Irish question

The Irish Question was a phrase used mainly by members of the British ruling classes from the early 19th century until the 1920s. It was used to describe Irish nationalism and the calls for Irish independence.

The phrase came to prominence as a result of the 1800 Act of Union which joined the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland into a single governing body based in Westminster with its usage persisting until the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, which partitioned the Island into two states, the Republic of Ireland or Éire, which was originally called as the Irish Free State, and Northern Ireland which remained part of the United Kingdom.

Issues relating to Northern Ireland since the 1920s are often referred to as either "The Troubles" or "The Irish Problem".

The Irish question affected British politics much the way that the nationalities problem affected Austria. Normal British domestic issues could not be adequately addressed because of the political divisions created by Ireland. The split of the Liberal Party hurt the cause of further social and political reform. The people who could agree about reforms could not agree on Ireland, and Ireland seemed more important. Because the two traditional parties failed to deal with the social questions, by the turn of the 20th century a newly organized Labour Party began to fill the vacuum.