The British Labour Party and twentieth-century Ireland : the cause of Ireland, the cause of Labour / edited by Laurence Marley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Marley, Laurence, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labour Party (Great Britain)--History--20th century.

Labour Party (Great Britain).

Political parties--Ireland--History--20th century.

Political parties.

Ireland--Politics and government--1922-.

Ireland.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 254 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This collection of essays explores a largely neglected aspect of the history of Anglo-Irish relations: British Labour Party policy on Ireland during the twentieth century. Much of the literature on the relationship between 'these islands' concentrates on the present or the recent past, but by viewing an important dimension of that relationship through a wider lens, this work makes a significant contribution to the field British-Irish studies, one that will inform future research and debate. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Labour Party was broadly supportive of Irish self-government, as reflected in its espousal of a home rule settlement. However, from the end of the First World War, Labour anticipated a place in government. As a modern, maturing party that was intent on proving its ability to govern, it developed a more calculated and measured set of responses to Irish nationalism and to the 'Irish question'. With contributions from a range of distinguished Irish and British scholars, this collection provides the first full treatment of the historical relationship between the Labour Party and Ireland in the last century, from Keir Hardie to Tony Blair. By examining the party's responses to crises and debates around home rule, partition, Irish neutrality during WWII, Ireland's departure from the Commonwealth, and the Northern 'Troubles', it offers an original perspective on longer-term dispositions in Labour mentalities towards Ireland.

Contents:

Introduction / Laurence Marley

1. A tangled legacy : the Irish 'inheritance' of British Labour / Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh

2. Uneasy transitions : Irish nationalism, the rise of Labour and the Catholic Herald, 1888-1914 / Joan Allen

3. British Labour, Belfast and home rule, 1900-14 / Emmet O'Connor

4. Labour and Irish revolution : from investigation to deportation / Ivan Gibbons

5. British Labour and developments in Ireland in the immediate post-war years / Peter Collins

6. 'Where the Tories rule' : Geoffrey Ming MP and partition / Bib Purdie

7. The British Labour Party and the tragedy of Northern Ireland Labour / Aaron Edwards

8. 'That link must be preserved, but there are other problems' : the British Labour Party and Derry, 1942-62 / Máirtín Ó Catháin

9. Reflections on aspects of Labour's policy towards Northern Ireland, 1966-70 : a personal narrative / Kevin McNamara

10. The Labour government and police primacy in Northern Ireland, 1974-79 / Stuart C. Aveyard

11. Some intellectual origins of the Labour left's thought about Ireland, c.1979-97 / Stephen Howe

12. The militant tendency comes to Ireland, c.1969-89 / John Cunningham

13. Anglo-Irish diplomatic relations and the British Labour Party, 1981-94 / Melinda Sutton

14. Leaving the soundbites at home? Tony Blair, New Labour and Northern Ireland, 1993-2007 / Kevin Bean.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 17 Jul 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781784996444

1784996440

9781526103963

1526103966

9781784997069

1784997064

OCLC:

980845200