A Century on and the Fear of a Boundary Commission Has Been Replaced by the Fear of a Border Poll

It has never taken much to spook Ulster unionism. Within hours of hearing about the provision for a boundary commission in the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, James Craig, the UUP leader and Northern Irish prime minister, was on a boat to London. A few days later, back in Belfast, he wrote to Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons Austen Chamberlain.