TP O'Mahony: How the two Churches helped divide the North

Partition saw both of Ireland's Christian religions or churches embracing or endorsing or aligning themselves with political systems or political establishments where doing so advanced their own aims.

A Catholic child from Belfast in Dublin in June 1922. The Troubles were the legacy of partition, but the sectarianism that fuelled the conflict predated the Border. And that is a measure of the failure of the churches to wean their congregations away from it.

The role of the Christian churches in the disuniting of Ireland was as significant as it was inglorious. Both the Catholic and Protestant clerical establishments helped to promote and reinforce “green” and “orange” versions of sectarianism.

The deep communal cleavage caused by this meant that even before the passing of the Government of Ireland Act in 1920 (providing for two parliaments in Ireland), the disunity was cemented even before the formal imposition of Partition.