Republic of Ireland/temp

This article deals with the Republic of Ireland. The island as a whole is dealt with at Ireland; there is also Northern Ireland.

The Republic of Ireland is a state which covers approximately two-thirds of the island of Ireland, off the coast of northwest Europe. The remaining one third of the island of Ireland is known as Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Republic was known until 1937 as the Irish Free State. Its official constitutional name is Éire, though Ireland is sometimes controversially used as its diplomatic name.

In this article, unless otherwise indicated Ireland refers to the Republic of Ireland.

History Main articles: History of Ireland, History of the Republic of Ireland

From 1 January 1801 until 6 December 1922 Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Historically it had for centuries been governed as one all-island unit. This changed with the the introduction of partition in the British Government of Ireland Act, 1920. This created two states, Southern Ireland (of 26 counties) and Northern Ireland (of 6 counties), both of which were to remain part of the United Kingdom. While Northern Ireland became a political reality, Southern Ireland initially existed only on paper, its governing institutions never having come into being.

From 1919 to 1922 a UDI all-island state called the Irish Republic nominally existed, having been declared by the First Dáil, an illegal 'Assembly of Ireland' set up by Irish politicians who had been elected to sit in the British House of Commons but who had declined to do so, setting up a rival parliament instead. Though unrecognised internationally, the Irish Republic functioned in a haphazard manner as a rival government with its own prime minister (later upgraded to become President of the Republic) and a cabinet. Its army, the Irish Republican Army, waged a guerrilla war against the British Army and police force, in what came to be known as the Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence).

Anglo-Irish Treaty

In December 1921, the British Government and Irish Republican plenipotentiaries[?] negotiated a peace treaty, known as the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It created a whole new system of Irish self government, known as dominion status[?], with a new state, to be called the Irish Free State (in the Irish language Saorstát Éireann). The new Free State was in theory to cover the entire island, subject to the provisio that Northern Ireland could opt out and choose to remain part of the United Kingdom, which it duly did. For one year, Southern Ireland, which had previously existed only on paper, was resurrected and governed by a cabinet under Michael Collins. (After his assassination in August 1922 W.T. Cosgrave assumed control.) The Irish Republic in theory continued to exist, with both Southern Ireland and Irish Republic disappearing similtaneously and being replaced by the new Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. In the absence of the six counties of Northern Ireland, the new state, which was independent of the United Kingdom, covered twenty-six of the island's thirty-two counties.

The Irish Free State (1922-1937)

The Irish Free State was a constitutional monarchy over which the British monarch reigned (from 1927 with the title King of Ireland). The Representative of the Crown was known as the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. It had a bicameral[?] parliament and a cabinet, called the Executive Council answerable to the Chamber of Deputies, which was known as Dáil Éireann. The prime minister of the Free State was called the President of the Executive Council. The constitution was called the Irish Free State Constitution.

Éire

On the 29 December 1937 a new constitution came into being. It replaced the Irish Free State by a new state called Éire. The Governor-General was replaced by a President of Ireland. A new more powerful prime minister, called the Taoiseach came into being, while the Executive Council was renamed the Government. Though it had a president, the new state was not a republic. The British monarch continued to reign as King of Ireland and was used as an "organ" in international and diplomatic relations, with the President of Ireland relegated to symbolic functions within the state but never outside it.

The Republic of Ireland (1949- )

On 1 April 1949, the Republic of Ireland Act, came into force. The new state was unambiguously described as a republic, with the international and diplomatic functions previously vested in or exercised by the King now vested in the President of Ireland who finally became unambiguously the Irish head of state. Though the official name of the state remained Éire, the term Republic of Ireland though officially just the description of the new state, came to be used as its name. While the Republic often chose to use the word Ireland to describe itself, particularly in the diplomatic sphere, many states avoid using that term because of the existence of a second Ireland, Northern Ireland, and because the 1937 constitution claimed that the south had jurisdiction over the north. Using the word 'Ireland' was taken as accepting that claim and so caused offence in Northern Ireland. That claim, in what was known as Articles 2 and 3 of the 1937 constitution, was repealed in 1999.

The Irish Free State/Éire remained a member of the British Commonwealth until the declaration of a republic in April 1949. Under Commonwealth rules, declaration of a republic automatically terminates membership of the Commonweath. Unlike India, which became a republic at the same time, the Republic of Ireland chose not to reapply for admittance to the Commonweath.

