 | |
 Ireland |  United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Irish Embassy, London | British Embassy, Dublin |
| Envoy | |
| AmbassadorMartin Fraser | AmbassadorKara Owen |
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Ireland–United Kingdom relations are theinternational relations between theRepublic of Ireland and theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.British rule in Ireland dates back to the Anglo-Norman invasion on behalf of the English king in the 12th century. Most ofIreland gained independence from the United Kingdom following theAnglo-Irish War in the early 20th century.
Historically, relations between the two states have been influenced heavily by issues arising from thepartition of Ireland and the terms of Ireland's secession, its constitutional relationship with and obligations to the UK after independence, and the outbreak ofpolitical violence in Northern Ireland. Additionally, the high level of trade between the two states, their proximate geographic location, their common status as islands in the European Unionuntil Britain's departure, common language and close cultural and personal links mean political developments in both states often closely follow each other.
Irish and British citizens are accorded equivalent reciprocal rights and entitlements (with a small number of minor exceptions), and aCommon Travel Area exists between Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Crown Dependencies. TheBritish–Irish Intergovernmental Conference acts as an official forum for co-operation between theGovernment of Ireland and theGovernment of the United Kingdom on matters of mutual interest generally, and with respect to Northern Ireland in particular. Two other bodies, theBritish–Irish Council and theBritish–Irish Parliamentary Assembly act as a forum for discussion between the executives and assemblies, respectively, of the region, including the devolved nations and regions in the UK and the three Crown dependencies. Co-operation between Northern Ireland and Ireland, including the execution of common policies in certain areas, occurs through theNorth/South Ministerial Council. In 2014, the UK Prime MinisterDavid Cameron, and the Irish TaoiseachEnda Kenny described the relationship between the two countries as being at 'an all time high'.[1]
Both Ireland and the United Kingdom joined theEuropean Union (then theEuropean Communities) in 1973. However, the three Crown dependencies remained outside of the EU. In June 2016, the UK held areferendum in which a majority voted to leave the EU.Brexit became effective on 31 January 2020, with a deal being reached on 24 December, keeping Northern Ireland in theEuropean Union Single Market for goods and keeping a free border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Relations between both sides became strained after the requested implementation of theNorthern Ireland Protocol on 1 January 2021, which is strongly opposed by British citizens in Northern Ireland, the EU and the Irish government. Many Irish citizens in Northern Ireland saw Britain's withdrawal from the EU as a threat to the peace process and cross-border relations, especially as a majority of the NI electorate voted to remain in the EU.[2] As a result of the tensions over the protocol, in February 2022, theDUP collapsed theNorthern Ireland Assembly andExecutive in protest, seeking a renegotiation of the deal. Consequently, Northern Ireland was left without a devolved executive government until February 2024, when the DUP re-entered following modifications to the protocol. This allowed a new NI Executive to be elected, withMichelle O'Neill of Sinn Fein becoming First Minister, alongsideEmma Little-Pengelly of the DUP as deputy First Minister.
The threedevolved administrations of the United Kingdom inScotland,Wales andNorthern Ireland, and the threedependencies of theBritish Crown,[3] theIsle of Man,Jersey andGuernsey, also participate in multilateral bodies created between the two states,[4] such as theBritish Irish Council and theBritish-Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
| Official Name | Ireland / Éire | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Common Name | Ireland | United Kingdom |
| Flag |  |  |
| Coat of Arms |  | .svg) |
| Anthem | Amhrán na bhFiann | God Save the King |
| Capital | Dublin | London |
| Official languages | Irish (36%); English (99%) (Both de facto and de jure) | English (98%) (de facto) |
| Ethnic groups | 91.7% White (82.2%White Irish, 9.5% Other White), 1.7% Asian, 1.3% Black, 1.5% Other, 2.6% Not Stated, 0.7% Irish Traveller, 0.4% Chinese (2016 Census) | 87% White (81.9%White British), 7% Asian, 3% Black, 2% Mixed Race, 1% Others (2011 Census) |
| Main religions | 78.3%Catholic, 10.1% Non-religious, 4.2%Protestant 1.3% Islam, 6.1% Other Christians and other religions.[5] | 59.3% Christianity, 25.1% Non-religious, 7.2% Unstated, 4.8% Islam, 1.5%Hinduism, 0.8%Sikhism, 0.5%Judaism, 0.4%Buddhism |
| Government | Unitaryparliamentary constitutional republic | Unitaryparliamentaryconstitutional monarchy |
| Legislature | Oireachtas | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Head of state | Catherine Connolly,President | Charles III,King |
| Head of government | Micheal Martin,Taoiseach | Keir Starmer,Prime Minister |
| Population | 5,148,139 (2022 census) | 65,110,000 (2016 estimate) |
| Area | 70,273 km2 (27,133 sq mi) | 243,610 km2 (94,060 sq mi ) |
| Population density | 67.7/km2 (175.3/sq mi) | 255.6/km2 (662.0/sq mi) |
| Largest city | Dublin – 553,165 (1,904,806 Metro) | London – 8,673,713 (13,879,757 Metro) |
| GDP (PPP) | $102billion, $124,375per capita | $2.790trillion, $42,514per capita |
| GDP (nominal) | $308billion, $65,871per capita | $3.950trillion, $43,902per capita |
| Expatriate populations | 503,288 Irish born people live in the UK (2015 UN Estimate)[6] | 250,000 British-born people live in Ireland (2015) |
| Military | Defence Forces (Ireland) | British Armed Forces |
| Military expenditures | $1.35 billion | $62.7 billion |
There have been relations between the people inhabiting theBritish Isles since the earliest recorded history of the region. ARomano-Briton, Patricius, later known asSaint Patrick, brought Christianity toIreland and, following theFall of the Western Roman Empire, missionaries from Ireland re-introduced Christianity to Britain.
