Irish Examiner view: Anniversary of the creation of Irish Free State 

The treaty gave us the freedom to achieve freedom, allowing us to invest in education and to achieve economic expansion

Members of the Irish delegation at the signing of the Irish Free State Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, in London, on December 6, 1921. Picture: Mansell/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification by the second Dáil of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty which brought about the creation of the Irish Free State comprising 26 counties. 

While the immediate tragic aftermath saw the outbreak of civil war, followed by decades of economic deprivation, the anniversary provides us with an opportunity to reflect on whether breaking with Britain was worth it.