Barbados moves towards becoming a republic

[Calthrina950]

Ironically enough, Prince Charles-who was in attendance at the 1997 handover ceremony for Hong Kong-was in attendance for this ceremony as well. Moreover, I've heard that Jamaica is strongly considering becoming a republic as well. Obviously, some of the Commonwealth Realms are not waiting for the Queen to die to make the change. And Barbados isn't the first to do so. Several other former British colonies transitioned from being monarchies to republics after obtaining independence.

Was Ireland a British Colony one time?

As noted above, no. Ireland became a Dominion (known as the Irish Free State) in 1922, while Northern Ireland elected to remain in the United Kingdom. It adopted a new constitution in 1937 and declared itself a Republic in 1949. 

Technically accurate, and yet irrelevant.  He asked if Ireland was a British colony at one time, not how eventually it came to be independent.

Beginning when Ireland was first conquered by England in the 12th century, and peaking in the late 16th and early 17th centuries with the establishment of vast plantations, Ireland was very much a colony.  Native Gaelic Irish were displaced from their land and required to adopt English culture, language and religion.  The new plantations were settled by English and southern Scottish farmers.

At no point during its status as a lordship, kingdom, dominion, etc, was Ireland ever considered to have had equal standing to England.

That is what I said in my post. The first sentence of my post answers in the negative to his question. I felt it necessary to provide additional background information to what Silent Hunter said above. I'm aware that Ireland was never equal in status to England or to Great Britain, and I'm aware of the history of colonization.

Ironically enough, Prince Charles-who was in attendance at the 1997 handover ceremony for Hong Kong-was in attendance for this ceremony as well. Moreover, I've heard that Jamaica is strongly considering becoming a republic as well. Obviously, some of the Commonwealth Realms are not waiting for the Queen to die to make the change. And Barbados isn't the first to do so. Several other former British colonies transitioned from being monarchies to republics after obtaining independence.

Was Ireland a British Colony one time?

As noted above, no. Ireland became a Dominion (known as the Irish Free State) in 1922, while Northern Ireland elected to remain in the United Kingdom. It adopted a new constitution in 1937 and declared itself a Republic in 1949. 

It's sort of confusing as to whether Ireland was a republic or a monarchy from 1937 to 1949.

That's true. Ireland's status during those twelve years was ambiguous, although the British Government still considered Ireland to be a Dominion. The country, however, did not acknowledge George VI as King during that time and remained neutral in World War II.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Y’all are gonna regret not taking this more seriously when the Barbados Empire takes over half the US under the leadership of soon to be dictator Rihanna.

Apparently as part of the republicanization festivities they actually did give her a decoration called "Order of National Heroes", of which she's now one of only two living members along with cricketer Garfield Sobers.

[MaxQue]

Y’all are gonna regret not taking this more seriously when the Barbados Empire takes over half the US under the leadership of soon to be dictator Rihanna.

Apparently as part of the republicanization festivities they actually did give her a decoration called "Order of National Heroes", of which she's now one of only two living members along with cricketer Garfield Sobers.

It  makes that, officially, she isn't "Miss" anymore, but "The Right Excellent". They also said they will add more members before April.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

So, what does it mean that Barbados will remain a part of the Commonwealth?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

So, what does it mean that Barbados will remain a part of the Commonwealth?

Not a ton. It means that it'll have the same status as places like India and Kenya. The Queen or a future British monarch will have a certain extra diplomatic cachet if/when he or she visits there, but that's about it.

The only major former British colonies that aren't Commonwealth members are the US and Ireland, which of course both parted ways with the UK in unusually dramatic and violent ways.

[parochial boy]

So, what does it mean that Barbados will remain a part of the Commonwealth?

Not a ton. It means that it'll have the same status as places like India and Kenya. The Queen or a future British monarch will have a certain extra diplomatic cachet if/when he or she visits there, but that's about it.

The only major former British colonies that aren't Commonwealth members are the US and Ireland, which of course both parted ways with the UK in unusually dramatic and violent ways.

Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, The Gulf states and Burma among others might object to the idea that they weren’t major colonies 

[/pedantry]

[Lord Halifax]

So, what does it mean that Barbados will remain a part of the Commonwealth?

Not a ton. It means that it'll have the same status as places like India and Kenya. The Queen or a future British monarch will have a certain extra diplomatic cachet if/when he or she visits there, but that's about it.

The only major former British colonies that aren't Commonwealth members are the US and Ireland, which of course both parted ways with the UK in unusually dramatic and violent ways.

Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, The Gulf states and Burma among others might object to the idea that they weren’t major colonies 

[/pedantry]

If we are going to be pedantic most of those places weren't colonies, but protectorates or League of Nation mandates.

Of those countries only Egypt and Burma are major countries. And Egypt was never formally a British colony (and even if you don't distinguish between colonies and protectorates it was only formally a protectorate 1914-22), so you're left with Burma.

Egypt was occupied by Britain in 1882, but on paper the Khedivate of Egypt remained an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire and was not part of the British Empire. When the Ottomans joined WW1 on the German side Britain formally declared a protectorate over Egypt, deposed the Khedive and made his successor Sultan of Egypt independent of the Ottomans, but the protectorate ended already in 1922, the Sultan was promoted to King of a nominally independent Egypt and the British went to back to merely occupying the country (and training the Egyptian army). A nationalist government then ended the treaty that allowed British presence in 1951 (and subsequently the monarchy) and the British then gradually withdrew and had no troops left when the Suez crisis erupted in 1956.

[It's not just that you are a crook senator]

"You are not in the UK, you are in BAR BA DOS"

[(no subject)]

The new Barbadian state motto: “PASS THE DUTCHIE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE”