I.

Introduction

Ireland, Republic of (in Irish, Éire), republic comprising about five sixths of the land area of the island of Ireland, lying in the Atlantic Ocean, about 80 km (50 mi) west of the island of Great Britain, and separated from it by the Irish Sea. The country consists of the provinces of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught (Connacht), and part of the province of Ulster, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The remaining six counties of Ulster, in the north-eastern part of the island, form Northern Ireland, a constituent part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The republic has a total area of 70,273 sq km (27,133 sq mi). The capital of the Republic of Ireland is Dublin.

Often called the “Emerald Isle” because of the vivid greenness of the countryside, Ireland is a land of mountains, lakes, and rolling farmland, as well as a country with an ancient history and rich literary, oral, and theatrical traditions. The island of Ireland was ruled by England and then Great Britain for more than 600 years and was an integral part of the United Kingdom after 1801. The republic formally gained its independence in 1922, after a long, and at times violent, struggle. Since then, the country has overcome centuries of economic neglect, building new industries, modernizing agriculture, and creating a modern economy.

II.

Land and Resources

Ireland comprises a broad, central limestone plain, ringed by coastal highlands, which vary considerably in their geology. The flatness of the central lowlands, which are given over primarily to farming, is broken in places by low hills and lakes (or loughs). The peat bogs, which cover about 10 per cent of Ireland and which provide the country’s traditional fuel, are located mainly in the centre and the west. In the west, in County Clare, bordering Galway Bay, is the Burren, an extensive limestone pavement with poor soils and sparse vegetation, but also rich remains of Ireland’s prehistoric civilizations in the form of menhirs, megaliths, and grave mounds. The main mountain ranges are the Donegal Mountains in the north-west, the Wicklow Mountains, the Macgillicuddy’s Reeks in County Kerry, the Knockmealdown and Comeragh mountains in Waterford, and the Twelve Pins in the Connemara region of Galway. Carrantouhill (1,041 m/3,414 ft), Ireland’s highest peak, is located in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks.

In the west and south-west, the wild and beautiful coast is heavily indented with inlets and bays where the mountains thrust out into the Atlantic. The bays provide safe anchorage and many have developed into harbours, including the Shannon estuary, Galway Bay, Waterford Harbour, and Cork Harbour. Some of the bays, including Bantry and Dingle bays in the south-west, are drowned river estuaries. Bantry Bay is one of western Europe’s principal deep-sea anchorages. An oil terminal, capable of taking the largest super tankers, operated from Whiddy Island in the bay until 1979, when a tanker exploded. The terminal was subsequently shut down. There are many islands off the western coast, notably the Aran Islands and Achill Island.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The Shannon (354 km/220 mi) is the longest river in Ireland and in the British Isles. It rises in the north in County Cavan at the foot of Cuilcagh Mountain and flows slowly southward to reach the sea at Limerick. Other important rivers are the Liffey, the Barrow, the Nore, the Boyne, the Blackwater, the Moy, and the Suir. Ireland has many loughs, which are primarily a result of glaciation, like the drowned river valleys and much else that typifies the Irish landscape. Many are in the west; a number are in the centre, such as loughs Allen, Ree, and Derg, formed by overdeepening of parts of the River Shannon’s bed during glaciation.

B.

Climate

Ireland has a mild, equable, wet climate that is heavily influenced by the warm Gulf Stream, and by westerly winds in winter, which keep average temperatures up. Temperatures are relatively uniform throughout the country. The average January temperature is 4° to 7° C (39° to 45° F); the average July temperature is 14° to 16° C (57° to 61° F). Rainfall is lowest on the east coast and highest on the west coast, where precipitation in the wettest areas can reach 2,500 mm (98 in); the average is about 1,500 mm (60 in). In the central lowlands the average precipitation is 750 to 1,125 mm (30 to 44 in). Rainfall is spread throughout the year, enabling very long growing seasons in the west of the country.

C.

