Between 1923 and 1949 successive governments sought to advance the limits
of Irish Independence.
The Anglo Irish Treaty of 6th December 1921 offered Ireland Dominion Status, the same constitutional position
within the empire as Canada and the other dominions, but while the King’s representative in each Dominion was
the Governor-General, the Free State government had insisted from the start that he must be an Irishman and a
commoner. Even the oath of allegiance was far less Royalist in Ireland than the oaths in other Dominions. An
while the Irish constitution had accepted the King as Head of State, it made It clear that power came ultimately
from the people. Other fundamental differences between Ireland and the rest of the Dominions included the
fact that Ireland was an ancient nation which had evolved towards Dominion status largely as a result of struggle
and revolution. Added to this was Ireland’s close geographical position to Britain. The temptation to see Ireland
simply as part of the ‘British Isles’ and to feel inclined to curtail her powers as a Dominion was inevitably going
to be strong. This, in turn created an intense desire on the part of Irish politicians, in the period 1923-49 to
‘overcome and transcend’ Ireland’s, limitations as a Dominion. She would do so through her determination to
revise the Anglo Irish treaty and by proclaiming an independent voice in international affairs.
The pursuit of independence by successive Irish governments would certainly seem to support F.S.L. Lyons’s
declaration that, to its detractors, ‘The Irish Free State - even to is supporters - symbolised desire unappeased’.
Cumann Na nGaedheal, which was in power from 1922-32, was the first move on the international front when
the government applied to join the League of Nations. The Free State was formally admitted to the League on
10th September 1923. The following year, on 11 July 1924, the Anglo Irish Treaty was registered with the
League of Nations as an International Agreement. Both if these moves were taken in spite of British objections.
On the latter point, for example, the British protested that it was an international affair and not the business of
the League, but the Irish won their point. A third step was taken in 1924 when T.A. Smiddy was appointed as
Ireland’s Minister plenipotentiary to the United States. Other appointments soon followed so that, by the end
of the Cosgrave administration, Ireland had an extensive Foreign Diplomatic Service. Ireland was the first of the
Dominions to exchange diplomats with other countries and the move had been made possible as a result of
talks between Desmond Fitzgerald, the Free State Minister for External Affairs and J.H Thomas, Secretary for the
Dominions.
Imperial Conferences were held from 1921 onwards. Delegates met in London every two years and they
sought, in common endeavour, to define the nature of the Commonwealth and to discuss mutual problems and
ways of furthering the interests of each member. Ireland was represented from 1923 onwards and found allies
in the other dominions, most notably Canada and South Africa, all of whom were seeking to get their own way.
The 1926 Conference was of particular importance for it was then that the concept of co-equality between
Britain and the Dominions was first formulated. The Irish delegation, led and brilliantly prepared by Kevin
O’Higgins, played a major role and continued to do so at subsequent conferences (under the leadership of P
McGilliagn) especially the conference of 1930. The Statute of Westminster, which became law in 1931,
summed up the accumulated changes of the previous decade in the light of the principles established in 1926.
Essentially the statute gave the Dominion states the power to reject of accept laws passed by the British.
Although intended as an act of ‘good faith’ for the Free state, the Statute of Westminster was, nonetheless, very
important in that it allowed the Dáil to alter the Treaty – if it so wished. The British, by their own laws, could do
nothing about it. The 1931 Act must thus be seen as fundamental to the cause of advancing Irish
Independence.
While the stage had been set for a new phase in Anglo-Irish relations, the Cosgrave government showed little
desire to avail of most of the constitutional changes implied by the Statute of Westminster other than producing
its own Great Seal of the Irish Free State. Not had they time as they fell from power in February 1932.
Thereafter, de Valera and Fianna Fail assumed office and showed themselves determined to revise the Treaty
and to assert Ireland’s right to complete independence. The assault on the Treaty began on 22 March 1932
when de Valera, quoting the recently ratified Statute of Westminster, informed the British of his intention to
remove the Oath, insisting that it was a ‘relic of medievalism’. The Bill to abolish the Oath became law in May
1933. De Valera then set about removing the office of the Governor General, James MacNeill, who held the
office in 1932, had to endure a campaign of personal insults become he was eventually forced to reign. He was
replaced in office by Domhnall O Buachalla, a personal friend of De Valera. O Buachalla did not occupy the
official residence in the Phoenix Park, nor did he perform any public duties. His only function was to sign Acts of
the Oireachtas. In this way, the office was stripped of all dignity; it was formally abolished in June 1937.