The expansion ofGaelic culture into what became known asScotland (after theLatinScoti, meaningGaels) brought closepolitical and familial ties between people in Ireland and people in Great Britain, lasting from theEarly Middle Ages to the 17th century, including a commonGaelic language spoken on both islands.Norse-Gaels in theKingdom of Dublin andNorman invasion of Ireland added religious, political, economic and social ties between Northumbria and Wales with Leinster inthe Pale, theIsle of Man andGalloway, includingHiberno-English.
During theTudor dynasty, the English regained control and in 1541Henry VIII was crownedKing of Ireland. TheEnglish Reformation in the 16th century increased the antagonism between England and Ireland, as the Irish remainedCatholic, which became a justification for the English to oppress the Irish. In Ireland, during the Tudor andStuart eras, the English Crown initiated a large-scalecolonization of Ireland with Protestant settlers from Britain, particularly in the province ofUlster. These settlers became the economically and politically dominant land-owning class that would dominate Ireland for centuries. In reaction, there were a number of anti-English rebellions, such as theDesmond Rebellions and theNine Years' War.
War andcolonisation made Ireland completely subject to growing British colonial powers in the early 17th century.Forced settlement of newly conquered land andinequitable laws defined life for the Irish under British rule. England had previously conquered Scotland and Wales, leaving many people from western Scotland to seek opportunity in settling about 500,000 acres of newly seized land in Ireland. Some Irish people were displaced to an attempted "reservation".[7] This resulted in Gaelic ties between Scotland and Ireland withering dramatically over the course of the 17th century, including a divergence in the Gaelic language into two distinct languages.
In 1641, the Irish were finally able to drive out the English for a short time through a successful rebellion and proclaim theIrish Catholic Confederation, which was allied with the Royalists in theEnglish Civil War.Oliver Cromwell succeeded inreconquering Ireland by brutal methods and by 1652 all of Ireland was under English control. Cromwell then granted land in Ireland to his followers and the Catholic aristocracy in Ireland was increasingly dispossessed.[8] Cromwell exiled numerous Catholics toConnacht and up to 40 percent of Ireland's population died as a result of the English invasion.[9][10] The defeat of theJacobites at theBattle of the Boyne in 1690 further reinforced theProtestant Ascendancy in Ireland.
Although Ireland gainednear-independence from Great Britain in 1782, there were revolutionary movements in the 1790s that favoured France, Britain's great enemy.Secret societies staged the failed1798 Rebellion. Therefore the kingdoms ofGreat Britain andIreland weremerged in 1801 to form theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
On 1 January 1801,Great Britain andIreland joined to form theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act of Union 1800 was passed in both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland, dominated by the Protestant Ascendancy and lacking representation of the country's Roman Catholic population. Substantial majorities were achieved, and according to contemporary documents this was assisted by bribery in the form of the awarding ofpeerages andhonours to opponents to gain their votes.[11]
The separate Parliaments ofGreat Britain andIreland were now abolished, and replaced by a unitedParliament of the United Kingdom. Ireland thus became an integral part of the United Kingdom, sending around 100 MPs to the House of Commons at Westminster and 28Irish representative peers to the House of Lords, elected from among their number by the Irish peers themselves, except that Roman Catholic peers were not permitted to take their seats in the Lords. Part of the trade-off for the Irish Catholics was to be the granting ofCatholic Emancipation, which had been fiercely resisted by the all-Anglican Irish Parliament. However, this was blocked byKing George III, who argued that emancipating the Roman Catholics would breach hisCoronation Oath. The Roman Catholic hierarchy had endorsed the Union. However the decision to block Catholic Emancipation fatally undermined the appeal of the Union.[12][13] The slow emancipation of Catholics in Ireland began later the early 1800s.
British oppression led to increasing impoverishment and depopulation of Ireland (the island had still not returned to its 1800 population by the early 21st century). Between 1845 and 1849, Ireland experienced the Great Famine. While some have described British actions as deliberate, most historians view it as a catastrophe made worse by government inaction and harmful policies.[14][15] However, the British government, in keeping with itslaissez-faire ideology, refused to intervene and help the Irish. Also, grain from Ireland continued to be exported abroad, exacerbating the famine. One million Irish died and many emigrated.Ireland's demographics never recovered from this, as large numbers of Irish continued to move away (mainly to theUS). The famine and its aftermath led to lasting bitterness in Ireland and increased the desire forself-determination.[16]
In 1873, theHome Rule League was formed, which soughtIrish Home Rule. After anotherfamine in 1879, theIrish Land League was formed, which opposed the oppression of the Irish peasantry. The struggle for Irish self-determination was also supported by theIrish diaspora in the United States, where the militantFenian Brotherhood attackedBritish North America. Irish nationalists in theHouse of Commons exerted increasing pressure on British policy. In 1886 and 1893, twoIrish Home Rule Bills were defeated in Parliament because British conservatives, together with Anglo-Irish Protestants, rejected Irish self-determination.[17] Some concessions had to be made, however, such as land reforms in 1903 and 1909.[18] Irish nationalism only strengthened as a result and in 1905 the militantSinn Féin was founded byArthur Griffith, which advocated secession from the British Empire by any means necessary.[8][17]
In the 1910s, a political crisis arose in Ireland between supporters of Home Rule and its opponents, consisting of the Protestants in Ulster (Northern Ireland). In 1914, theGovernment of Ireland Act was finally passed, promising self-government for Ireland, but implementation had to be postponed with the start ofWorld War I. In 1916, theEaster Rising in Ireland saw an attempt to force Irish independence by force. The uprising was violently put down by the British, with Dublin devastated.[19]
After World War I, violent and constitutional campaigns forautonomy or independence culminated inan election in 1918 returning almost 70% of seats toSinn Féin, who declared Irish independence from Britain and set upa parliament in Dublin, and declared the independence of Ireland from the United Kingdom. Awar of independence followed that ended with theAnglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which partitioned Ireland between theIrish Free State, which gaineddominion status within theBritish Empire, and a devolved administration inNorthern Ireland, which remained part of the UK. In 1937, Ireland declared itself fully independent of the United Kingdom and became aRepublic.[20]
The day after the establishment of theIrish Free State, the Houses of theParliament of Northern Ireland resolved to make an address to the King so as to opt out of the Irish Free State[21] Immediately afterwards, the need to settle an agreed border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland arose. In response to this issuea commission was set up involving representatives from theGovernment of the Irish Free State, theGovernment of Northern Ireland, and theGovernment of the United Kingdom which would chair the Commission. Ultimately and after some controversy, the present border was fixed, not by the Commission but by agreement between the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland) and the Irish Free State.
