Irish Home Rule: An Act of Freedom Essay

This culminated in the Rebellion of 1798, lead by Wolfe Tone and the Society of United Irishmen, in which Hugh and Jimmy participated: “The road to Sligo. A spring morning. 1798. Going into battle” (445). But, as these characters soon discovered, the rebellion failed resulting in large executions and the passing of the Act of Union in 1800. This piece of legislation, effective from 1 January 1801, brought Ireland under the direct rule of the British Crown.

However that changed after the end of the French and Indian war. The British losses were extremely heavy and it would hardly by able to defend itself if war was to brake out. Therefore England did not have a sufficient armed force to enforce its laws.

Another problem with the voting system was the lack of a private vote. Employers could influence the way their employees voted by threatening to punish them if they failed to vote for their preffered candidate. This problem was fixed in 1872, when William Gladstone's government passed the Ballot Act which guaranteed a secret system of voting. Although the immediate results of the reform act were not earth shattering, the country had taken, as Lord Derby said, "a leap in the dark." Strikes, union advances, and labor organization were powerful forces for change in the final years of the century. William Gladstone was elected as Prime Minister of England for the second time in 1880 and the most important legislative action that took place during his second ministry was the Reform Act of 1884. The reform act was rejected the first time it was presented to the House of Lords, but accepted the second time because it was accompanied by a redistribution act, which had the following implications. "(i) seventy-nine towns with populations smaller than 15,000 lost their right to elect an MP; (ii) thirty-six with populations between 15,000 and 50,000 lost one of their MPs and became single member constituencies; (iii) towns with populations between 50,000 and 165,000 were given two seats; (iv) larger towns and the country constituencies were divided into single member constituencies" (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PR1885.htm). The actual Reform Act of 1884

Parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law are both concepts that are key to shaping the British constitution, however there is ambiguity as to which concept is the heart of the UK’s constitutional arrangement in the recent years.

A secondary way in which parliamentary sovereignty in the UK can be seen to be moving is though the introduction of devolution which is challenging the UK parliament’s sovereignty. The UK is a unitary state, so only one body can in theory

The first recommendation would later become known as 'responsible government'. The colonial governor would have to choose the executive council from elected member of the majority party in the Legislative. As well the governor would have to abide by the general wishes of the elected assembly. The practice of responsible was not put into effect until 1841 but Durham's recommendations would be the start of reform to the British colonial rule in the Canada's. This reform was a major step towards Canadian confederation in 1867 (Greer, 135.).

which stated that America and Britain were under the same level of authority under Parliament.

The Irish were promised the Home Rule Act, but it was taken away at the start of the Ester Uprising. “This modest promise was swept away the Easter Uprising of 1916, when a small band of rebels paralyzed the city and the Irish Republic was proclaimed from the steps of the GPO” (Hegarty). Padhraic Pearse led about 2000 people into the Easter Revolution, only a small fraction of the people that had lived in Dublin at the time. Most of the Irish were involved in World War I. “They had little support – many Irish volunteers had joined the war effort and the rebels were perceived to be traitors to the great cause” (Hegarty). It would take more violence and rebellion against the British to bring attention to their cause both locally and abroad.

The parliament passed laws taking care of England’s interest, and not the colonies’ interest. The British wanted control over the colonies, and would not allow them government representation, for the British believed the colonies were sufficiently represented. The colonies did not want the British in control; therefore, they

The Irish Americans feel it was important to participate in politics. Like every other American, this group of people aimed to have their voice heard. Irish Americans begun to take a part in Urban politics, in this way, these immigrants shaped government politics and aimed to benefit the poor. As immigrants, these populations did not have abundant job opportunities or high incomes. Therefore, they aimed to take control of political positions to benefit those who struggled in the same way they did. Towards the 1800s, Irish Americans began to take major roles in politics. They began to interact in elections and they gained representation for their population. By taking a part in politics, Irish Americans became a great part of the representative

The turmoil of the second decade of the twentieth century gave way to a greater sense of peace and stability in the third, with a peace treaty signed between Ireland and Britain in December of 1921 and Home Rule finally established for most of the Irish isle (Ferriter, n.d.). At the same time, this new society did not lead to instant prosperity, and indeed poverty remained a major and growing problem in Ireland during this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). Economic and social problems that persisted during this decade certainly could have been pushes to increased immigration.

In 1977 a Labour Member of Parliament introduced a important issue, a question that was called “The West Lothian Question” later on and referred to the ability to vote on matters that only afected people living in England by Members of Parliament from constituencies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as a consequence of the devolution of power from Westminster and Scottish parliament, Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies.

The campaign had ultimately led to the creation of the Act of Ireland of 1920. This created a twenty-six county Irish Free State and six counties in Northern Ireland (Filardo-Llamas, 2013; White, 1989). This act also allowed Northern Ireland to choose whether or not to stay with Britain or become part of the Free State. Northern Ireland ultimately decided to stay with the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland created its own parliament in Stormont in Belfast (Bosi, 2012; Filardo-Llamas, 2013). The Free State was mostly inhabited by Catholics while Northern Ireland was populated mostly by Protestants (White, 1989). But the road to have a Free State did come at a price. Over 7,500 people lost their lives or were wounded between 1917 and 1923. Many lost their homes, family and friends (Hart,

The Irish had suffered long before in the hands of the English when Cromwell had been in control and had taken away land held by the catholic majority of the country to members of the protestant minority. This created a large tension among the population with the oppressed majority and the rather entitled minority who by Trevelyan’s snooty tone did indeed see themselves as the superior people in the country. (Trevelyan’s tone is probably the most dismissive when in discussion of the Irish, mayhaps showing his own true dislike.) (Trevelyan, p. 116-

“Parliamentary sovereignty is no longer, if it ever was, absolute” (Lord Hope). Discuss with reference to at least three challenges to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. Parliamentary sovereignty is the concept that Parliament has the power to repeal, amend or create any law it wishes and therefore no body in the UK can challenge its legal validity. There are many people who would argue that this is a key principle to the UK Constitution, on the other hand, there are those who strongly believe that this idea is one of the past, and that the idea of the UK Parliament being sovereign is false. One of these people is Lord Hope, who said “Parliamentary sovereignty is no longer, if it ever was, absolute”. During the last 50 years there have been a variety of developments that have proved to be a challenge for the legitimacy of parliamentary sovereignty, and the ones which will be examined in this essay are: the devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament; The United Kingdom’s entry into the European Union in 1973; and finally the power of judicial review. Starting with the devolution of powers, these challenges will all be evaluated when discussing whether or not the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty applies to the United Kingdom. Westminster’s sovereignty has been gradually diminishing over time as varying amounts of power have been devolved to Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. In this essay, the devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament will be