Boundary Commission

The Boundary Commission

• Boundary commissions were quite common in the 1920s, especially in the aftermath of the Paris Peace Conference, where new borders were being drawn across Europe.
• The Boundary Commission was established under Article 12 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty to determine the border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.
• Article 12 stated that the Commission would consist of three members: one appointed by the Irish Free State, one by the government of Northern Ireland, and a chairman appointed by the British government.
• Their task was to decide the boundary based on the wishes of the inhabitants and consider economic and geographic factors.
• Northern Ireland had been officially created in December 1920, and by 1923, the Free State began exerting economic pressure by setting up customs barriers with Northern Ireland.
• However, the Civil War delayed the Commission's work until 1924. W.T. Cosgrave, the leader of the Free State, pushed for the Commission's establishment, believing it could lead to the transfer of significant areas of Northern Ireland to the Free State, making Northern Ireland too small to function independently.
• The political landscape in Britain has changed since the Treaty negotiations. Lloyd George's coalition government collapsed in 1922, and subsequent Conservative governments, led by Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin, were more supportive of Northern Ireland.
• By the time the first Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, appointed the Commission, the political environment was less favourable to the Free State.
• The Labour government, which initially seemed more sympathetic, only lasted a short period, and by November 1924, Baldwin and the Conservatives were back in power, remaining in office until June 1929.

Setting Up the Commission

• Ramsay MacDonald's first choice for a neutral chairman was Sir Robert Borden, a former Conservative Prime Minister of Canada, but he declined.

• Ultimately, Justice Richard Feetham from South Africa was appointed as the chairman. Feetham was a confirmed imperialist and a staunch supporter of the Commonwealth, with little experience in Irish political issues.

  

• Eoin MacNeill, representing the Irish Free State, was an expert in Irish history but found himself in a challenging position. The representative for Northern Ireland, J.R. Fisher, was a Belfast lawyer and staunch unionist.

• The Commission began its work in November 1924 and continued for over a year, with regular meetings held until 7 November 1925.

• Initially, the commissioners were required to keep their discussions confidential until the final report was completed and signed. This secrecy led to tension and speculation about what the Commission might recommend.

• In the first year, the Commission conducted a detailed survey of the border region, interviewing locals, including religious groups, businessmen, and other community leaders.

• However, the final outcome became increasingly contentious as the legal arguments took precedence, and the Commission's conclusions began to diverge from the expectations of the Irish Free State.

Work of the Commission and Leak of the Report

• Late in 1925, on 7 November, details of the Boundary Commission's work were leaked to the Morning Post, a London-based Conservative newspaper.

• The leak, likely from Fisher, revealed that the Commission's findings would only result in minor changes to the existing border.

• The Free State would gain small areas of South Armagh and Fermanagh, and around 25,000 Catholics would move from Northern Ireland to the Free State.

  

• However, parts of east Donegal and Monaghan would be transferred to Northern Ireland, affecting around 2,000 Protestants.

• Overall, the changes would have reduced Northern Ireland's area by only 3.7% and its population by 1.8% and would have slightly shortened the border.

• The news was met with outrage in the Irish Free State, where expectations had been that significant portions of Northern Ireland would be transferred south.

• The Dáil erupted in anger, and there were threats from within the army to resist any such transfer of land.

• Eoin MacNeill immediately protested against the revelations and declared that the official report should not be accepted.

• He resigned from the Commission on 20 November and then from the Free State Executive, admitting his opposition to the report and his belief that the final decision would not favour the Free State.

The Final Agreement and Impact of the Boundary Commission

• By December 1925, Cosgrave and the British government, under pressure to avoid conflict, agreed to meet and resolve the situation.
• On 3 December 1925, they signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which abandoned the Boundary Commission's findings and retained the existing borders as set in the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
• As part of the agreement, the Free State relinquished its claim to alter the border, and in return, the British government cancelled the Free State's obligation to pay its share of the British war debt, a sum worth about £8 million per year.
• Additionally, the Council of Ireland, which had been envisioned as a body to promote cooperation between North and South, was abandoned.
• The Dáil ratified the agreement on 10 December despite it being highly unpopular. The decision recognised the existing border as permanent, which caused discontent among Irish nationalists. Sinn Féin abstained from the vote, and many Cumann na nGaedheal deputies expressed their resignation in protest against the handling of the Commission.
• The Boundary Commission's failure played into the hands of more extreme nationalist groups, including the IRA, who saw it as proof that the Treaty had failed to achieve Irish unity.
• On the other hand, it was a significant victory for James Craig and the Ulster Unionists, who had successfully defended Northern Ireland's territorial integrity.
• The outcome of the Boundary Commission made it clear that any change to the partition of Ireland would have to be achieved by force, reinforcing the division between North and South that persists to this day.