Tensions threaten to flare again between Ireland, Britain and the EU with a new UK prime minister who has promised to take a hard line on the Northern Ireland Protocol. The death of Queen Elizabeth however put a pause on developments for the period of mourning, and produced some fascinating moments too as her successor King Charles met with Sinn Féin and acknowledged them as the biggest party in Northern Ireland. Naomi and Tim catch up on current events, discuss the Dublin drama turning heads in Brussels, and why the Irish government resembles a rotisserie chicken…
Patreon supporters can listen to a bonus debrief episode dissecting the complex Irish reaction to the death of Queen Elizabeth over on patreon.com/theirishpassport
The third installment in Naomi and Tim’s series on the War of Independence discusses a landmark of 20th century Irish history: the partition of the island.
Tim digs into the backstory to reveal how once again, an unhappy chapter of Irish history is linked to Winston Churchill. This episode lays out the thinking at the time and how the so-called ‘Irish question’ was shaped through parliamentary debates in Westminster, as a team of officials in London drew out the boundaries of the two new jurisdictions while Ireland was at war. We discuss how unionist movements evolved in relation to the question of Home Rule and partition, and the sense of betrayal particularly of southern unionists that led Dublin-born unionist leader Edward Carson to declare: “What a fool I was! I was only a puppet, and so was Ulster, and so was Ireland, in the political game that was to get the Conservative Party into power”. University College Dublin historian Dr Conor Mulvagh joins us again to lay out how the pro-independence forces in the south contended with the new entity that was created on the north east of the island, and the violence unleashed as whipped-up unionist crowds drove Catholics out of their homes and jobs in the north.
A bonus episode is available for Patreon supporters in which Naomi and Tim debrief from this episode and discuss what stood out to them – including the striking parallels with present day politics in a reckless Conservative Party wreaking havoc towards the island of Ireland. You can hear it at https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport
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