So assuming Ireland remains fully within the UK (by the least violent means) and a roughly similar global history, how would Parliament look if
A) There's external devolution similar wrt Scotland, Wales, etc?
B) There's internal devolution? That is where responsibilities are devolved onto groups of regional MPs within Parliament than creating an extra parliament for the region.
 
An immensely complex issue and earlier regional devolution would have had substantial butterflies and definitely the West Lothian question would have become a stronger issue in the domestic politics of 1920-60 (probably some modus vivendi achieved by then). Don't see internal devolution as an issue unless the Shetlands declare UDI from Scotland! Ireland, Scotland and Wales all a bit small, relatively, speaking for internal devolution as communications improve. In Ireland, Ulster Protestantism might be a driver even in a relatively peaceable Home Rule timeline but if tensions didn't rise as high, I think probably something along the lines of the Middleton Plan would have sufficed. Continued presence of all Ireland would have strengthened the UK's WWII anti-submarine warfare efforts and would also have provided a strong socially conservative political influence on the UK polity. Roy Jenkins' 1960s liberalisation of the divorce, abortion and homosexuality laws would not have got off the ground until at least the late 1980's for example. Nor have the Irish historically been very welcoming to providing government with extensive or intrusive powers, so the post 1945 Welfare settlement might have looked significantly different. Couldn't see comprehensive education replacing the Butler settlement either in a TL where one of the major religions remained politically strong into the 1980s/1990s. Butler's great achievement OTL was to work out a compromise on education Anglicans, RCs and Nonconformists could all support. In a more secular UK that is now undervalued. In this TL where at least one of the component Kingdoms is not that secular there would be a greater reluctance to tamper with it. Ireland conservative on local government reform also so reforms around replacing county councils in England either not undertaken or defeated.
 
I suppose that would depend on how you define social reform. Ireland (both bits of it) is actually fairly left-leaning in both economic and social policy OTL. The most "right wing" parties -Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and DUP are all very centrist/soft left by UK or American standards. I have mentioned in other posts that it is a mistake to see the DUP as a far right party -sectarian version of "Blue Labour" would be nearer the mark. So very pro economic intervention by the state, urban renewal, child benefit, healthcare provision, state funding of education. Now we don't know who might be butterflied away but (NI) Lord Craigavon, Lord Charlemont, Sir Crawford McCullagh, Maynard Sinclair, "Wee Joe" Devlin, Harry Midgeley, Paddy Devlin, Gerry Fitt, John Hume were all of that view. ROI, Collins, deValera, Lemass, Lynch all likewise. Again, viewing Stormont as a right wing cabal is misleading, anti- Catholic yes, but they introduced all the same welfare state legislation as in GB (not replicating that relating to abortion and homosexuality only) and were vigorous in slum clearance and infrastructure investment and actually built a new city (Craigavon). Even the "Big House" Unionist leadership were very much One Nation Tories.
Now TTL Ireland wouldn't be openly sectarian but it would be religiously observant and that would be used as a political unifying factor.
So I suspect that the British state (national and devolved) might have withdrawn more slowly from the direct management of the economy than OTL and health and social services would be generous but judgemental. Good child benefit for instance but not available to unmarried mothers. Good healthcare but abortion only when mother's life in danger. Good public housing for respectable God-fearing families. Unmarried mother or same gender couple? You won't be first on the priority list (or second.........or fifty seventh...)
First divorced man in British cabinet (one of the Wedgwoods in Ramsay McDonald's Cabinet I think OTL) would not have been in the 1920s -more likely the 1960s or 70s. And probably not a great place to be LGBT or an unmarried mother up until the decline in political influence of the Catholic Church. So 1990s/2000s would be TTLs Sixties. Against that, probably not the outright censorship of books on the Catholic Church's proscribed list or contraception actually being made illegal.
 
People seem to be significantly overvaluing the impact of Irish MPs on U.K. politics. Ireland would be a small, poor and rural part of the U.K. Places like that hardly set the agenda as it is.