Plants and Animals

Although much of Ireland was once covered with primeval forest, little now remains. Sedges, rushes, ferns, and grass predominate. Ireland is one of the last outposts of peatlands in Western Europe, and the flora of these regions consists of a large variety of bog moss species together with heather and sedges. The Burren in County Clare is a region of bare Carboniferous limestone, containing arctic-alpine species surviving from the last glaciation and Mediterranean species at the northern end of their range.

Irish fauna does not differ markedly from that of Britain or France. Mammals include the red deer, fox, badger, rabbit, otter, grey seal, common seal, red squirrel, hedgehog, stoat, hare, and many cetacean species. The great Irish deer and the great auk, or garefowl, were exterminated in prehistoric times and subsequently the island has lost its bear, wolf, wildcat, beaver, and native cattle. Indigenous fish include salmon, brown trout, char, pollan, and eel, with other varieties, such as pike, roach, and rainbow trout, having been introduced from outside. Ireland is important for its seabird colonies and migratory waterfowl. Of some 380 species of wild birds recorded in Ireland, 135 breed in the country. There are no snakes and the only reptile is the common lizard. There are national parks at Killarney, County Kerry; Glenveagh, County Donegal; Connemara, County Galway; The Burren, County Clare; and the Wicklow Mountains, County Wicklow; as well as a number of forest parks and many smaller amenities.

D.

Natural Resources

Ireland is not rich in mineral resources. The country has some deposits of lead, zinc, silver, gypsum, and barite. Peat is an important domestic fuel. There is little coal, but natural gas reserves off the coast of County Cork have been in production since the 1980s.

E.

Environmental Concerns

Ireland is a predominantly rural country, and its major environmental challenges involve agricultural practices. Farming has intensified in the past two decades, leading to increases in pesticide and fertilizer use, which in turn have increased chemical pollution in run-off, streams, and estuaries. Soil depletion and erosion are widespread. Parts of the Irish Sea are contaminated with nuclear waste discarded by the United Kingdom.

Ireland has relatively low biodiversity but a large number of unique habitats important to wildlife, including migratory birds. Coastal regions contain many types of wetlands that are of great importance to waterfowl and other species. The most endangered biomes are blanket and raised bogs. These are natural wetlands that have been mined for centuries to supply peat, which is used as domestic fuel and to supply electric power facilities. Modern forestry operations have planted about 5 per cent of the land in exotic conifers, mostly on peatlands. Conservation of the remaining peatlands is a conservation priority of both Ireland and the European Union (EU).

Ireland maintains 6 national parks (Burren NP, Connemara NP, Glenveagh NP, Killarney NP, Mayo NP, and Wicklow Mountains NP) and 300 public forests, including 12 forest parks. Two sites—North Bull Island (1981) and Killarney (1982)—have been approved as biosphere reserves under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program. The country is bound by EU environmental directives under which it has designated 20 special protection areas and 14 biogenetic reserves. These plus nature reserves and areas of scientific interest bring the total protected land in Ireland to about 0.9 per cent (1997). Ireland has ratified international environmental agreements on air pollution, climate change, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, nuclear test ban, ozone layer, tropical timber, wetlands, and whaling and has signed the conventions on biodiversity, desertification, endangered species, law of the sea, and marine life.

III.

Population

The population of Ireland is predominantly of Celtic origin (see Celtic Languages; Celts). No significant ethnic minorities exist.

A.

Population Characteristics

The Republic of Ireland has a population of 4,109,086 (2007 estimate), giving the country an overall population density of about 60 people per sq km (154 per sq mi). This figure is only about half of what it was in the early 1840s, when the whole island had an estimated population of about 8 million, of whom about three quarters lived in the area now covered by the republic. The potato blight of 1845 and 1846 brought famine to Ireland (see Irish Famine), and despite subsequent good harvests an estimated 1 million people died. In the next 20 years another 1 million people emigrated, setting a trend of depopulation that has continued, albeit at a reduced rate in recent years.

Recently, Ireland had one of the highest birth rates in Europe and thus has one of the youngest populations, but the annual rate of increase during the 1980s was only about 0.5 per cent; in 2007 the rate of population growth was 1.14 per cent. Around 60 per cent of the population lived in urban areas in 2005.

