ABSTRACT
The Free State’s lack of full legitimacy, the threat of violence against its disloyal citizens, and its brush with its own armed forces hardly augered well for the political stability of Ireland. And the Government was also vulnerable to the charge that it had let down the nation by its failure over the border; for not only had the Treaty Settlement of 1921 accepted partition, de facto if not de jure, the boundary commission which reported in 1925 confirmed the existing arrangements with only slight changes proposed on either side of the frontier. Political style in Ireland was a vital ingredient of success at national level, especially in a predominantly rural country where politics, speeches, elections, provided much of the colour and entertainment of life. If such people defended the Free State, if the Government of Northern Ireland found it a congenial neighbour, then its nationalist credentials must be in doubt.
