Simon Crowley
2007: Higher Level
Section 2: Ireland
Topic 5: Politics and society in Northern Ireland, 1949-1993
Question 1: What impact had the introduction of the welfare state to Northern Irelands on one or
more of the following: education; health; housing?
Answer:
The Welfare State was introduced in 1945 by the Labour Party. The Welfare State had major impacts
in the areas of Health Care, Education and Housing as well as a lasting effect on the economy. The
Welfare state allowed Northern Ireland to become more prosperous than the Republic of Ireland and
left Ireland far behind in terms of Education, Housing and Health Care. Before the implementation of
the Welfare State housing was quite poor in working class areas. Catholic’s struggled to get a decent
education before the Education Act of 1947. The Health Service in the North was seriously underfunded and poorly serviced. The introduction of the Welfare State changed and improved the health,
education and housing of the people of Northern Ireland, Catholic and Protestant. (8/12)
After the General Election 1945, the Labour Party introduced the Welfare State in hopes that it
would improve education and health. The Labour Party increased the taxes in return for free health
care-the NHS, free education and higher rates of pensions as well as unemployment benefits. The
British Government provided extra income for Northern Ireland to allow Stormont to introduce the
Welfare State in the North. At first, Unionists resisted the Welfare State. They feared it would benefit
Catholics more as they saw them as poor and not as well off as Protestants, they feared it would
threaten Unionist rule. When the Welfare State was eventually implemented into Northern Ireland it
became far more prosperous (greatly benefited) in the areas of education, health and even housing.
The introduction of the Welfare State greatly benefited the populous in those three areas. (7/12)
The Education Act was implemented in 1947; local governments were given the responsibility to
provide education. The Protestant community were concerned that this would reduce the role of
religious instruction in schools. Due to large school grants, the majority of students did not pay fees
and negotiations saw grants increased to 65% and to 100% when a school allowed local council
representation on its school committee. The Catholic bishops complained that state grants were
lower for voluntary Catholic schools but Catholics benefited from increased spending at third level.
The Welfare State implemented the eleven-plus exams. This allowed the top twenty percent to
attend grammar school. The other eighty percent would follow a more ‘technical’ programme. In
schools, local authorities had to provide free medical inspection and treatment as well as transport,
milks and meals and books. (9/12)
The education reforms of the 1940’s led to a surplus in second-level graduates and a huge increase
in those looking for university places. Queens University in Belfast was the only University in
Northern Ireland at the time. The Stormont government took lead from Britain’s Robbins Committee
and set up the Lockwood committee to decide on whether to expand Queens or to build a new
University to facilitate the demand for university places. The impact of the Welfare State led to this
demand for university places and indirectly led to the Coleraine Controversy. The number of
students attending second-level increased by 100% by 1952. The impact of the Welfare State on
education led to higher attendance at second level and an increase in demand for university places.
(8/12)
Before the Second World War and the introduction of the Welfare State there was severely poor
housing in the Catholic and Protestant working class areas. In Derry, the second biggest city in
Northern Ireland and a city with a Catholic majority the Catholics lived in overcrowded housed and
flats similar to the tenant houses in Dublin. Many houses had no running water or toilet facilities.
In 1945 the Housing Act provided for the building of subsidised houses which would be rented to poor
tenants. Some were to be built by local councils but the Act also created the Northern Ireland
Housing Trust which had the powers to clear slums and build houses across Northern Ireland. The
Welfare State allowed the building of new and badly needed housing. (8/12)
By 1961 the Housing Trust had built over 95,000 new houses and about 40,000 of them by private
builders. The rest were built either by the Housing Trust or local councils. Allocation of houses by the
Trust did not discriminate between Catholics and Protestants but local councils did as it was mainly
unionist controlled. Most of the councils and the Housing Trust gave these houses on the basis of
need rather than creed and political allegiance. But in 12 of the 73 local councils, this was not the
case. These 12 councils were all west of the river Bann and were Unionist controlled even though
the majority of the population was Catholic. Since a house carried with it the right to vote in local
council elections councils often gave the houses to less needy Protestants and put the poor Catholic
families on the waiting lists. The welfare state allowed for the building of these new houses but had
no impact on the discrimination that went on in the allocation of the new houses. (9/12)
Before the introduction of the Welfare State the Health service in Northern Ireland was drastically
under-funded and poorly serviced. The Welfare State led to some major changes.
The introduction of the Welfare State made general medical, dental, pharmaceutical and eye services
free to all. There was also a massive increase of spending on hospitals.
The Catholic Mater Hospital in Belfast insisted on remaining independent so it was deprived of state
funds. In majority of cases the Welfare State had a major positive impact on Health care in Northern
Ireland. The new screening programme for TB greatly reduced cases; this was just one example of
how the Welfare State increased the health of those living in Northern Ireland. A number of Health
Acts under the Welfare State replaced the old health system and created the National Health Service
or NHS. (9/12)
Before the introduction of the Welfare State the areas of Health, Education and Housing were very
poor and under-funded. The impact of the Welfare State on these three areas was all very positive
and led to a new health system; NHS, the Education reforms of the 1940’s and 1950’s and the setting
up of the Housing Trust and allocation of over 113,000 houses by the 1960’s. The Welfare State also
impacted the social end of Northern Ireland and led to reforms in Social Welfare. By the 1950’s the
post-war boom had faded and Northern Ireland was the most disadvantaged area of the United
Kingdom. The Welfare State did not have a positive effect on the economy and by 1961 10,000 men
were laid off from just the shipyards as the traditional industries of Belfast and Northern Ireland
were in trouble. In 1963 Lord Brookeborough was forced to resign and was replaced by Terence
O’Neill. O’Neill concentrated on attracting foreign industry and answered the education reforms
caused by the welfare state with the building of the new university in Coleraine. (7/12)
CM = 8+7+9+8+8+9+9+7= 65/60
OE = 33/40
Overall = 93/100 (A1)
Excellent work Simon!