1940: Ireland, Northern

The death of Viscount Craigavon, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland since 1921, climaxed a year in which fear of invasion overshadowed the continued conflict with Southern Ireland (Eire). Lord Craigavon died suddenly on Nov. 24, 1940, after a brief illness. On the following day the Cabinet chose John Miller Andrews, Finance Minister since 1937 and deputy Prime Minister, to succeed the man who had been Prime Minister since the formation of the Ulster government. The Cabinet was faced with a difficult legal problem since there was no precedent for selecting a successor for a Prime Minister who dies in office.

Lord Craigavon's death came at a time of increased tension between Northern Ireland and Eire because of the latter's refusal to grant England naval bases that were gravely needed for the defense of the two islands. The refusal of Eamon De Valera, Prime Minister of Eire, to grant the bases was not unconnected with De Valera's determination to force a union between Northern and Southern Ireland, an ambition which had long been stoutly resisted by Lord Craigavon. It was thought in some quarters that the death of Craigavon might facilitate a settlement of this long-standing dispute. Although Andrews has also opposed proposals for reunion of the two sections of Ireland, it is not believed that he will prove as irreconcilable on the subject as Craigavon.

During the early part of 1940 the perennial conflict between the two Irelands flamed out into a number of minor clashes. The headquarters of the Northern Ireland Special Constabulary was bombed on January 8 without causing any casualties. The hanging of two Irish Republican Army men at Birmingham, England, early in February led to an inscription being painted on the British Army recruiting headquarters in Londonderry imploring Irishmen to avenge their deaths. On February 18, six members of the Irish Republican Army entered a house in Belfast and smashed windows and furniture because the occupants refused to draw their shades in mourning for the executed men. A few days later two motion picture houses were bombed at Londonderry after an I.R.A. warning to cease showing British newsreels had been disregarded. On March 22, four hundred armed members of the I.R.A. marched through the streets of Belfast in defiance of a government ban on such a demonstration. A railroad bridge was dynamited near Londonderry the same day. In April members of the I.R.A. bombed the stores of two news agents who refused to carry out the I.R.A. boycott on the Irish Press.

The fall of France in June aroused great apprehension lest Germany attack Ireland as the first step in its planned invasion of England. Faced by this imminent threat, Lord Craigavon issued a statement on June 29 declaring that he was prepared to 'enter into the closest cooperation' with Prime Minister De Valera for the joint defense of Ireland, provided that this defense is an aid to Britain and the Empire. De Valera replied that such a joint defense would be possible only if Northern Ireland were to drop out of the war and join Eire in a policy of neutrality. On July 11, Lord Craigavon announced before the Ulster House of Commons that the proposals for joint defense had broken down. Prior to this, however, he had journeyed to London and had apparently received ample assurances from Prime Minister Churchill that Ulster would be defended by the British. About 200,000 British soldiers were stationed in Ulster at the end of the year.

A protest against the special circumstances surrounding the raising of the Ulster Defense Volunteers was made to Prime Minister Churchill by twenty-four Irish or Anglo-Irish writers, politicians, and army officers on October 4. It was charged that the Ulster Defense Volunteers had been made a branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and thereby had become identified with the bitter sectarian and political differences dividing Northern Ireland. Enrollment was said to be determined by considerations of politics and religion, making the force a sort of little Gestapo to enforce the will of the majority groups against the Catholic minority.

Northern Ireland's contribution to the war effort has been chiefly industrial. New munitions factories have been built; the flax industry has been doubled in capacity; every slip in its shipbuilding yards — the largest in the world — has been utilized; and an airplane factory employing some 10,000 men has been substantially enlarged. Agricultural production has also been stepped up; between 250,000 and 300,000 acres of grassland were plowed up during the first year of the war. On October 25, it was announced that the Duke of Kent had completed a five-day secret tour of inspection of defense works in Ulster.

In harmony with the remainder of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has postponed local government elections for the duration of the war.