Ireland–United Kingdom relations

United Kingdom-Ireland relations

Ireland	United Kingdom

British–Irish relations (or Anglo-Irish relations) refers to the relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom. The three devolved administrations of the United Kingdom, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the three Crown dependencies of the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, also participate in multilateral bodies created between the two states. The Crown Dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom, but for the purposes of international relations, they are represented by the UK government.

Since at least the 1600s, all of these areas were connected politically, reaching a height in 1801 with the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of the island of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922 as the Irish Free State. Historically, relations between the two states have been influenced heavily by issues arising from their shared (and frequently troubled) history, the independence of the Irish Free State and the governance of Northern Ireland. These include the partition of Ireland and the terms of Ireland's secession, its constitutional relationship with and obligations to the UK after independence, and the outbreak of political violence in Northern Ireland. Additionally, the high level of trade between the two states, their proximate geographic location, a shared history and close cultural and personal links links mean political developments in both states often closely follow each other.

Since the secession of Ireland, Irish and British citizens are accorded equivalent reciprocal rights and entitlements (with a small number of minor exceptions) and a Common Travel Area exists between the Ireland, United Kingdom, and the Crown Dependencies. The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference acts as an official forum for co-operation between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom on matters of mutual interest generally, and with respect to Northern Ireland in particular. Two other bodies, the British–Irish Council and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly act as a forum for discussion between the executives and assemblies, respectively, of the region, including the devolved regions in the UK and the three Crown dependencies. Co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, including the execution of common policies in certain areas, occurs through the North/South Ministerial Council.

Both Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Union (then the European Communities) in 1973. However, the three Crown dependencies remain outside of the EU.

Background

Main article: History of the British Isles

See also: History of the formation of the United Kingdom and Partition of Ireland

The signatures page of the 1922 Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed showing the signatures of the British and Irish delegation.

There have been relations between the people inhabiting the British Isles for as much as we know of their history. A Romano-Briton, Patricius, later known as Saint Patrick, brought Christianity Ireland and, following the fall of the Roman Empire, missionaries from Ireland re-introduced Christianity to Britain.

The expansion of Gaelic culture into what became known as Scotland (after the Latin Scoti, meaning Gaels) brought close political and familial ties between people in Ireland and people in Great Britain, lasting from the early Middle Ages to the 17th century, including a common Gaelic language spoken on both islands. The Norman invasion of Ireland, subsequent to the Norman conquest of England, added political ties between Ireland and England, including a common English language.

War and colonisation during the 16th and 17th centuries brought Ireland securely under English control. However, this was at a cost of great resentment over land ownership and inequitable laws. 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.

Secret societies, both opposing and supporting British rule through violent means, developed in the 18th century and several open rebellions were staged, most notably the 1798 Rebellion. Although Ireland gained near-independence from Great Britain in 1782, the kingdoms of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

19th century violent and constitutional campaigns for autonomy or independence culminated in an election in 1918 returning almost 70% of seats to Sinn Féin, who declared Irish independence from Britain and set up a parliament in Dublin, and declared the independence of Ireland from the United Kingdom. A war of independence followed that ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922, which partitioned Ireland between the Irish Free State, which gained dominion status within the British Empire, and a devolved administration in Northern Ireland, which remained part of the UK. In 1937, Ireland declared itself fully independent of the United Kingdom.

Political landscape

See also: Politics of the Republic of Ireland, Politics of the United Kingdom, and Crown Dependencies

A political map of Ireland and the United Kingdom, including the Crown Dependencies

Today, the British and Irish Isles contain two sovereign states: Ireland (or the Republic of Ireland) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom comprises four constituent parts: three countries, England, Scotland and Wales, and one province, Northern Ireland. All but Northern Ireland have been independent states at one point and each have their own history and sense of identity.

