Government of Ireland Act 1920

An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act 1920, (and sometimes called the Fourth Home Rule Act) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act provided for two separate sets of Home Rule institutions in Ireland: one covering the region of Northern Ireland in the north-east of the island and the other covering the remainder of the island, which was termed Southern Ireland. The institutions of Northern Ireland functioned as intended until they were suspended by the UK government in 1972 following the outbreak of the Troubles. Southern Ireland never functioned as an operative political entity, and was superseded by the Irish Free State in 1922. In historical terms, the Act was the legislative instrument that partitioned Ireland, though its provisions envisaged and attempted to provide for the eventual reunification of the island. The Act was repealed in its entirety under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, after the Good Friday Agreement.