More research ideas! Devolution!

    Ok, so here's more of the ideas I've been thinking about for research.

    Devolution: So, while Tony Blair was in office, more power and freedom was granted to Scotland and Northern Ireland.  This would definitely fit into the idea of a millennial topic.
    There are many questions to be raised here.  Why did the people of Scotland and Northern Ireland want to be more separate?  What events in history caused this difference in culture and political feelings to create this divide?  I think this is something that goes back further than the first King of England in 1066, and past the Roman occupation as well, and includes a lot of history in-between.
    I might already be getting a bit broad here, but part of working in the research group will be to narrow it down, so for now I will just throw out ideas.
    What were the political means and presidents to allow this to happen?  What was it about this particular point in history that caused this?  What exactly are the government relations between England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland now, and what were they before this recent devolution occurred?
    What are the major events in history (such as battles, deaths, marriages, legislation, etc) that caused this to culminate?  Was there any event that might have changed the ultimate outcome had it been different?  Or was this bound to happen?
    How was it that England, one of the largest empires in history (at one point covering a quarter of the globe), was still unable to fully integrate Scotland and Ireland into the British culture and political system?  All of these and more are fascinating questions to ponder and research, and if this turns out to be my topic I will have to think pretty seriously about narrowing it down a lot!
    I haven't done very much research on this yet, so my opinion could change, but overall I feel like the devolution of Scotland and Northern Ireland was a good thing.  I think in general it's a pretty good idea to give more political freedom to smaller local governments in favor of large federal ones, especially if the people are so passionately in favor of it.  In any case, it will be something interesting to study!

    Please feel free to comment or ask questions or throw in your opinion on anything in my posts!  And please let me know if you would like to join me in one of these topics!