A further dispute arose in 1930 over the issue of the Irish government's refusal to reimburse the United Kingdom with "land annuities". These annuities were derived from government financedsoft loans given to Irish tenant farmers before independence to allow them to buy out their farms from landlords (seeIrish Land Acts). These loans were intended to redressthe issue of landownership in Ireland arising from the wars of the 17th century. The refusal of the Irish government to pass on monies it collected from these loans to the British government led to a retaliatory and escalatingtrade war between the two states from 1932 until 1938, a period known as theAnglo-Irish Trade War or the Economic War.
While the UK was less affected by the Economic War, the Irish economy was virtually crippled by the resultingcapital flight. Unemployment was extremely high and the effects of theGreat Depression compounded the difficulties. The government urged people to support the confrontation with the UK as a national hardship to be shared by every citizen. Pressures, especially from agricultural producers in Ireland and exporters in the UK, led to an agreement between the two governments in 1938 resolving the dispute.
Manyinfant industries were established during this "economic war". Almost complete import substitution was achieved in many sectors[22] behind aprotective tariff barrier. These industries proved valuable during the war years as they reduced the need for imports.Under the terms of resultingAnglo-Irish Trade Agreement, all duties imposed during the previous five years were lifted but Ireland was still entitled to impose tariffs on British imports to protect new Irish "infant" industries. Ireland was to pay a one-off £10 million sum to the United Kingdom (as opposed to annual repayments of £250,000 over 47 more years). Arguably the most significant outcome, however, was the return of so-called "Treaty Ports", three ports in Ireland maintained by the UK assovereign bases under the terms of theAnglo-Irish Treaty. The handover of these ports facilitatedIrish neutrality during World War II,[citation needed] and made it much harder for Britain to ensure the safety of theAtlantic Conveys.[23]
Ireland adopteda new constitution in 1937. This declared Ireland to be a sovereign, independent state, but did not explicitly declare Ireland to be a republic. However, it did change the name of the state fromIrish Free State toIreland (orÉire in the Irish language). It also containedirredentist claims on Northern Ireland, stating that the "national territory [of the Irish state] consists of the whole island of Ireland" (Article 2). This was measured in some way by Article 3, which stated that, "Pending the re-integration of the national territory ... the laws enacted by the parliament [of Ireland] shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws of Saorstat Éireann" (Saorstát Éireann is the Irish language name of theIrish Free State).
The United Kingdom initially accepted the change in the name toIreland.[24] However, it subsequently changed its practice and passed legislation providing that the Irish state could be calledEire(notably without afada) in British law. For some time, the United Kingdom was supported by some otherCommonwealth countries. However, by the mid-1960s,Ireland was the accepted diplomatic name of the Irish state.
Duringthe Troubles, the disagreement led to request for extradition of terrorist suspects to be struck invalid by theSupreme Court of Ireland unless the nameIreland was used. Increasingly positive relations between the two states required the two states to explore imaginative work-arounds to the disagreement. For example, while the United Kingdom would not agree to refer toMary Robinson asPresident of Ireland on an official visit toQueen Elizabeth II (the first such visit in the two states' history), they agreed to refer to her instead as "President Robinson of Ireland".[citation needed]
As a consequence of theNorthern Ireland peace process, Articles 2 and 3 were changed in 1999 formalising shared Irish and British citizenship in Northern Ireland, removing the irredentist claim and making provisions for common "[institutions] with executive powers and functions ... in respect of all or any part of the island."
The Irish Free State had been governed, at least until 1936, under a form of constitutional monarchy linked to the United Kingdom. The King had a number of symbolically important duties, including exercising theexecutive authority of the state, appointing the cabinet and promulgating the law. However, whenEdward VIII proposed to marryWallis Simpson, an Americansocialite anddivorcée, in 1936, it caused aconstitutional crisis across theBritish Empire. In the chaos that ensued his abdication, the Irish Free State took the opportunity to amend its constitution and remove all of the functions of the King except one: that of representing the state abroad.
In 1937,a new constitution was adopted which entrenched the monarch's diminished role by transferring many of the functions performed by the King until 1936 to a new office of thePresident of Ireland, who was declared to "take precedence over all other persons in the State". However, the 1937 constitution did not explicitly declare that the state was a republic, nor that the President was head of state. Without explicit mention, the King continued to retain his role in external relations and the Irish Free State continued to be regarded as a member of theBritish Commonwealth and to be associated with the United Kingdom.
During the period from December 1936 to April 1949, it was unclear whether or not the Irish state was arepublic or a form ofconstitutional monarchy and (from 1937) whether itshead of state was thePresident of Ireland (Douglas Hyde until 1945, andSeán T. O'Kelly afterwards) or theKing of Ireland (George VI). The exact constitutional status of the state during this period has been a matter of scholarly and political dispute.