Devolution is a process the United Kingdom whereby differing levels of autonomy has been granted to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This exists alongside calls for independence from the United Kingdom, especially in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, nationalists wish to be reunited with the rest of Ireland, whilst unionists want to remain in the United Kingdom.

There are also three Crown dependencies, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle 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 the British crown, and can legislate directly for them. These participate in the shared institutions created between Ireland and the United Kingdom under the Good Friday Agreement. The United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies form what are called the British 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.

The British monarch was head of state of all of these states and countries of the archipelago from the Union of the Crowns in 1603 until the their role in Ireland became ambiguous with the enactment of the Constitution of Ireland in 1937. The remaining functions of the monarch in Ireland were transferred to the President of Ireland, the ceremonial head of state, with the enactment of the Republic of Ireland Act in 1949.

Post-independence conflicts

Boundary commission

Main article: Boundary Commission (Ireland)

Immediate issues arising from Irish independence and the partition of the island were the settlement of an agreed border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, and the amount of public debt of the United Kingdom for which the Irish Free State would assume responsibility.

In response to the first of these issues a commission was set up involving representatives from the Government of the Irish Free State, the Government of Northern Ireland, and the Government of the United Kingdom which would chair the Commission. Disagreements over the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty led the Irish government to a view that the Boundary Commission was only intended to award areas within the six counties of Northern Ireland to the Irish Free State. The British government's view was that the border was adjustable in either direction so long as the net balance would benefit the Irish Free State. In the mean time, three years after independence, the Irish government had not yet contributed anything to paying the public debt of the United Kingdom. The report of the Commission was leaked by the press causing embarrassment to the Irish government and spurring protests from both nationalists and unionists in Northern Ireland. Eager to avoid conflict, and with other concerns on their mind, the three parties agreed to bury the report, with the agreement that the border would change little, the Irish government would be relieved of their obligation to servicing the UK's public debt and the Council of Ireland, a mechanism agreed to in the 1922 Treaty to re-unify Ireland by 1970, was abolished.

Anglo-Irish Trade War

Main article: Anglo-Irish Trade War

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 financed soft loans given to Irish tenant farmers before independence to allow them to buy out their farms from landlords (see Irish Land Acts). These loans were intended to redress the 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 escalating trade war between the two states from 1932 until 1938, a period known as the Anglo-Irish Trade War or the Economic War.

While the UK was less affected by the Economic War, the Irish economy was virtually crippled and the resulting capital flight reduced much of the economy to a state of barter. Unemployment was extremely high and the effects of the Great 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.

Under the terms of resulting Anglo-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 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 as sovereign bases under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The return of these ports facilitated Irish neutrality during World War II.

Articles 2 and 3 and the name Ireland

Main articles: Articles 2 and 3 and Names of the Irish state

Ireland adopted a 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 from Irish Free State to Ireland (or [Éire] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in the Irish language). It also contained irredentist 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] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is the Irish language name of the Irish Free State).

These led the United Kingdom to refuse to accept Ireland as the name of the Irish state and to legislate that the state would be called Eire (notably without a fada) in British law. For sometime, the United Kingdom was supported by other Commonwealth countries. However, by the mid-1960s, Ireland was the accepted diplomatic name of the Irish state.

During the the Troubles, the disagreement led to request for extradition of terrorist suspects to be struck invalid by the Supreme Court of Ireland unless the name Ireland 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 to Mary Robinson as President of Ireland on an official visit to Queen Elizabeth II (the first such visit in the two state's history), they agreed to refer to her instead as "President Robinson of Ireland".

As a consequence of the Northern 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."

