Government of Ireland Act 1920

The Government of Ireland Act 1920 is a law of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced under Prime Minister David Lloyd George and given royal assent on December 23, 1920, intended to provide for what its own text called the better government of Ireland. It divided Ireland into two self governing territories, Northern Ireland, made up of six northeastern counties, and Southern Ireland, each of which was to have its own devolved parliament while remaining part of the United Kingdom, with a Council of Ireland intended to link the two and leave open the possibility of later reunification. The act came into force on May 3, 1921, but Southern Ireland was rejected by most Irish nationalists, who wanted full independence rather than limited home rule, and the arrangement there was quickly superseded by the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The parliament and government of Northern Ireland created under the act continued to function for decades, until its institutions were suspended in 1972.