The state's ambiguous status ended in 1949, when theRepublic of Ireland Act stripped the King of his role in external relations and declared that the state may be described as theRepublic of Ireland. The decision to do so was sudden and unilateral. However, it did not result in greatly strained relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom. The question of the head of the Irish state from 1936 to 1949 was largely a matter of symbolism and had little practical significance. The UK response was to legislate that it would not grant Northern Ireland to the Irish state without the consent of theParliament of Northern Ireland (which was unlikely to happen inunionist-majority Northern Ireland).
One practical implication of explicitly declaring the state to be a republic in 1949 was that it automatically terminated the state's membership of theBritish Commonwealth, in accordance with the rules in operation at the time. However, despite this, the United Kingdom legislated that Irish citizens would retain similar rights to Commonwealth subjects and were not to be regarded as foreigners.
The Republic of Ireland Act came into force on 18 April 1949. Ten days later, 28 April 1949, the rules of the Commonwealth of Nations were changed through theLondon Declaration so that, when India declared itself a republic, it would not have to leave. The prospect of Ireland rejoining the Commonwealth, even today, is still occasionally raised but has never been formally considered by the Irish government.
A minor, though recurring, source of antagonism between Britain and Ireland is the name of the archipelago in which they both are located. Known as theBritish Isles in Britain, this name is opposed by most in Ireland and its use is objected to by the Irish Government.
A spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London recently said, "The British Isles has a dated ring to it, as if we are still part of the Empire. We are independent, we are not part of Britain, not even in geographical terms. We would discourage its usage [sic].".[25]
No consensus on another name for the islands exists. In practice, the two Governments and the shared institutions of the archipelago avoid use of the term, frequently using the more appropriate termthese islands in place of any term.
Political violence broke out in Northern Ireland in 1968 following clashes over acivil rights campaign. The civil rights campaign demanding an end to institutionalised discrimination againstnationalists by theunionist Government of Northern Ireland. As the violence escalated,rioting and attacks by nationalist and unionist groups began to de-stabilise the province and required the presence ofBritish troops on the ground.
In the wake of the riots, theRepublic of Ireland expressed its concern about the situation. In a televised broadcast,TaoiseachJack Lynch stated that the Irish Government could "no longer stand by" while hundreds of people were being injured. This was interpreted as a threat of military intervention.[26] Whilea plan for an Irish invasion of Northern Ireland was rejected by the Government of Ireland, a secret[citation needed] Irish government fund of £100,000 was dedicated to helping refugees from the violence.[citation needed] Some more actively nationalist Irish Ministers were tried in 1970 when it emerged that most of the fund had beenspent covertly on buying arms for nationalists.[citation needed]
Angry crowds burned down theBritish Embassy in Dublin in protest at the shooting by British troops of 13 civilians in Derry, Northern Ireland onBloody Sunday (1972) and in 1981 protesters tried to storm the British Embassy in response to the IRAhunger strikes of that year. In 1978, theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR) trialIreland v. the United Kingdom ruled that the techniques used in interrogating prisoners in Northern Ireland "amounted to a practice ofinhuman and degrading treatment", in breach of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights.
Throughout the conflict, the Republic of Ireland was primarily crucial for theIRA campaign against British troops andloyalist paramilitaries.[a] Irish historian Gearóid Ó Faoleán wrote forThe Irish Times that "[t]hroughout the country,republicans were as much a part of their communities as any others. Many were involved in theGAA or other local organisations and their neighbours could, to paraphrase [Irish writerTim Pat] Coogan, quietly and approvingly mutter about the 'boys' – and then go off without a qualm the next day to vote for a political party aggressively opposed to the IRA."[27]Shannon Airport andCork andCobh harbours were used extensively by theIRA for arms importation overseas during the early 1970s aided by sympathetic workers on-site. Most IRA training camps were located in the republic, as did safe houses and arms factories. The vast majority of the finances used in the IRA campaign came from criminal and legitimate activities in the Republic of Ireland rather than overseas sources. Large numbers ofimprovised explosive devices andfirearms were manufactured by IRA members and supporters in Southern Ireland and then transported into Northern Ireland and England for use against targets in these regions. For example, one IRA arms factory near Stannaway Road, Dublin, was producing six firearms a day in 1973. An arms factory in the County Dublin village ofDonabate in 1975 was described as "a centre for the manufacture of grenades, rockets and mortars."Gelignite stolen from quarries, farms and construction sites in the Republic was behind the 48,000lbs of explosives detonated in Northern Ireland in the first six months of 1973 alone. IRA training ranged from basic small arms and explosives manufacturing to heavy machine guns, overseen by Southern Irish citizens, including a former member of theIrish Defence Forces.[28][29] Thousands of Irish citizens in the Republic joined the IRA throughout the conflict; for example, theassassination of Louis Mountbatten in August 1979 was carried out by IRA memberThomas McMahon fromMonaghan.[30]
An attempt by the two governments to resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland politically in 1972 through theSunningdale Agreement failed due to opposition by hard-line factions in Northern Ireland. With no resolution to the conflict in sight, the Irish government established theNew Ireland Forum in 1984 to look into solutions. While the BritishUK Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher rejected the forum's proposals, it informed the British government's opinion and it is said to have given the Irish TaoiseachGarret FitzGerald amandate during the negotiation of the 1985Anglo-Irish Agreement, which was directed at resolving the conflict.[31][32] The 1992Downing Street Declaration further consolidated the views of the two Governments and the 1998Good Friday Agreement eventually formed the basis for peace in the province.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs established a "Reconciliation Fund" in 1982 to support organisations whose work tends to improve cross-community or North–South relations.[33] Since 2006, theMinister for Foreign Affairs has hosted an annual "Reconciliation Networking Forum" (sometimes called the "Reconciliation Forum"; not to be confused with theForum for Peace and Reconciliation) in Dublin to which such groups are invited.[34][35]
There isa controversy about the impact thatBritain's withdrawal from the European Union will have at the end of the transition period on theborder between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, in particular the impact it may have on the economy and people of the island were customs or immigration checks to be put in place at the border. It was prioritized as one of the three most important areas to resolve in order to reach theAgreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union.[36]
The people of the UK voted to leave the European Union in a non-bindingreferendum on 23 June 2016, an act which would effectively make the Republic of Ireland-Northern Ireland border anexternal EU border.[37] Due to the lack of supporting legislation, all referendums in the UK are not legally binding, which was confirmed by a Supreme Court judge in November 2016.[38] Nevertheless, the UK government chose to proceed with the departure from the European Union. All parties have stated that they want to avoid a hard border in Ireland particularly due to the sensitive nature of the border.The border issue is concerned by a protocol related to the withdrawal agreement, known as theProtocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.[39]
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The conflict in Northern Ireland, as well as dividing both Governments, paradoxically also led to increasingly closer co-operation and improved relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom. A 1981 meeting between the two governments established the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council. This was further developed in 1985 under theAnglo-Irish Agreement whereby the two governments created the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, under the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council, as a regular forum for the two Governments to reach agreement on, "(i) political matters; (ii) security and related matters; (iii) legal matters, including the administration of justice; (iv) the promotion of cross-border co-operation." The Conference was "mainly concerned with Northern Ireland; but some of the matters under consideration will involve cooperative action in both parts of the island of Ireland, and possibly also in Great Britain." The Agreement also recommended the establishment of the Anglo-Irish Interparliamentary Body, a body where parliamentarians from theHouses of the Oireachtas (Ireland) andHouses of Parliament (United Kingdom) would regularly meet to share views and ideas. This was created in 1990 as the British–Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body.