Abdication crisis and the Republic of Ireland Act

Main articles: Edward VIII abdication crisis, Irish head of state from 1936 to 1949, and Republic of Ireland Act

See also: President of Ireland, Monarchy of Ireland, and Monarchy of the United Kingdom

The Instrument of Abdication signed by Edward VIII and his three brothers

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 the executive authority of the state, appointing the cabinet and promulgating the law. However, when Edward VIII proposed to marry Wallis Simpson, an American socialite and divorcée, in 1936, it caused a constitutional crisis across the British Empire. In the chaos that ensued his abdication, the Irish Free State took the opportunity to amended its constitution and remove all of the functions of the 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 the President 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 a member of the British 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 a republic or a form of constitutional monarchy and (from 1937) whether its head of state was the President of Ireland (Douglas Hyde until 1945, and Seán T. O'Kelly afterwards) or the King of Ireland (George VI) and so be in personal union with the United Kingdom. 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 the Republic of Ireland Act stripped the King of his role in external relations and declared that they state may be described as the Republic 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 the Parliament of Northern Ireland (which was unlikely to happen in unionist-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 the British 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 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 the London 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 occasinoally raised and Irish citizens born before the 1949 can still today apply to be recognised as British subjects.

Toponyms

Main articles: British Isles naming dispute and Terminology of the British Isles

A minor, through recurring, source of antagonism between Britain and Ireland is the name of the archipelago in which they both are located. Commonly known as the British Isles, this name is opposed by some 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].".

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 euphemism these islands in place of any term.

The Troubles

Main article: The Troubles

1970 US newsreel about the background of the Troubles

Political violence broke out in Northern Ireland in 1968 following clashes over a civil rights campaign.

Northern Ireland was partitioned from the Irish Free State in 1922 and remained a part of the United Kingdom. The civil rights campaign demanding an end to institutionalised discrimination against nationalists by the unionist Government of Northern Ireland. As the violence escalated, rioting and attacks by nationalist and unionist groups began to de-stabalise the province and required the presence of British troops on the ground.

In the wake of the riots, the Republic of Ireland expressed open support for the nationalists. In a televised broadcast, Taoiseach Jack 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. Whilst a plan for an Irish invasion of Northern Ireland was rejected by the Government of Ireland, a secret Irish government fund of £100,000 was dedicated to helping refugees from the violence. Some more actively nationalist Irish Ministers were tried in 1970 when it emerged that some of the fund had been spent covertly on buying arms for nationalists.

Angry crowds burned down the British Embassy in Dublin in protest at the shooting by British troops of 13 civilians in Derry, Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday (1972) and in 1981 protesters tried to storm the British Embassy in response to the IRA hunger strikes of that year. In 1978, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) trial "Ireland v. the United Kingdom" ruled that the techniques used in interrogating prisoners in Northern Irenand "amounted to a practice of inhuman and degrading treatment", in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

At attempt by the two governments to resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland politically in 1972 through the Sunningdale Agreement failed due to opposition by hard-line factions in Northern Ireland. With no resolution to the conflict in sight, the Irish Ggovernment established the New Ireland Forum in 1984 to look into solutions. Whilst the British UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher rejected the forum's proposals, it informed the British government's opinion and it is said to have given the Irish Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald a mandate during the negotiation of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, which was directed at resolving the conflict. The 1992 Downing Street Declaration further consolidated the views of the two Governments and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement eventually formed the basis for peace in the province.

Good Friday Agreement

Main articles: Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland peace process

A 'Yes' campaign poster for the Good Friday Agreement during simultaneous referenda in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland

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 the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council. This was further developed in 1985 under the Anglo-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 the Houses of the Oireachtas (Ireland) and Houses of Parliament (United Kingdom) would regularly meet to share views and ideas. This was created in 1990 as the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body.

The Northern Ireland peace process culminated in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 that further developed the institutions established under these Anglo-Irish Agreement. New institutions were established interlocking across "strands":

• Strand I: an Assembly and Executive for Northern Ireland based on the D'Hondt system;
• Strand II: a North-South Ministerial Council to develop co-operation and common policies within the island of Ireland;
• Strand III:
  1. a British-Irish Council "to promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of these islands"
  2. a new British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference, established under the British-Irish Agreement, replaced the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council and the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

The scope of the British–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-devovled 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 on in the Conference when matters relating to Northern Ireland are concerned.

