"Partition was forced on Ireland at gunpoint - "sign in three days or go to war" - the result was a brutal year-long civil war - not a lot of "collusion" there."

Utter nonsense and a total misrepresentation. Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations that resulted from a ceasefire called in the Anglo-Irish War - Of course if the agreement wasn't signed it would result IN THE RESUMPTION of hostilities - the "brutal year long CIVIL WAR you refer to had S.F.A. to do with the British Government it had everything to do with certain sections in the South of Ireland not agreeing with the deal that Good Ol' Dev sent Michael Collins to negotiate in London.

"The Unionists weer the first to introduce the gun into 20th century politics in Ireland, but the militants represented only a small minority"

The Unionists might have been the first to introduce (i.e. Import) the gun into 20th century politics in Ireland Jom - but the "Nationalists" who "imported" their own just a few months later were the first to use them - Nearly half a million Unionists signed their Covenant voluntarily whereas the Irish Volunteers numbered roughly 180,000. The vast majority of both volunteered to fight in the First World War against the Germans.