TheNorthern Ireland peace process culminated in theGood Friday Agreement of 1998 that further developed the institutions established under these Anglo-Irish Agreement. New institutions were established interlocking across "strands":
The scope of theBritish–Irish Intergovernmental Conference is broader that the original Conference, and is intended to "bring together the British and Irish Governments to promote bilateral co-operation at all levels on all matters of mutual interest within the competence of both Governments." The Conference also provides a joint institution for the government of Northern Ireland on non-devolved matters (or all matters when the Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended). However, the United Kingdom retains ultimate sovereignty over Northern Ireland. Representatives from Northern Ireland participate in the Conference when matters relating to Northern Ireland are concerned.
The members of the British–Irish Council (sometimes called theCouncil of the Isles) are representatives of the Irish and British Governments, the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, together with representatives of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. It meets regularly to discuss matters of mutual interest divided into work areas (such as energy, environment or housing) allocated to individual members to work and report on.
The Anglo-Irish Interparliamentary Body developed independently over the same period, eventually becoming known as theBritish–Irish Parliamentary Assembly and including members from the devolved administrations of the UK and the Crown Dependencies.
The development of these institutions was supported by acts such the visit of efforts byMary Robinson (as President of Ireland) to the Queen Elizabeth II (Queen of the United Kingdom), an apology by Tony Blair (as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) to Irish people for the failures of the British Government during theGreat Famine of 1845—1852 and the creation of theIsland of Ireland Peace Park. Astate visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland in May 2011 – including the laying of a wreath at a memorial toIRA fighters in the Anglo-Irish war – symbolically sealed the change in relationships between the two states following the transfer of police and justice powers to Northern Ireland. The visit came a century after her grandfather,King George V, was the last monarch of the United Kingdom to pay a state visit to Ireland in July 1911, while it was still part of the United Kingdom.
Today, the islands ofGreat Britain andIreland contain twosovereign states:Ireland (alternatively described as theRepublic of Ireland) and theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom comprises fourcountries of the United Kingdom.[41] All but Northern Ireland have been independent states at one point.
There are also threeCrown dependencies,Guernsey,Jersey and theIsle of Man, in the archipelago which are not part of the United Kingdom, although the United Kingdom maintains responsibility for certain affairs such as international affairs and ensuring good governance, on behalf of theBritish crown, and can legislate directly for them. These participate in the shared institutions created between Ireland and the United Kingdom under theGood Friday Agreement. The United Kingdom and theCrown dependencies form what are called theBritish Islands.
The devolved administrations of the United Kingdom and the three Crown Dependencies also participate in the shared institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement.
TheBritish monarch washead of state of all of these states and countries of the archipelago from theUnion of the Crowns in 1603 until their role in Ireland became ambiguous with the enactment of theConstitution of Ireland in 1937. The remaining functions of the monarch in Ireland were transferred to thePresident of Ireland, with coming into effect of theRepublic of Ireland Act in 1949.
Several academic perspectives are important in the study and understanding of Ireland–United Kingdom relations. Important strands of scholarship include research on identity, especiallyBritishness andIrishness, and studies of the major political movements, such asseparatism,unionism andnationalism. The concept ofpost-nationalism is also contemporary trend in studies of history, culture and politics in the isles.[citation needed]
TheBritish–Irish Intergovernmental Conference provides for co-operation between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom on all matters of mutual interest for which they have competence. Meetings take the form ofsummits between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Irish Taoiseach, on an "as required" basis. Otherwise, the two governments are represented by the appropriate ministers. In light of Ireland's particular interest in the governance of Northern Ireland, "regular and frequent" meetings co-chaired by the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and the UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, dealing with non-devolved matters to do with Northern Ireland and non-devolvedall-Ireland issues, are required to take place under the establishing treaty.
At these meetings, the Irish government may put forward views and proposals, however sovereignty over Northern Ireland remains with the United Kingdom. In all of the work of the Conference, "All decisions will be by agreement between both Governments [who] will make determined efforts to resolve disagreements between them." The Conference is supported by a standing secretariat located at Belfast, Northern Ireland, dealing with non-devolved matters affecting Northern Ireland.
