Henceforth, the IRA Army Council perceived itself to be the legitimate government of the Irish Republic and, on this basis, the IRA and Sinn Féin justified their rejection of the states of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and political abstentionism from their parliamentary institutions.

The entrance into force of the treaty was in doubt for a time, after its initial rejection by Irish voters in a referendum in June 2001.

The results of the fifteen by-elections were cited by Unionists as a rejection of the Agreement by the Northern Irish electorate, but the action did not succeed in persuading the government of Margaret Thatcher to repeal the accord.

Devlin stood on the slogan " I will take my seat and fight for your rights " – signalling her rejection of the traditional Irish republican tactic of abstentionism ( being absent from Westminster ).

Maud Gonne MacBride published her autobiography in 1938, titled A Servant of the Queen, a reference to a both a vision she had of the Irish queen of old, Cathleen ( or Caitlin ) Ní Houlihan and an ironic title considering Gonne's Irish Nationalism and rejection of the British Queen.

For example, McCreevy once referred to the Irish health system as a " black hole " and reacted to the initial Irish rejection of the Nice Treaty as " a sign of a healthy democracy ".

Now the Irish House of Commons had major input into the substance, or ‘ heads ’, of supply bills that would then be transmitted to the English Privy Council for approval, amendment or rejection under the Poynings ’ Law procedure.

His comments were dismissed as " unhelpful " by leading Irish politicians, and some media commentators have suggested that his remarks may have galvanised the " No " campaign in the run up to the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty on 13 June 2008.

Doyle made news during debate in the European Parliament in June 2008 after the rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon by Irish voters.

Following the rejection of the Constitution by voters in the French referendum of May 2005 and the Dutch referendum of June 2005, the planned Irish referendum was postponed indefinitely.

The National Forum on Europe () was established by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, TD, in the aftermath of the rejection of the Treaty of Nice by the Irish people in 2001.

The Statute of Westminster applied to Canada, the Irish Free State, and the Union of South Africa without the need for any acts of ratification.

The Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, a necessary precursor of Ireland's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, was rejected by Irish voters in a referendum in 2008.

After the ratification by 64 votes to 57 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty by the Second Dáil on 7 January 1922, he replaced de Valera, who stepped down in protest as President of the soon-to-be abolished Irish Republic.

Martin and Cowen failed to convince the Irish public to support the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and this protest expressed in the referendum on 12 June 2008 plunged the government into a major political crisis.

Further, Brian Crowley told Klaus that the Irish people wanted ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and were " insulted " by Klaus ' association with Declan Ganley and Libertas.

He mooted for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty when the latter was threaten to be rejected by the Irish in referendum.

In the run up to the referendum in the Republic of Ireland on the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, Kouchner warned that any " No " vote towards the treaty would be detrimental to Ireland and the Irish economy.

However the ratification of major EU treaties, starting with the Single European Act of 1986, requires the amendment of Article 29 of the Constitution of Ireland, which prescribes the extent to which Irish law can be superseded by other laws, including EU law.

He was responsible at the time for steering the transitional arrangements between the Provisional Government and Britain, in the period between the ratification of the Treaty and the creation of the Irish Free State.

The Treaty was given legal effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922, and in Ireland by formal ratification by Dáil Éireann.

* 1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.

* 1922 – One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.

The constitution's replacement, the Treaty of Lisbon, was also voted down by the Irish before they reversed their decision in 2009.

The most contentious areas of the Treaty for the IRA were abolition of the Irish Republic declared in 1919, the status of the Irish Free State as a dominion in the British Commonwealth and the British retention of the so called Treaty Ports on Ireland's south coast.

Both sides agreed that the IRA's allegiance was to the ( elected ) Dáil of the Irish Republic, but the anti-Treaty side argued that the decision of the Dáil to accept the Treaty ( and set aside the Irish Republic ) meant that the IRA no longer owed that body its allegiance.

Many left political activity altogether, but a minority continued to insist that the new Irish Free State, created by the " illegitimate " Treaty, was an illegitimate state.

In Moore v Attorney-General of the Irish Free State AC 484 ( PC ) the right of the Oireachtas to abolish appeals to the Privy Council was challenged as a violation of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Commodore Perry and his men come ashore and, on their " March to the Treaty House ", demonstrate their goodwill by offering such gifts as two bags of Irish potatoes and a copy of Owen's " Geology of Minnesota ".

The British government had wanted to exclude from the statute the legislation underpinning the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 from which the Free State's constitution emerged, but the Irish government objected and the other Dominions concurred.

In 1922, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Ireland effectively seceded from the United Kingdom to become the Irish Free State ; a day later, Northern Ireland seceded from the Free State and became part of the United Kingdom.

The war ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 that established the Irish Free State.

** The Anglo-Irish Treaty establishing the Irish Free State, an independent nation incorporating 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, is signed in London.

* January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64 – 57 votes.

The Irish Free State ( ) ( 6 December 1922 – 1937 ) was the state established as a dominion under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand.

The Irish Treaty delegation set up Headquarters in Hans Place, Knightsbridge and on 5 December 1921 at 11: 15 am it was decided by the delegation during private discussions at 22 Hans Place to recommend the Treaty to the Dáil Éireann ; negotiations continued until 2: 30 am on 6 December 1921 after which the Treaty was signed by the parties.

The Treaty was given legal effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922.

However, the Treaty and the laws which implemented it also allowed Northern Ireland to opt out of the Irish Free State.

Under Article 12 of the Treaty, Northern Ireland could exercise its opt out by presenting an address to the King requesting not to be part of the Irish Free State.

Giscard gained some notoriety in the June 2008 Irish vote on the Lisbon Treaty.

He led the European Movement Ireland, a pro-EU lobby group in Ireland until late 2007, when he re-founded the Irish Alliance for Europe to campaign on the Treaty of Lisbon.

Irish constitutional law requires a referendum to alter the constitution for such a major change as the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty.

The treaty was eventually approved by Irish voters when the successful Twenty-eighth Amendment of the constitution was approved in the second Lisbon referendum, held in October 2009.

One of his first tasks since being re-elected was a visit to Ireland to persuade Irish citizens to approve the Treaty of Lisbon in the country's second referendum due to be held the following month.

However, as Lisbon was being ratified the Irish electorate voted against it with one reason being the fear of losing a Commissioner.

In 2008 Higgins was a political opponent of the Irish government's first Treaty of Lisbon referendum.

In 2009 Higgins was a political opponent of the Irish government's re-run of the Treaty of Lisbon referendum.

Corbett spent two months in Ireland from August to October 2009 helping ( behind the scenes ) the " Yes " campaign in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, which resulted in an overwhelming 67 % in favour.

The Irish voted again on the Lisbon Treaty on 2 October 2009.

Others have argued that as Ireland has been given a guarantee that certain issues such as abortion will not be affected by the Treaty of Lisbon, the Irish people should vote again on the Lisbon Treaty with the concessions in mind, and that, given that every other Member State had approved the treaty, it was not unreasonable to ask the single country that rejected it to reconsider, especially in light of the guarantees offered.

* Lisbon Treaty Campaign ( 2008 ): Campaign to seek a Yes vote in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

The first referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon held on 12 June 2008 was rejected by the Irish electorate, by a margin of 53. 4 % to 46. 6 %, with a turnout of 53 %.

Nevertheless, in his debut speech in the European Parliament as ECR chairman he called on the EU political leaders to respect the Irish " no " vote to the Lisbon Treaty.