The Government of Ireland Act which was passed by the British Parliament in 1920 provided for devolved parliaments in Dublin and Belfast, with the latter in control of 6 counties in the north-east of the island to be known as Northern Ireland. The Irish Free State was established in 1922 with jurisdiction over the remaining 26 counties and faced challenging economic conditions with national income per head at 56% of Great Britain’s — 35 years later the ratio was at 49%.