Book review: The short but extraordinary life of the Border Commission

Irish Examiner

12-07-2025

While the IRB held the higher ground on the battlefields of Ireland during the War of Independence, Lloyd George and his team of negotiators had the advantage of experience in the subsequent Treaty negotiations.
It was Michael Collins who first suggested the establishment of a border commission to decide the jurisdictions of the Dublin and Belfast governments.
Lloyd George adopted the idea and produced an ambiguous clause that became Article 12 of the Treaty.
Notwithstanding the extreme pressure the Irish negotiating team was subjected to, its decision not to refer the wording of Article 12 for legal opinion was, at best, naïve.
The story of the Irish Boundary Commission, and the four years it took to establish that body, is outlined in Cormac Moore's latest book, The Root of All Evil.
Moore has previous publications on various aspects of Irish history, these include The GAA v Douglas Hyde, Birth of a Border, and The Irish Soccer Split.
The Root of All Evil is a thorough and insightful investigation of all aspects of the Border Commission.
The book explains in detail the drawn-out attempts to set up the commission, its short but extraordinary life, and its inevitable end.
It has long been argued that Sinn Féin had more interest in the Oath of Allegiance than in partition; Moore argues that this opinion does not stand up to scrutiny.
He argues that considerable time and effort was spent on using the Commission as a means of rescuing Fermanagh, Tyrone, and possibly south County Down from Ulster.
This optimism was ill-founded, as Moore shows that Britain intended to side with unionist leader, James Craig, whose motto was 'not an inch'.
Indeed, Craig's description of the Boundary Commission, 'the root of all evil,' gave Moore the title of the book.
The Boundary Commission should have begun its work immediately in 1922. The outbreak of the Civil War, however, delayed the process. Political upheaval in Britain, resulting in a change of government, further added to the delay.
Even more time was lost as Britain searched the Empire for a 'suitable' independent chairman. Richard Feetham, a judge in the South African Supreme Court, was appointed.
Ireland appointed Eoin MacNeill as its commissioner. This was a grave error. MacNeill, who was also minister for education, proved to be inept in the commissioner role. Belfast had to be forced to appoint a commissioner by the British government.
The fact that Belfast refused to engage should not be taken to mean that they were preparing to thwart any potential unsatisfactory findings of the commission.
Between 1921 and 1925, proportional representation (PR) voting was abolished in Ulster.
Following this many local councils had their voting areas gerrymandered to ensure Unionist majorities. Councils with nationalist majorities such as Tyrone and Fermanagh became unionist councils.
The three-man commission eventually got to work in 1925. It decided there would be no communication with the London, Dublin, and Belfast governments.
MacNeill abided by this decision, but the Ulster commissioner, Joseph Fisher, had no such qualms; he fed everything back to the Ulster Unionists.
MacNeill resigned from the commission as it was about to publish its findings. It had become obvious that the proposed changes were little more than the straightening of some jagged border lines.
The Irish government decided it would be best to bury the report for all time.
In an effort to save face with voters in the South, the Dublin government sought other financial concessions from Britain. Some concessions on war retribution payments were achieved.
This left thousands of nationalists, who live near the northern side of the border, believing they were sold out for cash.
What The Root of All Evil clearly shows is neither Sinn Féin nor the subsequent Free State government had a coherent plan on how to deal with the Ulster Unionists.
As Moore says, '[The Irish government] failed to grasp that Ulster unionism's hatred of Dublin was stronger than its love for the Empire.'
One hundred years on, one wonders if anything has changed?
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