The members of the British-Irish Council (sometimes called the Council of the Isles) are representatives of the British and Irish 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 mutual interest divided into work areas (such as energy, environment or housing) are allocated to individual members to work and report on.

The Anglo-Irish Interparliamentary Body developed independently over the same period, eventually becoming known as the British–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 by Mary 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 the Great Famine of 1845—1852 and the creation of the Island of Ireland Peace Park. A visit state visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the Ireland in May 2011 — including the laying of a wreath at a memorial to IRA 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 was still part of the United Kingdom.

Co-operation

Main article: British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference

The British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference provides for co-operation between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United Kingdom on all matter of mutual interest for which they have competence. Meetings take the form of summits between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Irish Taoiseach, on an "as required" basis. Otherwise, the two governments are be 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-devolved all-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 at located at Belfast, Northern Ireland, dealing with non-devolved matters affecting Northern Ireland.

'All-islands' institutions

Main articles: British-Irish Council and British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly

A Euler diagram showing the major political entities of Britain and Ireland

The British-Irish Council (BIC) is an international organisation laid out under the Belfast Agreement in 1998 and created by the established by the two Governments in 1999. Its members are:

• the two sovereign governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom;
• the three devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• the three governments of the Crown dependencies of Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey.

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 in Edinburgh, 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 relevant ministers form each administration.

Whilst 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".

In addition to the Council, the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) is comprised of members of the legislative bodies in the United Kingdom, including the devolved legislatures, Ireland, and the British Crown 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, whilst 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 a confederal approach to the government of the British-Irish archipelago.

All-Ireland institutions

Main article: North/South Ministerial Council

The former offices of the North/South Ministerial Council on Abbey Street, Armagh. The council moved into a new building in April 2010.

The North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) coordinates activity and exercises certain governmental functions across the island of Ireland. The Council is responsible for developing and executing policy in at least twelve areas of co-operation, of which:

• at least six are executed separately in each jurisdiction
• at least six are executed by an all-Ireland "implementation body"

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 the Government of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Executive. Plenary meetings, attended by all ministers and led by the First Minister and deputy First Minister and the Taoiseach, 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 a ad hoc basis. The Council has a permanent office located in Armagh, 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 comprised of members of civil 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.

Inter-regional relationships

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 the Interreg initiative of the the European Union. The governments of Ireland and Scotland, together with the Northern Ireland Executive, are also collaborating on the ISLES project under the aegis of the Special EU Programmes Body, set up under the Good Friday Agreement. The project is to facilitate the development of offshore renewable energy sources, such as wind, wave and tidal energy, and trade in renewable energy between Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Common Travel Area

Main article: Common Travel Area

  The Common Travel Area

  Schengen Area (EU)

  Schengen Area (non-EU)

  States due to join the Schengen Area

Ireland and the United Kingdom are the only parts of the European Union non-obliged to join the Schengen free-travel area. The Crown Dependencies, which are outside of the EU, are not members either. Instead, a Common Travel Area exists between the two states and the Crown Dependencies. The Common Travel Areas is no 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 1992 Amsterdam Treaty, the first formal recognition of the Common Travel areas was made though an annexed protocol exempting their obligations to join.

The UK's reluctance to join the Schengen Area, through concerns over loss of independent border controls, is usually cited as the reasons 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 United Kingdom (at which border points would have to be set up), would then make it very difficult for Ireland to join without the United Kingdom.

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 war time, when Ireland remained neutral and the United Kingdom was a belligerent during World War II, the only significant restrictions on travel between the states was 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 suddenly declared itself a republic in 1949, thus making it impossible to remain in the British Commonwealth, the UK government legislated that even though the Republic of Ireland was no longer a British dominion, it would not be treated as a foreign country for the purposes of British law.

