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, and of this instrument, the boundary of Northern Ireland shall be such as may be determined by such Commission.

14. … if no such address as is mentioned in Article 12 hereof is Presented, the Parliament and Government of Northern Ireland shall continue to exercise as respects Northern Ireland the powers conferred on them by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, but the Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State shall in Northern Ireland have in relation to matters in respect of which the Parliament of Northern Ireland has not power to make laws under that Act (including matters which under the said Act are within the jurisdiction of the Council of Ireland) the same powers as in the rest of Ireland, subject to such other provisions as may he agreed in manner hereinafter appearing.

On behalf of the British Delegation
Signed

D. Lloyd George

Austen Chamberlain

Birkenhead

Winston S. Churchill

L. Worthington-Evans

Hamar Greenwood

Gordon Hewart

On behalf of the Irish Delegation
Signed

Art ó Gríobhtha (Arthur Griffith)

Micheál ó Coileáin (Michael Collins)

Riobard Bartún (Robert Barton)

Eudhmonn S. ó Dugainn (Eamonn Duggan)

Seoirse Gabhann ó Dubhaigh (George Gavan Duffy)

ANNEX

1. The following are the specific facilities required:

Dockyard Port at Berehaven

(a) Admiralty property and rights to be retained as at the rate hereof. Harbour defences to remain in charge of British care and maintenance parties.

Queenstown

(b) Harbour defences to remain in charge of British care and maintenance parties. Certain mooring buoys to be retained for use of His Majesty's ships.

Belfast Lough

(c) Harbour defences to remain in charge of British care and maintenance parties.

Lough Swilly

(d) Harbour defences to remain in charge of British care and maintenance parties.

Aviation

(e) Facilities in the neighbourhood of the above Ports for coastal defence by air.

Source
: National Archives of Ireland website treaty exhibition,
http://treaty.nationalarchives.ie/document-gallery/anglo-irish-treaty-6-december-1921

Document 25 EXTRACTS FROM THE DÁIL TREATY DEBATE

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was debated in the Dáil between 14 December 1921 and 7 January 1922. Mary MacSwiney spoke for two hours and 40 minutes outlining the opposition to the treaty because it failed to confer a republic. It was a heated debate with many personal exchanges such as those between Brugha and Collins and Griffith and Childers.

Mary MacSwiney

I speak for the living Republic, the Republic that cannot die. That document will never kill it, never. The Irish Republic was proclaimed and established by the men of Easter Week, 1916. The Irish Republican Government was established in January, 1919, and it has functioned since under such conditions that no country ever worked under before. That Republican Government is not now going to be fooled and destroyed by the Wizard of Wales. We beat him before and we shall beat him again, and I pray with all my heart and soul that a majority of the Members of this assembly will throw out that Treaty and that the minority will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the fight to regain the position we held on the 4th of this month. I pray that once more; I pray that we will stand together, and the country will stand behind us. I have no doubt of that. I know the women of Ireland, and I know what they will say to the men that want to surrender, and therefore I beg of you to take the decision to throw out that Treaty. Register your votes against it, and do not commit the one unforgivable crime that has ever been committed by the representatives of the people of Ireland (applause).

Source
:
Dáil Debates
, vol. T, 21 December 1921, cols 126–27.

Cathal Brugha

A Deputy from Tipperary and Waterford, one of my own colleagues, has sent me in a question which I will read. ‘In view of the fact that many members and
several people are biased in favour of this proposed Treaty because the Minister of Finance is in favour of ratification, and in view of the fact that many of these people, and many of these members, are of opinion that Mr. Michael Collins is a leader of the army and has fought many fights for the Republic, I think it is of great importance that an authoritative statement be made (
a
) defining the real position Mr. Michael Collins held in the army, (
b
) telling what fights he has taken an active part in, provided this can be done without injustice to himself or danger to the country; or can it be authoritatively stated that he ever fired a shot at any enemy of Ireland?’

… I t is necessary for me to define Michael Collins’ position in the army. Now, I have my department divided up into sections. I have the ordinary Ministerial part of it; the civil part of it; the liaison part of it; and then the Head Quarters Staff. The Head Quarters Staff is divided up again; at the head is the Chief of Staff; and at the head of each section of the Head Quarters Staff is another man working under the Chief of Staff. One of those heads of the subsections is Mr. Michael Collins; and to use a word which he has on more than one occasion used, and which he is fond of using, he is merely a subordinate in the Department of Defence.