Following the death of King George V I Jan 1936, de Valera did not allow any public recognition of the new King,
Edward VIII. Once again, De Valera was showing his determination to break the remaining links between Ireland
and the Crown. He was helped to do so by the abdication of Edward in December 1936, in order to marry an
American divorcée. De Valera immediately called a meeting of the Dáil Éireann and , as well as approving the
abdication, an External Relations Bill was introduced which suggested that, in the future, the British King
would be ‘advised’ of Irish affairs by the government. Essentially De Valera had now achieved external
association with the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, the economic war, which had broken out in 1932 as a result
of de Valera’s decision to withhold the payments of the land annuities to Britain, was costing both exchequers a
lot of money. Although the situation was somewhat improved as a result of Coal-Cattle Pact, it was 1938 before
a solution to the war was reached. Apart from the economic terms, the agreement allowed for the return of
the Treaty Ports – Cobh, Berehaven and Lough Swilly – to Ireland. This gave the Free State government total
control of its land and sea defences and was of vital importance in determining the real independence of
Ireland.
In 1937, de Valera replaced the 1922 Constitution with his own Constitution, Bunreacht na hEireann.
Henceforth, Ireland was to be known as Eire. The territory of the State was to be the ‘whole island of Ireland’
but, ‘pending reintegration of the national territory’, its laws would apply to the 26 counties. The Oireachtas
contained two houses, Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, and voting was by a system of proportional
representation. The Head of State was to be President, while government was to be headed by the Taoiseach.
The Constitution, which could only be changed by referendum, was strongly Catholic in outlook and recognised
the importance of the family unit. The 1937 Constitution undoubtedly marks a high point in Fianna Fails’
attempt to advance the, limits of Irish independence. The Anglo-Irish Treaty had now been revised to such an
extent that Ireland, from this point on, could be regarded as a Republic in everything but name. The British
government, for its part, decided to adopt a conciliatory response to the Constitution, declaring that it did not in
any way change the county’s membership of the Commonwealth.
Although de Valera’s main foreign policy in the 1930s concerned Britain, he did not neglect other areas. As
Minister for External Affairs he developed the diplomatic service and increased Ireland’s involvement in the
League of Nations. In September 1932, de Valera was elected President of the Council and, as well as gaining
experience, the League provided him with a wider platform from which to express his views. In the following
years, de Valera loyally supported League decisions, and in 1938 he was elected President of the Assembly. Yet
international involvement did not preclude looking after one’s own interests. Thus, when war broke out in
September 1939, the Dáil opted for a policy of neutrality. Having obtained the return of the Treaty ports the
previous year, neutrality was not just an exercise in sovereignty but the proclaiming of an independent voice
in international affairs. An Emergency Powers Act was passed and for the duration of the war the Irish
government took the necessary steps to preserve public order and to keep people supplied with the essentials
of life. Unlike some countries which had adopted a similar stance of neutrality, Ireland managed to avoid an
invasion and sustain her neutrality throughout the course of the war.
That the war is testimony of Irish independence beyond doubt, yet by adopting a policy of neutrality, Ireland
was forced during and after the war years, into a position of isolation. Not only was Ireland cut off from the rest
of Europe, but the gap between Southern and Northern Ireland widened. Inevitably, some countries took
offence to Ireland’s neutrality and, as early as 1946, the USSR had exercised its veto on Ireland’s application for
membership of the United Nation. Nonetheless, the following years did allow Ireland the opportunity to slowly
emerge from her wartime isolation to play a more active role in international affairs. With regard to the revision
of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, one further sequel remained to be played out. This was repealing the External
Relations Bill of 1936. The 1936 Bill, in conjunction with the 1937 Constitution, left Ireland with a ‘dictionary
republic’ whereby she was effectively a republic and yet technically was not. This was an unsatisfactory and
unacceptable constitutional position which needed to be made more clear –cut. Accordingly, the Republic of
Ireland Act came into force on 18th April 1949, and while it changed nothing of the reality of Independence
which had existed since the late 1930s, it did, once and for all, mark the final end to the old quarrel over the
Treaty and the question of Irish Independence. The final transition from Free State to Republic was now made
possible because the foundation had been so firmly laid in the earlier years.