B.

Political Divisions

For administrative purposes, the Republic of Ireland is divided into 26 counties, which are described in separate articles, and 5 city councils, which are coextensive with the cities of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford. The counties are: Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois (Laoighis), Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow, in Leinster province; Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford, in Munster province; Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo, in Connaught (Connacht) province; and Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan, in Ulster province.

C.

Principal Cities

The port of Dublin is Ireland’s largest city as well as its capital, with a population of 495,781 (2002). Cork is the second-largest city, with a population of 123,062 (2002). Other major cities and towns have populations of less than 100,000, and they are important primarily as trading centres. They include, with their population figures, Limerick, 54,023 (2002), the commercial centre for western Ireland, Galway, 65,832 (2002), Waterford, 44,594 (2002), Sligo, 18,473 (2002), Tralee, 20,375 (2002), Clonmel, 15,739 (2002), and Wexford, 9,449 (2002).

D.

Religion

About 92 per cent of the people of Ireland are Roman Catholics and about 3 per cent are Protestants. Protestant groups include the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations. There are small Jewish communities in Dublin and Cork. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the constitution.

Roman Catholicism has played a central role in the development of Irish culture and society. During the period of British rule it became associated with the struggle for independence, partly because of laws that prevented Roman Catholics standing for public office until the early 19th century. Socially it is reflected in the fact that divorce was prohibited in Ireland until 1996 and until the 1980s contraception was relatively difficult to obtain. Abortion continues to be illegal. However, legislation was introduced in March 1995 allowing the dissemination of information on abortion facilities overseas; an estimated 4,000 women a year travel overseas, mainly to Britain, for abortions. In November of the same year a referendum narrowly approved the introduction of a limited access to divorce, which became effective in 1996.

E.

Language

Since 1937 Irish Gaelic and English have been the two official languages of Ireland. English is the most widespread, spoken by the entire population. Around 13 per cent of the population are native Irish speakers, mostly in rural areas in the west. Areas where Irish is the first language are known as Gaeltacht. There has been a concerted effort, supported by the government, since independence to re-establish Irish and schools teach Irish as well as English. Around 6,000 speak Shelta as a first language, a “cryptolect” (or secret language) of travellers that is based on Irish. Scots is spoken among family and friends by a minority in Donegal county. See also Celtic Languages: Irish.

F.

Education

Irish influence on Western education began 14 centuries ago. From the 6th to the 8th century ad, when western Europe was largely illiterate, nearly 1,000 Irish missionaries travelled to England and continental Europe to teach Christianity. During the early Middle Ages, Irish missionaries founded monasteries that achieved extensive cultural influence; the monastery at St Gallen (Sankt Gallen), Switzerland, is especially famous for its contributions to education and literature.

Classical studies flowered in ancient Ireland. Distinctive also at the time were the bardic schools of writers and other learned men who travelled from town to town, teaching their arts to students. The bardic schools, an important part of Irish education, were suppressed in the 16th century by Henry VIII of England during his conquest of the country.

University education in Ireland began with the founding of the University of Dublin, or Trinity College, in 1592. The National University of Ireland, established in 1908, has four constituent university colleges, in Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Maynooth; in addition there are recognized colleges: the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the National College of Art and Design, Institute of Public Administration, Shannon College of Hotel Management, and Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy. Additionally there is Dublin City University and the University of Limerick.

The Irish language has been taught in all government-subsidized schools since 1922, but fewer than 10,000 pupils speak it as their first language.

Ireland has a free state-school system, and the education system is of a high standard, with an adult literacy rate of 98 per cent. Attendance is compulsory for all children between 6 and 15 years of age. Most schools are controlled by denominational groups, mainly the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, but are financed largely by the state. In 1998–1999 some 456,564 pupils were enrolled in 3,391 primary schools. Secondary education is divided between secondary schools, offering general courses, and vocational schools offering technical and general training. A number of community schools combining both elements have been established. In 2006 there were 743 secondary (predominantly denominational), vocational, and community schools. About 176,296 students were enrolled in 2001–2002 at universities, colleges, state-subsidized training colleges, technical colleges, and other tertiary-level institutions. A network of winter classes provides agricultural education for rural inhabitants. In 2002–2003, 5.3 per cent of gross national product (GNP) was spent on education.

