‘Melancholy Sanctity’ in the South, ‘Perfect Democracy in the North’: Ireland 1923–1966
The new Irish ministers were obsessed with issues of financial credibility, eager to demonstrate the seriousness of Irish national purpose by avoiding bankruptcy or extensive debt. They were determined to preserve the institutions of the state and to demonstrate that these institutions could themselves hollow out the last remnants of British rule. They were motivated to vindicate the celebrated claim of Michael Collins, that the Free State constituted the freedom to build freedom. However, the shadow of the civil war, the looming World War, and the poverty of the new state ensured that there was little appetite for radical social and cultural change. The first section of this chapter explores the ‘Orange Terror’ in inter-war Northern Ireland. The second section looks at Irish nationalism during the World War and its aftermath. The third section examines Ulster Unionism, the impact of the Second World War, and welfarism.
Keywords: World War, civil war, Michael Collins, freedom, welfarism, Ulster Unionism, Northern Ireland, Orange Terror
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