While the war was in progress I could not praise too highly the work done by the Head Quarters Staff. The Chief of Staff and each of the leaders of the subsections – the members of the Head Quarters Staff – were the best men we could get for the positions; each of them carried out efficiently, so far as I know, the work that was entrusted to him they worked conscientiously and patriotically for Ireland without seeking any notoriety, with one exception; whether he is responsible or not for the notoriety I am not going to say (cries of ‘Shame’ and ‘Get on with the Treaty’). There is little more for me to say. One member was specially selected by the Press and the people to put him into a position which he never held; he was made a romantic figure, a mystical character such as this person certainly is not; the gentleman I refer to is Mr. Michael Collins——

Source
:
Dáil Debates
, vol. T, 7 January 1922, cols 325–26.

Arthur Griffith and Erskine Childers

PRESIDENT A. GRIFFITH: Before this proceeds any further, I want to say that President de Valera made a statement – a generous statement – and I replied. Now (striking the table) I will not reply to any Englishman in this Dáil (applause).

…

MR. ERSKINE CHILDERS: My nationality is a matter for myself and for the constituents that sent me here.

PRESIDENT A. GRIFFITH: Your constituents did not know what your nationality was.

MR. ERSKINE CHILDERS: They have known me from my boyhood days – since I was about half a dozen years of age.

PRESIDENT A. GRIFFITH: I will not reply to any damned Englishman in this Assembly.

…

MR. ERSKINE CHILDERS: I hardly think you will say this is out of order (cries of ‘Chair! Chair!’). It is hardly out of order to say something to an interjection like that made by the President. I am not going to defend my nationality, but I would be delighted to show the President privately that I am not, in the true sense of the word, an Englishman, as he knows. He banged the table. If he had banged the table before Lloyd George in the way he banged it here, things might have been different (cries of ‘Order!’ and applause).

PRESIDENT A. GRIFFITH: I banged the table before your countryman, Mr. Lloyd George.

MADAME MARKIEVICZ: And Griffith is a Welsh name.

Source
:
Dáil Debates
, vol. T, 10 January 1922, col. 416.

Document 26 DOCUMENT NO. 2

Extracts from de Valera's alternative to the treaty that proposed an external relationship between the Irish Free State and the Commonwealth that would recognise the King as head of the Commonwealth but not the Free State.

In order to bring to an end the long and ruinous conflict between Great Britain and Ireland by a sure and lasting peace honourable to both nations, it is agreed

1. That the legislative, executive, and judicial authority of Ireland shall be derived solely from the people of Ireland.

2. That, for purposes of common concern, Ireland shall be associated with the States of the British Commonwealth, viz: the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.

3. That when acting as an associate the rights, status, and privileges of Ireland shall be in no respect less than those enjoyed by any of the component states of the British Commonwealth …

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6. That, for purposes of the Association, Ireland shall recognise His Britannic Majesty as head of the Association.

7. That, so far as her resources permit, Ireland shall provide for her own defence by sea, land and air, and shall repel by force any attempt by a foreign power to violate the integrity of her soil and territorial waters, or to use them for any purpose hostile to Great Britain and the other associated States.

Source: Dáil Debates
, vol. T, 10 January 1922,
http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.P.A.170001.html

Document 27 THE ARMY EMERGENCY POWERS RESOLUTION

This resolution was passed by the Dáil on 28 September 1922, conferring extensive judicial and punitive powers on military courts, including the controversial right to impose the death penalty that resulted in 77 executions during the Civil War.

(1) WHEREAS the Government has entrusted to the Army the duty of securing the public safety and restoring order throughout the country and has placed on the army the responsibility for the establishment of the authority of the Government in all parts of the country in which that authority is challenged by force.

(2) AND WHEREAS the Army Council has represented to the Government that in order to discharge effectively the duty and responsibility so placed on them it is essential that the Army Council should have power to set up Military Courts or Committees with full powers of enquiring into charges and inflicting punishments on persons found guilty of acts calculated to interfere with or delay the effective establishment of the authority of the Government, and that the Army Council should have power to authorise the detention in places whether within or without the jurisdiction of the Government of persons in Military custody and power to control the dealing in and possession of fire arms.