the southern part of the island formed the Republic of Ireland after the Irish War
of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
had more limited levels of involvement with their own national governance until
the late 1990s. Local administrations and in some cases different systems – such
as the legal system in Scotland – remained in place. In 1997 a referendum paved
the way for the devolution of Scotland and Wales, and in 1999 certain powers
devolved to the newly created National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish
Parliament. The Belfast Agreement, or the Good Friday Agreement, formally
devolved certain powers to Northern Ireland in 1998, although direct rule was
reinstated from 2002 to 2007 following a political crisis.