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The British–Irish Council (BIC) is aninternational organisation[42] laid out under theBelfast Agreement in 1998 and created by the established by the two Governments in 1999. Its members are:
The Council formally came into being on 2 December 1999. Its stated aim is to "promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of these islands". The BIC has a standing secretariat, located inEdinburgh,Scotland, and meets in bi-annual summits and regular sectoral meetings. Summit meetings are attended by the heads of each administrations (e.g. the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) whereas sectoral meetings are attended by the relevantministers form each administration.
While the Council is made up of representatives from the executive of the various administrations in the region, it does not have executive power itself. Instead, its decisions, so far as they exist, are implemented separately by each administration on the basis of consensus. Given this – that the Council has no means to force its member administrations into implementing programmes of action – the Council has been dismissed as a "talking shop" and its current role appears to be one mainly of "information exchange and consultation".[43]
In addition to the Council, theBritish–Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) is composed of members of the legislative bodies in the United Kingdom, including the devolved legislatures,Ireland, and the BritishCrown dependencies. It is the older of the two 'all-islands' institutions (BIC and BIPA) having been founded in 1990 as the British–Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. Its purpose is to foster common understanding between elected representatives from these jurisdictions and, while having no legislative power, it conducts parliamentary activities such as receiving oral submissions, preparing reports and debating topical issues. The Assembly meets in plenary on a bi-annual basis, alternating in venue between Britain and Ireland, and maintains on-going work in committee.
These institutions have been described as part of aconfederal approach to the government of the British–Irish archipelago.[43][44]
TheNorth/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) coordinates activity and exercises certain governmental functions across the island ofIreland. The Council is responsible for developing and executing policy in at least twelve areas of co-operation, of which:
Further development of the role and function of the Council are possible "with the specific endorsement of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Oireachtas, subject to the extent of the competences and responsibility of the two Administrations."
The North/South Ministerial Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly are defined in the Good Friday Agreement as being "mutually inter-dependent, and that one cannot successfully function without the other." Participation in the Council is a requisite for the operation of the Northern Ireland Assembly and participation in the Northern Ireland Executive. When devolution in Northern Ireland is suspended, the powers of the Northern Ireland Executive revert to the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
Meetings of the Council take the form of "regular and frequent" sectoral meetings between ministers from theGovernment of Ireland and theNorthern Ireland Executive. Plenary meetings, attended by all ministers and led by theFirst Minister and deputy First Minister and theTaoiseach, take place twice a year. Institutional and cross-sectoral meetings, including matters in relation to the EU or to resolved disagreements, happen "in an appropriate format" on aad hoc basis. The Council has a permanent office located inArmagh,Northern Ireland, staffed by a standing secretariat.
There is no joint parliamentary forum for the island of Ireland. However, under the Good Friday Agreement, the Oireachtas and Northern Ireland Assembly are asked to consider developing one. The Agreement also contains a suggestion for the creation of a consultative forum composed of members ofcivil society from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Under the 2007,St. Andrew's Agreement, the Northern Ireland Executive agreed to support the establishment of a North/South Consultative Forum and to encourage parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly to support the creation of a North/South parliamentary forum.
Independent of the direct involvement of Government of the United Kingdom, the devolved administrations of the mainland United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies also have relationships and with Ireland.
For example, the Irish and Welsh governments collaborate on various economic development projects through the Ireland Wales Programme, under theInterreg initiative of the European Union.[45] The governments of Ireland and Scotland, together with the Northern Ireland Executive, also collaborated on theISLES project under the aegis of theSpecial EU Programmes Body, set up under the Good Friday Agreement.[46] The project was to facilitate the development of offshorerenewable energy sources, such aswind,wave andtidal energy, and trade in renewable energy betweenScotland, theRepublic of Ireland andNorthern Ireland.
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Ireland is the onlymember state in the European Union not obliged to join theSchengen free-travel area (The United Kingdom also had an opt out from joining prior to its withdrawal from the bloc in 2020). Instead, aCommon Travel Area exists between the two states and the Crown Dependencies (which were never part of the EU, thus never obliged to join Schengen).
The Common Travel Areas is not founded on any formal agreement between Ireland and the United Kingdom and is not provided for in legislation. Instead, it is an informal arrangement between the states. When the Schengen Area was incorporated into the European Union through the 1992Amsterdam Treaty, the first formal recognition of the Common Travel areas was made though an annexedprotocol exempting their obligations to join.
The UK's previous reluctance to join the Schengen Area when it was a member state, was mainly centred around concerns over loss of independent border controls, is usually cited as the reason for not joining. Britain argued that, for an island, frontier controls are a better and less intrusive way to prevent illegal immigration than other measures, such as identity cards, residence permits, and registration with the police. Consequent difficulties for Ireland, given its location and shared border with the UK (at which border points would have to be set up), would then make it very difficult for Ireland to join without the UK.
Except for a period during and in the years after World War II, neither Ireland nor the UK have placed restrictions on travel between each other for citizens resident in each others states since Irish independence. Even during wartime, when Ireland remained neutral and the UK was a belligerent during World War II, the only significant restrictions on travel between the states were an Irish prohibition on the wearing of military uniforms by British citizens when in Irish territory and the instatement of passport controls between Great Britain and the island of Ireland. When Ireland declared itself a republic in 1949, thus making it impossible at the time to remain in theBritish Commonwealth, the British governmentlegislated that even though the Republic of Ireland was no longer aBritish dominion, British law would not treat Ireland as a foreign state.Irish citizens have automaticindefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom, are not considered foreigners, and can vote and standelections for theHouse of Commons andlocal councils. In principle, nothing would prevent an Irish citizen from being aWestminster MP or even agovernment minister.