If there is an internal Irish parliament social changes will be insulated and pork will be the Irish parties main concern, much like Northern Ireland today.

If there isn't, and social changes are imposed from Westminster, it's hard to predict. There was a tradition of organised violence in Ireland throughout modern British rule and the British state's legitimacy was always quite thin in Ireland. It's not impossible that you'll see significant violence against attempts to introduce these into Ireland.
 
People seem to be significantly overvaluing the impact of Irish MPs on U.K. politics. Ireland would be a small, poor and rural part of the U.K. Places like that hardly set the agenda as it is.
I think that you are underestimating their likely influence. Even OTL, the Unionist rump has played kingmaker once or twice. TTL Ireland should have just over 70 seats in a just over 700 seat House of Commons. This equals 10% of all seats. So any party that tries to introduce a (very definitely small "l") liberal social agenda TTL is going to have to write off roughly 15% of all seats (some rural English, Welsh and Scots seats almost equally socially conservative) rather than about 5% OTL. That's a big ask. Look how worried the Liberals always were about upsetting the Welsh Nonconformist vote OTL up to at least 1950. And that was a smaller vote proportionately than the Irish vote would be TTL.
Yes, progressive Conservative, Liberal and (to the extent they would get off the ground TTL) Labour politicians would smuggle a progressive ameliorative measure or two into the small print but there would be no big ticket items, e.g. the evidential bar for a sodomy conviction might be significantly raised but homosexuality wouldn't be legalised.
Don't forget too that Irish and English social opinion were broadly in synch up to WW2 and the divergence wasn't obvious until the mid sixties (GB churchgoing only started to heavily decline in the fifties) and willingness of politicians to initiate social change is always some way behind actual public attitudinal change (there are sound political reasons for this -those in favour typically think "about time too" and aren't particularly grateful, while those against think "agent of Satan, I'll not be voting for them again" and tend to follow through). And some of the TV and radio that helped shape attitudinal change in Britain only just squeaked past the BBC management OTL. TTL with 70 odd additional socially conservative seats in the Commons likely to ask questions and generate media storms?
 

Ak-84

Banned
The few times in the 19th century when the Irish MP's were not spending all their time on the Irish question, they actually came down against progressive policies. I don't see why this does not continue.
 
Don't forget too that Irish and English social opinion were broadly in synch up to WW2 and the divergence wasn't obvious until the mid sixties (GB churchgoing only started to heavily decline in the fifties)
This bit is intriguing. Could continuing an Irish role politically mean that Irish church attendance also goes down?
 
This bit is intriguing. Could continuing an Irish role politically mean that Irish church attendance also goes down?
Well IIRC whilst de Valera purposely didn't introduce a state religion he did practically bring the Roman Catholic Church in as part of the state, less of an influential position could certainly cause butterflies but I could say what.
 
Intriguing thought, while influential still the Irish RC church wouldn't be as politically dominant TTL as OTL. And depends on the WW2 experience of conscription I suppose too. But generally inclined to believe it wouldn't - at least as not as quickly -Protestant church attendance also declined more slowly in both ROI and NI than GB and is still relatively higher. A more rural environment in Ireland and more settled communities up until the eighties and nineties when business efficiencies started closing local transport depots, sawmills and creameries and farming became less profitable. Young people start migrating to the cities and large towns and more people working in technology and software industries. No coincidence that this is when religious commitment starts to decline as population becomes more atomised. Impact of improved home entertainment technology also -CDs, Video/DVDs, Satellite, Home Computers, Mobile phones. People have more entertainment and communications and less time for traditional collective activities. And even then it took the abuse scandals to mortally wound the moral authority of the Church (albeit the fact that they came out at all probably itself a symptom of weakening love/respect/ fear of the Church). Remember that in the rural hinterland of England, Scotland and Wales religious observance was still relatively high also up to the late 1980s.

In many ways 1923 represents Britain outsourcing much of its rural hinterland. But I think that economic and technological change are big factors in the cultural change in Ireland (more visibly so in the more rural ROI but clearly discernible in more urban NI also).
 
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