Ireland has been a member of the European Economic Community (EEC, now known as the European Community and European Union)¹ since 1973.

Politics Main article: Politics of the Republic of Ireland[?]

The Republic of Ireland is a republic, with a parliamentary system of government. A President of Ireland is the head of state. The Parliament, called the Oireachtas, consists of two houses, a lower House of Representatives called Dáil Éireann (pronounced 'dawl air-inn', meaning Assembly of Ireland) with 166 Teachtaí Dála TDs (MPs) called in English "Deputies" and Seanad Éireann (pronounced, 'sch-anad air-inn', meaning Senate of Ireland), a partially appointed, partially elected upper chamber, with 60 members.

Under the Irish constitution, parliamentary elections must be held at least every 7 years, though a lower limit may be set by statute law. The current statutory maximum term is every 5 years. 166 Dáil Deputies are elected to represent multi-seat constituencies under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR.STV). Each Deputy (TD) represents between 20,000 and 30,000 of the population (Art.16). All persons over the age of 18 may vote, though one must be over the age of 21 to stand for election.

The Government, headed by the Taoiseach (prime minister), is appointed by the President of Ireland on the nomination of Dáil Éireann. The Government is constitutionally limited to 15 members. No more than two members of the Government can be selected from the Senate, and the Taoiseach, Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Finance must be members of the Dáil.

Ireland's current government is made up of a coalition of two parties; Fianna Fáil under Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Progressive Democrats under Tánaiste Mary Harney[?]. The main opposition in the current Dáil is made up of Fine Gael and Labour. Smaller parties such as Sinn Féin and the Green Party also have representation in Dáil Éireann.

Geography Main article: Geography of the Republic of Ireland

The west-coast of Ireland mostly consists of cliffs, hills and low mountains. The centre of the country is relatively flat farmland. Chief cities are the capital Dublin, on the east coast, Cork in the south and Limerick on the west coast.

The climate in Ireland is relatively mild. Summers are rarely very hot, but it freezes only occasionally in winter. Rain is very common, with up to 275 days with rain in some parts of the country.

Counties Main article: Counties of the Republic of Ireland

In Ireland the term 'county' has a number of varying meanings. The modern counties were created as local governmental units in the nineteenth century. Though the Republic of Ireland is traditionally described as having twenty-six counties, these local governmental units have been restructured, with Dublin broken up into four new counties, while Tipperary has in fact been two separate counties for generations.

'Counties' also have cultural, historical and sporting meanings. As a result while boundaries have been changed for local government purposes (producing thirty counties instead of the original twenty-six), the old counties and county boundaries are still used in other contexts. The list below lists the traditional twenty-six original counties. Details of changes for local government purposes are stated beside the counties where changes have occurred.

• Carlow[?]
• Cavan[?]
• Clare
• Cork
• Donegal
• Dublin - County Dublin was abolished in the 1990s and divided in four. They are:
  • Dublin (city)
  • Fingal
  • Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
  • South County Dublin (Tallaght)
• Galway
• Kerry
• Kildare[?]
• Kilkenny
• Laois
• Leitrim
• Limerick
• Longford[?]
• Louth[?]
• Mayo
• Meath[?]
• Monaghan[?]
• Offaly[?]
• Roscommon
• Sligo[?]
• Tipperary - Tipperary has long ceased to exist as one official county. In reality it consists of two counties. They are:
  • Tipperary (North Riding)
  • Tipperary (South Riding)
• Waterford
• Westmeath[?]
• Wexford
• Wicklow

Economy Main article: Economy of the Republic of Ireland[?]

Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy with growth averaging a robust 9% in 1995-99. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 39% of GDP and about 80% of exports and employs 28% of the labor force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. Over the past decade, the Irish government has implemented a series of national economic programs designed to curb inflation, reduce government spending, and promote foreign investment. The unemployment rate has been halved; job creation remains a primary concern of government policy. Recent efforts have concentrated on improving workers' qualifications and the education system. Ireland joined in launching the euro currency in January 2000 along with 10 other EU nations.

Demographics Main article: Demographics of the Republic of Ireland[?]