Prior to World War II, both states mutually recognised each other's entry visas for foreigners. However, in 1952 changes to UK law rescinded this arrangement. In 2011, the first public agreement between the British and Irish governments concerning the maintenance of the Common Travel Area (CTA) was published.[47]
The agreement, which is non-binding, envisions increased co-ordination between Irish and British immigration arrangements and that, from July 2011 Ireland would recognise UK short-term visas on an 18-month pilot basis for nationals of 16 countries. The agreement also mooted the possibility of "Common Travel Area visit visa" including the possibility of a pilot project.
The CTA applies only to Irish and British citizens. As such, residents of either state (or any of the Crown Dependencies) who do not hold one of those nationalities do not have an automatic right to enter Ireland from the UK, or vice versa, including over the land border.[48] As a result of this, there was some controversy when the British government announced an electronic authorisation system for tourists to the UK, which would have meant non-citizen residents of the Republic of Ireland, including EU nationals, would need to apply for an authorisation to cross the land border. This would include many who live near the border and cross regularly for leisure trips. In March 2024, the British government updated guidance to exempt residents of the Republic of Ireland from the scheme.[49]
There are no special arrangements for travel between the Common Travel Area and the Schengen Area and aSchengen visa entitle entry. However, citizens of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerlandmay enter as a right using only their passports.
As adominion of theBritish Empire, citizens of the Irish Free State were regarded asBritish subjects in common with all other members of the Empire. Historically, as late as 1942, British jurisprudence was that Irish citizenship "did no more than confer ... a national character as an Irish citizen within the wider British nationality". Indeed, for some years, the British authorities refused to accept Irish passports.[50]
Starting from the basis of common citizenship, the two states to this day provide reciprocal recognition to each others' citizens. British and Irish citizens resident in the opposite jurisdiction have access topublic healthcare andsocial welfare on equal terms, and can vote in each national and local elections (save that British citizens cannot vote for thePresident of Ireland and Irish referendums). Due to the peace agreement which ended theNorthern Ireland conflict,Northern Irish people have the right to choose to be citizens of the United Kingdom, Ireland, or both.
The interaction of overlapping citizens rights and laws has led to some cases of exploitation of loopholes to avoid the intention of the law. For example, theTwenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was required to amend the potential for abuse of the rights of Irish citizenship to the right to abode in the United Kingdom. Before then, Irish citizenship was granted on the basis ofjus soli (i.e. being born on the island of Ireland was reason in itself to be considered an Irish citizen).In one case, a Chinese migrant to the UK, living in Wales, chose to give birth to a child in Northern Ireland, on the island of Ireland, to take advantage of Irish citizenship laws. Consequently, her child was born an Irish citizen by virtue ofjus soli and so was entitled to permanent abode in the UK even though the mother did not have the right to visit the Republic of Ireland. The mother and father then claimed the right to stay in the United Kingdom by virtue of being the guardians of a citizen of the European Union who would be unable to look after himself should they be deported.[citation needed]
Asingle wholesale electricity market exists on the island of Ireland since 2007. Work towards common arrangements for the transmission and distributions ofnatural gas, including a common retail market arrangements by 2014, on the island are also underway.[51]
In 2004, a natural gas interconnection agreement was signed between the United Kingdom and Ireland, linking Ireland with Scotland via the Isle of Man.[52]
In 2011, the members of the British–Irish Council agreed an "All Islands Approach (AIA)" to electricity grid infrastructure and have launched a programme of joint work examining renewable energy trading as well as interconnection and market integration.[53]
The United Kingdom and Ireland share a number of civic bodies such as theRoyal National Lifeboat Institution, that provides sea-rescue across the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
The threelighthouse authorities in the archipelago (theNorthern Lighthouse Board,Trinity House Lighthouse Service and theCommissioners of Irish Lights) are funded by a single General Lighthouse Fund managed by the UKDepartment for Transport and paid for bylight dues levied on ships calling at British and Irish ports. While this broad arrangement will continue, the total cost of the Commissioners of Irish Lights' work in Ireland (not Northern Ireland) will be met from income raised domestically as from 2015—16.[54]
The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom normalised military cooperation with the signing of aMemorandum of Understanding between the IrishDepartment of Defence and the BritishMinistry of Defence in January 2015.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides a framework for developing and furthering bilateral co-operation and relations between the Department of Defence and the UK Ministry of Defence. The MOU takes into account matters such as military forces training; exercises and military education; exchange of views on EUCommon Security and Defence Policy; potential for joint contributions to UN Crisis Management Operations; joint procurement initiatives; pooling and sharing resources; general sharing of reform in defence services; potential for staff exchanges; sharing of information, and joint contribution to Security Sector Reform and capacity building in crisis locations. It envisages cooperation and exchanges involving both civil and military personnel. The signing of the MoU places already existing co-operation arrangements in the Defence area between Ireland and the UK on a more formal and transparent footing, while fully respecting the differing policy positions and security arrangements of both States.
To date, I have not been requested to appear before the Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality to discuss the Agreement. However, I would welcome the opportunity to brief the Committee should the opportunity arise.
Dáil approval was not required for the Memorandum of Understanding. However, in the interests of transparency and good administrative practices, the Document has been laid beforeDáil Éireann by lodging it to the Dáil Library on 21 January 2015.
— Simon Coveney, "Dáil Written Answers Nos. 354-370"[55]
Historically, Ireland has maintained a policy of strict military neutrality since the foundation of the state. As a result, Ireland has never joined the UK as an active ally, during any modern conflict.[citation needed]
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An important political movement in several countries in the Isles isBritish unionism, an ideology favouring the continued union of the United Kingdom. It is most prevalent inScotland, Wales, England, andNorthern Ireland.British unionism has close ties toBritish nationalism. Another movement isLoyalism, which manifests itself as loyalism to theBritish Crown.