G.

Culture

Ireland was first inhabited around 7500 bc by Mesolithic hunter-fishers (see Stone Age: The Mesolithic Period), probably from Scotland. They were followed by Neolithic people, who used flint tools, and then by people from the Mediterranean, known in legend as the Firbolgs, who used bronze implements. Later came the Picts, also an immigrant people of the Bronze Age. Extensive traces of the culture of this early period survive in the stone monuments (menhirs, dolmens, and cromlechs) and stone forts, dating from 2000 to 1000 bc found in many parts of the island, and notably in the Burren. During the Iron Age, the Celtic invasion (c. 350 bc) introduced a new cultural strain into Ireland, one that was to predominate. The oldest relics of Celtic language can be seen in the 5th-century ad ogham stone inscriptions in County Kerry. Ireland was Christianized by St Patrick in the 5th century. The churches and monasteries founded by him and his successors became the fountainhead from which Christian art and culture permeated the Celtic way of life.

G.1.

Literature

Ireland is famous for its contributions to world literature (see Gaelic Literature; Irish Literature). Two great mythological cycles in Gaelic—the Ulster (Red Branch) and the Fenian (Ossianic)—tell the stories of such legendary heroes as Cú Chulainn, Medb (Maeve), Finn Mac Cumhail, and Deirdre. After a long and bitter colonization by England, Ireland gave the world some of the greatest writers in the English language, including Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, and George Bernard Shaw.

Associated with the struggle for independence in the 20th century is the Irish literary revival, or the Irish Renaissance, which produced the poems of William Butler Yeats, the plays of Sean O’Casey, and writers like George Augustus Moore and George Russell, who wrote under the pseudonym Æ. James Joyce, another writer of the revival, was a formative influence on much of later 20th-century European literature. The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, founded by Yeats and the playwright Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory, presents plays by O’Casey and other outstanding Irish dramatists like Padraic Colum and John Millington Synge. More recent noted Irish writers include Seamus Heaney, Brendan Behan, Edna O’Brien, Frank O’Connor, Seán O’Faoláin, and Roddy Doyle.

G.2.

Art

From the 5th to the 9th century the Irish monasteries produced artworks of world renown, primarily in the form of illuminated manuscripts. The greatest such work is the Book of Kells, which has some of the most beautiful calligraphy of the Middle Ages (see Celtic Art). Native art seems to have gone underground during the period of English domination, but after the 17th century a number of Irish painters and sculptors achieved fame. The Irish painters George Barret, James Barry, and Nathaniel Hone were co-founders, with Sir Joshua Reynolds, of the Royal Academy in 1768. James Arthur O’Connor was a noted landscape artist of his period, and Daniel Maclise painted the magnificent frescoes in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. Notable among Irish painters of the 19th century were Nathaniel Hone, Jr., Maurice MacGonagal, John Keating, Sean O’Sullivan, and Walter F. Osborne. More recently, the Expressionist painter Jack B. Yeats, the Cubist painter Mainie Jellett, and the stained-glass artist Evie Hone have achieved widespread recognition and acclaim for their work.

G.3.

Music

Irish harpists were known throughout Europe as early as the 12th century. The most celebrated of these was the blind harpist Torlogh O’Carolan, or Carolan, who composed about 200 songs on varied themes, many of which were published in Dublin in 1720. About the same time, an annual folk festival called the feis was instituted, devoted to the preservation and encouragement of harping. Irish folk music ranges from lullabies to drinking songs, and many variations and nuances of tempo, rhythm, and tonality are used. The Irish version of the bagpipes, the uilleann pipes, and the penny flute are characteristic instruments. At the Belfast Harpers’ Festival in 1792, Edward Bunting made a collection of traditional Irish songs and melodies, which he published in 1796. Thomas Moore, the great Irish poet, made extensive use of Bunting’s work in his well-known Irish Melodies, first published in 1807.

