ABSTRACT

The republic’s constitution asserted a claim to the whole island. In the north, the Protestant majority’s votes in every election showed their opposition to the idea of joining the republic, which is now almost entirely Catholic (after 1921, many Protestants left) and whose main traditions are of resistance to British rule. At times, the ‘Irish Republican Army’ (IRA) and other groups carried out terrorist actions in the north, using bases in the south – whose government, at times, dealt with them severely.