1/ There has been much talk on what date marks the creation of Northern Ireland with 5 possible dates cited. Two other moments greatly ignored in making partition a reality were September 1920 and November 1921.

In September 1920, James Craig got approval from the British Govt. to create the Ulster Specials and to have appointed an under-secretary, Ernest Clark, for the area that would become Northern Ireland, months before the Government of Ireland Act was enacted.

Ernest Clark was a crucial figure in making partition a reality and yet there still is very little known about him. From September 1920 to May 1921, he created the structures and machinery of a functioning new political entity. He established a framework for seven new government

departments, organised buildings for those departments as well as their furniture and office equipment, attempted to source accommodation for the new civil service, and secured instructions, guidelines and templates from different departments in London and Dublin on how to run a

department. He was armed, as he said, ‘only with a table, a chair, and an Act of Parliament’. Basil Brooke described him as the ‘midwife to the new Province of Ulster’ whilst he called himself ‘John the Baptist’ whose job was to ‘prepare the way’.

The other crucial date often ignored is 22 November 1921. On that date, government services were transferred to Northern Ireland. Before then, for the first six months of its existence, it was seen as ‘a glorified county council’ with no control over policing, over its laws. The

British government stalled the transfer of services as it wanted to use Northern Ireland as a tactical ploy in its negotiations with Sinn Féin. Even though the Irish Treaty negotiators were aware that the northern jurisdiction was not fully functioning when the conference began

in October, they appeared unaware on how to use this to their advantage.