Prior to post-World War II, both states mutually recognised each others entries 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 was published.

The agreement, which is non-binding, envisions increased co-ordination between British and Irish immigration arrangements and that, from July 2011 Ireland would recognise UK short terms 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.

There are no special arrangements for between travel the Common Travel Area and the Schengen Area and a Schengen visa entitle entry. However, citizens of the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland may enter as a right using only their passports.

Citizenship and citizens rights

See also: British nationality law, Irish nationality law, and British nationality law and the Republic of Ireland

A 1924 passport, issued after the secession of the Irish Free State, bearing the name United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish Free State also issued passports from 1924 onwards.

As a dominion of the British Empire, citizens of the Irish Free State were British 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".

Starting from the basis of common citizenship, the two states to this day provide reciprocal recognition to each others citizens. British and Irish citizens can avail of public services (for example, health care and social welfare) in each other's jurisdictions on an equal basis and are entitled to the right of abode, with deportation only in the most exceptional of circumstances. They each have equal voting (and standing) rights in all elections held across the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Northern Ireland occupies a unique location in the citizenship of the islands, with Northern Ireland people being recognised under the Good Friday Agreement as simultaneously British and/or Irish citizens according to their choice.

Both the United Kingdom and Ireland are members of the European Union. Thus, citizens of Ireland and the United Kingdom are automatically citizens of the European Union and enjoy the associated benefits. Channel Islanders and Manx people are British citizens and hence European citizens. However, they are not entitled to take advantage of the freedom of movement of people or services unless they are directly connected (through birth, descent from a parent or grandparent, or five years' residence) with the United Kingdom.

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, the Twenty-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 of jus 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 on Great Britain, chose to give birth to a child in Northern Ireland, on the island of Ireland, in order to take advantage of Irish citizenship laws. Consequently, her child was born an Irish citizen by virtue of jus 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 citizens of the European Union who would be unable to look after itself should they be deported.

Energy

File:SEM operation.png

The operation of the single electricity market on the island of Ireland

A single wholesale electricity market exists on the island of Ireland since 2007. Work towards common arrangements for the transmission and distributions of natural gas, including a common retail market arrangements by 2014, on the island are also underway.

In 2004, a natural gas interconnection agreement was signed between the United Kingdom and Ireland, linking Ireland with Scotland via the Isle of Man.

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.

Political movements

An important political movement in several countries in the Isles is British unionism, an ideology favoring the continued union of the United Kingdom. It is most prevalent in Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland. British unionism has close ties to British nationalism. Another movement is Loyalism, which manifests itself as loyalism to the British Crown.

The converse of unionism, nationalism, is also an important factor for politics in the Isles. Nationalism can take the form of Welsh nationalism, Cornish_nationalism, English nationalism, Scottish nationalism, Ulster nationalism, or independence movements in the Isle of Man or Channel Islands.

There are no major political parties that are present in all of the countries. Several Irish parties are organised on both sides of the Irish border. In recent years, Sinn Féin and the Green Party have won seats in Dáil and Assembly elections in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, respectively. Fianna Fáil won a seat in the 1933 general election to the former Parliament of Northern Ireland but refused to take the seat.

Pan-Celticism is also a movement which is present in several of the countries which have a celtic heritage.

Immigration and emigration

Irish migration to Great Britain is an important factor in the politics and labor markets of the Isles. Irish people have been the largest 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. As of the 2011 census, there were 869,000 Irish-born residents in the United Kingdom.

Culture

Main article: British Isles

The British and Irish Lions rugby union football team (red) against the New Zealand Maoris (black) in 2005

The United Kingdom and Ireland have separate media, although British television, newspapers and magazines are widely available in Ireland, giving people in Ireland a high level of familiarity with cultural matters in the United Kingdom. Republic of Ireland newspapers and magazine are commonly available in Northern Ireland. Certain reality TV shows have embraced the whole of the islands, for example The X Factor, seasons 3, 4 and 7 of which featured auditions in Dublin, were open to Irish voters, whilst the show previously known as Britain's Next Top Model became Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model in 2011.