The Irish folk tradition thrives today, with many noted individual artists and groups like the Dubliners, who made Irish folk music popular in the 1960s. A particular Irish tradition is the show band, which provides a variety of folk and dance music. Western European classical forms of music were not widely known in Ireland until the 18th century. Pianist John Field was the first Irish composer to win international renown, with his nocturnes. Michael William Balfe is well known for his opera The Bohemian Girl. Among the most prominent of Irish performing artists was the concert and operatic tenor John McCormack. Today Ireland is best known musically for its rock bands and pop artists such as U2, the Saw Doctors, Sinead O’Connor, the Pogues, the Cranberries, Boyzone, and Westlife.

G.4.

Cultural Institutions

The most important Irish libraries and museums are in Dublin. The National Library of Ireland, with more than 500,000 volumes, is the largest public library in the country. Trinity College Library, founded in 1601, contains about 2.8 million volumes, including the Book of Kells. Together with exhibits in the fields of art, industry, and natural history, and representative collections of Irish silver, glass, textiles and lace, the National Museum houses outstanding specimens of the remarkable metal craftsmanship of the early Christian period in Ireland, including the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice, and the Moylough Bell Shrine (all dating from the 8th century), as well as the Lismore Crozier and the Cross of Cong (both 12th century). The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin has an admirable collection of paintings of all schools. Most cities have public libraries and small museums.

Interest in the theatre is strong in Ireland. The Abbey Theatre and the Gate Theatre, both in Dublin, receive government grants. The Arts Council, a body appointed by the Taoiseach (prime minister), gives grants to arts organizations and publishers; Gael-Linn promotes the Irish language and culture.

G.5.

Recreation

St Patrick’s Day, March 17, is Ireland’s most important national holiday. The national sports are hurling, camogie, and Gaelic football. Association football is also popular. Horse racing is a highly popular spectator sport throughout the republic and Ireland is famed as a horse-breeding centre.

IV.

Economy

Ireland’s GNP (World Bank estimate) was US$139,567 million in 2004, equivalent to US$41,140 per capita. Once viewed as one of the less-developed economies of Europe, Ireland today is one of its fastest growing. Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 3.5 per cent a year during the 1980s, and the rate of increase was 6.7 per cent in 1994.

The economy of Ireland was traditionally agricultural. Since the mid-1950s, however, the country’s industrial base has expanded greatly. Manufactured exports accounted for 85 per cent of total exports in 2004, including electronics exports, which account for some 25 per cent of the total. The industrial sector accounted for approximately 41 per cent of GDP in 2003, compared with only about 2.7 per cent for agriculture (2003 figure). The service sector is, however, the dominant sector today. In 2005 it employed 66 per cent of the workforce and contributed about 56 per cent of GDP. The sector includes tourism and the financial services sectors, which have both expanded greatly, as well as wholesale and retail trade, and public services like health and education. The economy is mixed, with a large private sector and a contracting public sector. The annual budget figures for 2005 showed approximately US$61,110 million in revenue and US$64,088 million in expenditure.

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

The agricultural sector has been largely modernized in the past 30 years, and is now highly efficient. Only about 10 per cent of the working population is employed in the sector, and this percentage is declining and ageing as a result of mechanization and continuing rural migration. In the early 1990s more than 50 per cent of farmers were more than 50 years of age. Most farms are family farms. Almost 65 per cent of the total area of the republic is devoted to pasture, cropland, or mountain grazing. Animal husbandry is the most important sector economically, but farms are generally mixed—growing some crops as well as raising animals. Beef-farming tends to predominate in the central lowlands, with dairying dominant in the south. Pig-rearing is also important. Arable farming is important in the east and south-east. Sheep are most commonly grazed on the rough mountain pastures. Ireland is a thriving centre of the world bloodstock (thoroughbred horse) industry; many notable racehorses have been bred in the country.