The converse of unionism,nationalism, is also an important factor for politics in the Isles. Nationalism can take the form ofWelsh nationalism,Cornish nationalism,English nationalism,Scottish nationalism,Northern Ireland nationalism,Irish nationalism in Northern Ireland or independence movements in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands.[56]
Several Irish parties are organised on both sides of theIrish border. In recent years,Sinn Féin and theGreen Party have won seats inDáil andAssembly elections in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, respectively. Fianna Fáil won a seat in the1933 general election to the formerParliament of Northern Ireland butrefused to take the seat.
There are movements aimed atunifying the Irish island into 1 country under theRepublic of Ireland.[57]
Pan-Celticism is also a movement which is present in several countries which have a Celtic heritage.
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Irish migration to Great Britain is an important factor in the politics and labour markets of the Isles. Irish people have been the largest ethnic minority group in Britain for centuries, regularly migrating across the Irish Sea. From the earliest recorded history to the present, there has been a continuous movement of people between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain due to their proximity. This tide has ebbed and flowed in response to politics, economics and social conditions of both places. At the 2011 census, there were 869,000 Irish-born residents in the United Kingdom.[58]
As of 2013, the Britons represent the largest immigrant minority of European origin in the Republic of Ireland.
Many of the countries and regions of the isles, especiallyIreland,Wales,Cornwall,Isle of Man, andScotland share a commonCeltic heritage, and all of these countries have branches of theCeltic league.
The United Kingdom and Ireland have separate media, although British television, newspapers and magazines are widely available in Ireland,[59] giving people in Ireland a high level of familiarity with cultural matters in the United Kingdom. Republic of Ireland newspapers and magazines are commonly available in Northern Ireland, and the two main Irish broadsheets,The Irish Times and theIrish Independent are frequently available to the diaspora in Great Britain. Certain reality TV shows have embraced the whole of the islands, for exampleThe X Factor, seasons 3, 4 and 7 of which featured auditions in Dublin, were open to voters in the Republic, while the show previously known asBritain's Next Top Model becameBritain and Ireland's Next Top Model in 2011.
Ireland and the United Kingdom have agreed to a deal on the digital broadcast ofBBC Northern Ireland andChannel 4 into the Republic of Ireland and ofRTÉ andTG4 into Northern Ireland.Tara Television, which broadcast Irish programming into Great Britain, was wound up in 2002. A replacement, under the working title ofRTÉ International, was postponed due to financial conditions. Instead,RTÉ Player provides a subset of programming for audiences outside Ireland.
Some cultural events are organised for the island group as a whole. For example, theCosta Book Awards are awarded to authors resident in the UK or Ireland. TheBooker Prize is awarded to authors from theCommonwealth of Nations and Ireland. TheMercury Music Prize is handed out every year to the best album from an Irish or British musician or group.
TheBritish and Irish Lions is a team made up of players fromEngland,Ireland,Scotland andWales that undertakes tours of theSouthern Hemisphere rugby playing nations every four years. TheRyder Cup ingolf was originally played between a United States team and a team representing Great Britain and Ireland. From 1979 onwards this was expanded to include the whole of Europe.
In 2012, theOlympic torch visited Dublin ona tour of the UK ahead of the2012 Olympic Games inLondon. Dublin was the only place outside of the UK (apart from the traditional lighting ceremony in Greece) that the torch visited. UKSecretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport,Jeremy Hunt, said: "The Republic of Ireland is the only country outside the UK to be visited by the torch and rightly so, given the unique and deep ties between Ireland and the UK."[60]
Due to the linguistic, cultural and legal (both ascommon law countries) similarities between the UK and Ireland, many businesses in both countries have operations in each other country. Both countries have each other as their biggest business partner, and both in the same trade organisations include theEuropean Union andWorld Trade Organization.
Examples of notable British companies that have an Irish operations come as diverse as the supermarket chainTesco (Tesco Ireland), the department storeMarks & Spencer, telecoms companyBT (BT Ireland) and electric companySSE plc (Airtricity). Notable Irish companies that work in the UK includes the airlineRyanair, fashion retailerPrimark (founded in Dublin but now owned byAssociated British Foods), food processorKerry Group, dairy companyOrnua,IrishStoutBreweryGuinness (owned byDiageo) and electric management companyESB.
Due to the closeness, some businesses often treat both countries of trade, finance and marketing as a single unit as quoting for "UK and Ireland" rather than two separate countries.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Dublin, signalling improved relations between Britain and Ireland. Both he and Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris emphasised moving from post-Brexit "friction back to friendship," aiming to strengthen diplomatic and trade ties.[61]
After both nations' bids to join theEuropean Economic Community were rejected, Ireland and the UK signed theIreland–UK Free Trade Area agreement on 19 December 1965.[62] The bilateral free trade area was legally in force from 1 July 1966 until 1 January 1973.[63] Both countries joined the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973.[64][65] The European Economic Community was incorporated into the European Union on the 1 November 1993.[66]
Following the result of theBrexit referendum, the UK invokedArticle 50 in March 2017.[67][68] The UKofficially withdrew from the EU on the 1 January 2021. Trade between theUnited Kingdom and Ireland is governed by theEU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement since 1 January 2021.[69][70]
The database includes the names of the Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies of the United Kingdom which have been specifically included in the UK's treaty obligations, either at the time of ratification or accession, or subsequently.
The United Kingdom and Irish Governments agreed in 1999 on the establishment of a North/South Ministerial Council in accordance with Strand Two of the Belfast Agreement. (See Agreement on the North/South Ministerial Council, CM 4708/2000.)
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The Irish and British Governments also agreed in 1999 on the establishment of a British–Irish Council, in accordance with Strand Three of the Belfast Agreement and as a concession to Unionist concerns about an institutionalised participation of the Republic of Ireland in the affairs of the Province. (See Cm 4710/2000.) This Council comprises representatives of the Irish and British Governments, of the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and of the three Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
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