Jonny Smyth

105 years ago, on the 3rd May 1921, Northern Ireland was formally established as part of the United Kingdom. Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 (which received royal assent on the 23rd December 1920 and came into force on this date), the UK Parliament created Northern Ireland from the six north-eastern counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone. This was explicitly designed to reflect the wishes of the Protestant and unionist majority in those counties (around 65% Protestant at the time of creation), who had campaigned against being placed under a Dublin-based all-Ireland Home Rule parliament they feared would be dominated by nationalists. The Act provided devolved government while ensuring Northern Ireland remained firmly within the United Kingdom and under the Crown; a pragmatic solution that respected the democratic will of the local population in Ulster and preserved their British identity and allegiance. The Parliament of Northern Ireland later met in June 1921, but the legal creation and partition took effect today in 1921. This was a defining moment that upheld the Union for those who wished to remain British, a proud part of our constitutional history.