Accepting Dominion Status as a Way of Reconciliation of British-Irish Disputes?

Abstract

The article is focused on an analysis of British-Irish relations in 1921. From the British point of view, the best solution to the conflict seemed to be the granting of Dominion status. It was based on the assumption that the British Empire represented the largest community of free sister nations in the world. On the contrary, Irish officials did not have the confidence to participate in various colonial or imperial projects because they considered themselves a victim of British colonialism. The question of the accepting of the Dominion status divided the Irish political scene into supporters and opponents of the Anglo-Irish treaty. Supporters of the agreement calmed their own sympathizers by claiming that freedom and equality derive directly from Dominion status. However, the lack of precise determination of the rights and duties of the Dominions was a complication of the situation. The question arises as to whether negotiations on reconciliation between Britain and Ireland led from the British and Irish perspectives, in the context of the then unclear situation of what precisely it means to be a Dominion, to a fair solution to the British-Irish Disputes.