James Craig is elected as the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. 20 June – Irish War of Independence: British Major-General Lambert dies at Athlone of a gunshot wound sustained in an IRA ambush; early on 2 July six farmhouses in the area are burned apparently in retaliation and the following day the IRA, in turn, burn down Moydrum Castle. 22 June – new Parliament of Northern Ireland meets at Belfast City Hall and is opened by George V of the United Kingdom, making a speech (drafted by Jan Smuts) calling for reconciliation in Ireland. 28 June – new Parliament of Southern Ireland meets at the Royal College of Science for Ireland in Merrion Street, Dublin and is opened by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount FitzAlan. In addition to the appointed Senate, only the four Unionist MPs representing Dublin University attend the House of Commons. Having elected Gerald Fitzgibbon to be Speaker, the House adjourns sine die. This is its only formal meeting and it never enacts any legislation. 4 July – James Craig refuses to attend a peace conference in Dublin because the invitation by President Éamon de Valera was addressed to him personally instead of to the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. 8 July – at the Peace Conference in the Mansion House, Dublin, President de Valera accepts an invitation to meet the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Lloyd George, in London. 10 July – Bloody Sunday: Clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Belfast result in 16 deaths (23 over the surrounding four-day period) and the destruction of over 200 (mostly Catholic) homes. 11 July – under the terms of the truce (signed on 9 July) which becomes effective at noon, the British Army agrees that there will be no provocative display of forces or incoming troops. The Irish Republican Army agrees that attacks on Crown forces will cease. 21 July - The Belfast Pogrom begins with the one day removal of thousands of Belfast shipyard, factory and mill workers from their jobs. 16 August – following the uncontested election for the Parliament of Southern Ireland, 125 Sinn Féin Teachtaí Dála assemble as the Second Dáil at the Mansion House, Dublin. Six represent constituencies in Northern Ireland (five of them jointly with constituencies in the South). 23 August – the Northern Cabinet agrees that Stormont Castle will be the permanent site of the Northern Houses