‘The Most Important Weapon in this Diplomatic Warfor National Union’: The Irish Free State and theBoundary Commission, 1923–25

This article questions the prevailing historiographical view that the approach of the Irish Free State to the Boundary Commission was lax and passive. It argues that the Free State adopted a strategic and tactical approach, not as a technicality to fulfil their Anglo-Irish Treaty obligations, but out of a genuine desire for national union. The North-Eastern Boundary Bureau distributed publicity demonstrating the wishes of the inhabitants and outlined international comparisons. Officials visited Northern Ireland and Britain to ascertawin the views of stake-holders. The suggestions for creating all-Ireland institutions as an alternative to the commission show that the Free State leaders were motivated by a desire for ‘national union’. The dissemination of publicity internationally, the bureau’s role in applying for League of Nations membership, and the registration of the treaty at Geneva challenged potential British claims that the boundary was a domestic matter and demonstrates consideration of a potential appeal to the league.