Ireland and the United Kingdom have agreed a deal on the digital broadcast of BBC Northern Ireland and Channel Four into the Republic of Ireland and of RTÉ and TG4 into Northern Ireland. Tara Television, which broadcast Irish programming into Great Britain, was wound up in 2002. A replacement, under the working title of RTÉ International, has been postponed owing to the financial conditions. Instead, RTÉ player provides a subset of programming for audiences outside of Ireland.

Some cultural events are organised for the island group as a whole. For example, the Costa Book Awards are awarded to authors resident in the UK or Ireland. The Man Booker Prize is awarded to authors from the Commonwealth of Nations and Ireland. The Mercury Music Prize is handed out every year to the best album from a British or Irish musician or group.

The British and Irish Lions is a team made up of players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales that undertakes tours of the southern hemisphere rugby playing nations every four years. The Ryder Cup in golf 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, the Olympic torch will visit Dublin on a tour of the UK ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Dublin will be the only place outside of the UK (apart from the traditional lighting ceremony in Greece) that the torch will visit. UK Secretary 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."

Many of the countries and regions of the isles, especially Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, and Scotland share a common Celtic heritage, and all of these countries have branches of the Celtic league.

Academic perspectives

Several academic perspectives are important in Ireland-United Kingdom relations. Important strands of scholarship include research on identity, especially Britishness and Irishness, and studies of the major political movements, such as separatism, unionism and nationalism. The concept of post-nationalism is also prevalent contemporary trend in studies of history, culture and politics in the isles.

The recent trend of using an archipelago perspective in scholarship of history, politics and identity was initiated by historian J. G. A. Pocock in the 1970s. He pressed his fellow historians to reconsider two issues linked to the future of British history. First, he urged historians of the British Isles to move away from histories of the Three Kingdoms (Scotland, Ireland, England) as separate entities, and he called for studies implementing a bringing-together or conflation of these national narratives into truly integrated enterprises. Pocock proposed the term Atlantic archipelago to avoid the contested term, British isles. It has since become the commonplace preference of historians to treat history of the isles in just this fashion (e.g. Hugh Kearney's The British Isles: A History of Four Nations or Norman Davies The Isles: A History).

In recent times, Richard Kearney has been an important scholar in this space, through his works for example on a Postnationalist Archipelago. While Kearney's work has been noted by many as important for understanding of modern Irish politics and identity, some have also argued that his approach can be applied to the archipelago as a whole:

"Scholars and critics have noted the importance of Kearney's work on post-nationalism for Irish studies and politics. However, less attention has been paid to its implications for discussions and debates beyond the Irish Sea. In this context, Kearney's writings can be viewed as part of a broader intellectual landscape in which national identity, nationalism, and possibly postnationalism are at the center of political and intellectual discussions in the Isles. I say the Isles here, rather than simply Britain, because re-imagining the component parts of Britain, or more precisely the United Kingdom, entails reconfiguring the relationships in the entire archipelago."

Kearney's ideas and thinking were important in the lead-up to the Good Friday Agreement, and he was an early proponent of what eventually became the British-Irish Council.

The University of Exeter in the UK and the Moore Institute at the National University of Ireland, Galway started in October 2010 the Atlantic Archipelago Research Project, which purports to "take an interdisciplinary view on how Britain’s post-devolution state inflects the formation of post-split Welsh, Scottish and English identities in the context of Ireland’s own experience of partition and self-rule; Consider the significance of this island grouping to the understanding of a Europe that exists in a range of configurations; from large scale political union, to provinces, dependencies, and micro-nationalist regions (such as Cornwall), each with their contribution and presence; Reconsider relations across our island grouping in light of issues regarding the management and use of the environment."

See also

• Anglo-Irish
• Irish community in Britain