Most Irish are either of Celtic or English ethnicity. The official languages are Irish (Gaelic) and English. However, English is by far the predominant language. People living in Irish speaking communities are limited to the low tens of thousands in isolated pockets largely on the Western seaboard.

Culture Main article: Culture of Ireland[?]

Ireland has produced Irish traditional music, George Berkeley, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, Séamus Heaney, Guinness, etc. Shaw, Yeats, Beckett and Heaney are Nobel Literature laureates. Its most famous exports in the late twentieth century included the rock group U2, Sinéad O'Connor, Bob Geldof, The Corrs[?] and the dance show Riverdance[?]. Its most prominent world figure was Mary Robinson, from 1997 to 2002, the United Nations High Commussioner for Human Rights[?].

Language

The official languages are Irish (Gaelic) and English. However, English is by far the predominant language. People living in Irish speaking communities are limited to the low tens of thousands in isolated pockets largely on the Western seaboard. All schoolchildren are taught the Irish language as a compulsory part of the school curriculum with a relatively small (though growing) number of schools teaching all subjects through the medium of Irish. Public signs are usually bilingual and there are both a national Irish language TV (TG4) and radio channel (Raidió na Gaeltachta).

Religion

The Republic of Ireland is officially 92% Roman Catholic. However there had been a massive decline in adherence to Roman Catholicism among Irish catholics. Between 1996 and 2001, regular Mass attendance, already previously in decline, declined from 60% to 48%. (It had been 90%+ in 1973.)

All but two of its priest-training seminaries have either closed or are expected to close soon. The Roman Catholic Church was hit in the 1990s by a series of sexual scandals; from the resignation of one bishop who had fathered a child by a divorced cousin to the notorious case of child sexual abuser Fr. Brendan Smyth[?]. In recent years, another bishop had been forced to resign over his incompetent handling of paedophile priests in his diocese.

The second largest religion, the Church of Ireland (Anglican), is itself in decline, with a largely elderly membership. In recent years, it has been forced to close down many of its rural churches, and some even in urban areas. A similar phenomenon is also affecting the very small Jewish Congregation in Ireland. The only religions showing a major growth are Islam and small born again christian faiths associated with Ireland's growing immigrant community.

See also:

• Irish potato famine
• Irish diaspora
• Irish mythology
• List of famous Irish people
• Notable Irish buildings
• List of Irish Cultural Institutions
• List of Irish Third-Level Educational Institutions
• Conservation in the Republic of Ireland

Related Articles

• Éire (1937- )
• Irish Free State (1922-1937)
• Irish Republic (1919-22)
• Northern Ireland (1921- )
• History of Ireland
• Government of Ireland Act, 1920
• Dáil Constitution (1919 Constitution of the Irish Republic)
• Bunreacht na hÉireann (1937 Irish Constitution)
• Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) (which created the Irish Free State)
• Governor-General of the Irish Free State (representative of the King in the IFS)
• King of Ireland
• President of Ireland
• Chief Herald of Ireland (1552-present)
• Dáil Éireann
• President of the Executive Council
• Taoiseach
• Irish Political Parties: Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael Labour Party[?], Democratic Left, Sinn Féin
• Ireland Declaration of Independence
• Aosdána affiliation of artists in Ireland

Footnote

¹The European Community and the European Union are not in fact the same thing, but overlapping entities, the former representing the entire organisation in a legal sense, the latter merely a union of governments. However the term 'European Union' is generally if inaccurately used to refer to both entities.

Reference

• Bunreacht na hÉireann (the 1937 constitution)
• The Irish Free State Constitution Act, 1922
• J. Anthony Foley and Stephen Lalor (ed), Gill & Macmillan Annotated Constitution of Ireland (Gill & Macmillan, 1995) (ISBN 071712276X)
• FSL Lyons, Ireland Since the Famine
• Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782-1992 (Irish Academic Press, 1994) (ISBN 0716525283)

Some of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

External Links

• Maps (http://www.irelandstory.com)
• Irish Parliamentary website (http://www.irlgov.ie/oireachtas)
• Fianna Fáil (the main government party) website (http://fiannafail.ie)
• Fine Gael (the main opposition party) website (http://finegael.ie)
• world-wide press freedom index - Rank 6 out of 139 countries (http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116)