Opening of the Parliament of Northern Ireland 1921

Last Tuesday, June 22nd, was the centenary of the State Opening by King George V of the first Parliament of Northern Ireland in the City Hall in Belfast.

I do not intend to write about the historical background and setting of such a complex process but rather to comment on one or two aspects of the ceremonial which marked that day.

The Government of Ireland Act of 1920, which created two Parliaments for Northern and Southern Ireland came into force on May 3rd 1921. This was followed by elections to the Parliaments on May 24th. That body for Southern Ireland was never to really assemble other than to vote itself out of existence, but the Northern Ireland Parliament did come into being and existed for fifty years.

The ceremonial opening took place in the City Hall in Belfast and is shown in this painting.

Image: niassembley.gov.uk

Immediately to the right of Queen Mary is the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, who is holding the Irish Sword of State. Under the 1920 Act the Lord Lieutenant was to be a figure to link the two parliamentary bodies as the representative of the Crown and to formally appoint ministers and approve legislation. That remained the constitutional position until December 1922.

The Irish Sword of State, made in the reign of King Charles II, was normally kept in Dublin Castle, and, as a symbol of regal authority laid across the arms of the throne in the Castle. I think this occasion must have been the last on which it was used ceremonially. In 1922 it was transferred to London and remains as part of the Regalia at the Tower of London in the Royal Collection. In 2017-18 it was returned to Dublin on loan for an exhibition. There are articles about it at Ireland’s Sword of State returns to Dublin from Britain for first time in almost a century, at The Irish Sword of State, which details the history of the sword, and at Irish Sword of State returns to Dublin for exhibition

For the State Opening the King can be seen wearing the sky blue riband of yhe Order of St Patrick over his Admiral’s uniform.

The Speech from the Throne was unusual in that it was not the usual Gracious Speech setting out a legislative agenda but rather a general one inauguration the new institution. This point had been raised in the Westminster House of Commons the day before with the question as to which of his ministers advice would be the basis of what the King said. The Hansard report on that can be read at

NORTH OF IRELAND PARLIAMENT. (Hansard, 21 June 1921)

The Speech itself had been drafted with the assistance of General Smuts from South Africa. It was noteworthy as an appeal from the Monarch for reconciliation in Ireland. As a result it is usually seen as the event which instigated the talks that led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921.

The text of the Speech is as follows:

 “Members of the Senate and of the House of Commons, For all who love Ireland, as I do with all my heart, this is a profoundly moving occasion in Irish history. My memories of the Irish people date back to the time when I spent many happy days in Ireland as a midshipman. My affection for the Irish people has been deepened by the successive visits since that time, and I have watched with constant sympathy the course of their affairs.

I could not have allowed myself to give Ireland by deputy alone My earnest prayers and good wishes in the new era which opens with this ceremony, and I have therefore come in person, as the head of the Empire, to inaugurate this parliament on Irish soil. I inaugurate it with deep felt hope and I feel assured that you will do your utmost to make it an instrument of happiness and good government for all parts of the community which you represent.

This is a great and critical occasion in the history of the Six Counties – but not for the Six Counties alone, for everything which interests them touches Ireland, and everything which touches Ireland finds an echo in the remotest parts of the Empire. Few things are more earnestly desired throughout the English speaking world than a satisfactory solution of the age long Irish problems, which for generations embarrassed our forefathers, as they now weigh heavily upon us…

I am confident that the important matters entrusted to the control and guidance of the Northern Parliament will be managed with wisdom and with moderation, with fairness and due regard to every faith and interest, and with no abatement of that patriotic devotion to the Empire which you proved so gallantly in the Great War… My hope is broader still. The eyes of the whole Empire are on Ireland today, that Empire in which so many nations and races have come together in spite of ancient feuds, and in which new nations have come to birth within the lifetime of the youngest in this Hall.

I am emboldened by that thought to look beyond the sorrow and the anxiety which have clouded of late My vision of Irish affairs. I speak from a full heart when… I appeal to all Irishmen to pause, to stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive and to forget, and to join in making for the land which they love a new era of peace, contentment, and goodwill… For this the parliament of the United Kingdom has in the fullest measure provided the powers; for this the parliament of Ulster is pointing the way. The future lies in the hands of My Irish people themselves.

May this historic gathering be the prelude of a day in which the Irish people, North and South, under one parliament or two, as those parliaments may themselves decide, shall work together in common love for Ireland upon the sure foundations of mutual justice and respect.”

Reading the text a century later, for all that it paved the way to the Treaty accommodation later in the year, it seems all the more poignant that the King’s words did not enable both a more harmonious constitutional settlement and that the wider issues to which he referred of reconciliation and cooperation have not been taken more deeply to heart. The current issues that swirl around in and amongst the relations between Britain and  Ireland, the very tensions around commemorating this anniversary themselves, show how little the King’s words were heeded.

Image: Decade of Centenaries

This programme cover is of interest in its use of heraldic symbols. In addition to the Royal Arms and those of ghe City of Belfast, there is at the top a version of the badge of Ulster with the Red Hand superimposed on the arms of the ancient Earldom. At the bottom left is the Cross of St Patrick, originally the arms of the Fitzgerald family, and at bottom right the crowned shamrock badge.

The oval cartouches display the crowned harp badge of the Kingdom of Ireland on the left, dating from the sixteenth century, and on the right the crest of the Kingdom, a white hart leaping out from a fortified tower. This can be traced back to at least the reign of King James I. Whereas the crowned harp has continued as a royal badge the hart and tower crest does not, unfortunately, seem to have been used since the 1930s.