This lecture by Ivan Gibbons looks at the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. Topics covered include the speech by George V at the State Opening of the NI Parliament and the growing opposition to Lloyd George’s Irish Policy. Michael Collins was aware of IRA shortcomings, thus there was need for peace on both sides. The lecture will also look at the way in which Treaty discussions concentrated on the Ireland – GB relationship and not the relationship between the two parts of Ireland and how the Treaty’s approval by a narrow majority in the Dáil led to the Irish Civil War.
Ivan Gibbons is the former Director of Irish Studies at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. He is a lecturer in Modern Irish and British History specialising in the relationship between the British Labour Party and Ireland. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith. Ivan is the author of The British Labour Party and the Establishment of the Irish Free State; Drawing the Line: The Irish Border in British Politics and Partition: How and Why Ireland was Divided.