In 2005 livestock included: 6.89 million cattle, 4.56 million sheep, 1.68 million pigs, around 70,000 horses and ponies, and around 14.6 million poultry. The principal field crops are barley (1 million tonnes, 2005), sugar beet (2 million tonnes), wheat (723,000 tonnes), and potatoes (500,000 tonnes). Among other important crops are hay, turnips, and oats. The best farmland is found in the east and south-east. Ireland has benefited from the EU Common Agricultural Policy, which has supplied support funds. The money has been used to modernize farming methods and machinery.

The government of Ireland has undertaken extensive reforestation schemes in an effort to reduce the country’s dependence on timber imports and to provide raw material for new paper mills and related industries. In the early 1990s forests occupied nearly 7 per cent of Ireland’s total area, of which some 80 per cent belonged to Coillte Teoranta, the state forestry company. Roundwood production in 1996 was more than 2.65 million cu m (93.5 million cu ft).

The waters around Ireland are excellent fishing grounds. The fishing industry, traditionally underdeveloped, has been expanding in recent years. The sea fish catch in 2004 was 338,588 tonnes. Deep-sea catches include herring, cod, mackerel, whiting, and plaice. Crustaceans, particularly lobsters, crayfish, and prawns, and such molluscs as oysters and periwinkles, are plentiful in coastal waters, and form the bulk of the country’s seafood exports. Some 39,775 tonnes of shellfish were caught in 1995. The inland rivers and lakes provide excellent fishing for salmon, trout, eel, and several varieties of coarse fish.

B.

Mining

Although mining plays a relatively minor role in the Irish economy, discoveries of new deposits in recent decades have led to a considerable expansion of mineral production. Mineral output in 2004 included 438,000 tonnes of zinc, 65,000 tonnes of lead, and 20 tonnes of silver. Ireland is one of the leading exporters of lead and zinc in Europe; most production comes from a large mine near Navan. An aluminium plant was established in County Limerick in 1983, processing imported bauxite.

C.

Manufacturing

Since 1960 there has been an active policy to encourage foreign investment in industry, through tax and other incentives, and to create jobs. Since 1973 more than 40,000 new jobs have been created, mainly in high-tech, highly mechanized enterprises. The United States is the main foreign investor, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. Ireland has diversified its manufacturing (most of it has developed since 1930). Among the food-processing industries, the most important are meat-packing, brewing and distilling, grain-milling, sugar-refining, and the manufacture of dairy products, margarine, confections, and jam. Other important manufactured articles include office machinery and data-processing equipment; electrical machinery; electronic equipment; tobacco products; woollen and worsted goods; clothing; cement; furniture; soap; candles; building materials; footwear; cotton, rayon, and linen textiles; hosiery; paper; leather; machinery; refined petroleum; transport equipment; and chemicals.

D.

Tourism

Tourism has been effectively and intensively promoted and has increased steadily in importance. In 2005, some 7.33 million tourists generated approximately US$5,811 million for the economy of Ireland, making tourism the largest invisibles earner.

E.

Energy

Peat has traditionally been dug in large quantities for domestic and industrial fuel and also for horticultural purposes; annual output in 1995-1996 was almost 3.5 million tonnes of sod and milled peat, and peat briquettes. Bord na Móna (peat board) is the state company responsible for the industry. In recent years growing concern has been expressed about the environmental effects of peat digging. In 1993 the main fuels used in electricity generation were: gas (34 per cent); coal, largely imported (23 per cent); oil (18 per cent); hydroelectric power (13 per cent); and peat (12 per cent).

Natural gas has existed in sizeable quantities off the southern coast, notably in the Kinsale Head field, the smaller Ballycotton field, and the Seven Heads field, most of which are now relatively depleted and thus the country is becoming more dependent on imports. Meanwhile, it is hoped that further promising finds will result from exploration of the Irish continental shelf.

F.

Currency and Banking

The basic monetary unit was formerly the Irish pound (or punt of 100 pence), but as part of Ireland’s commitment to the European single currency it adopted Euro notes and coins as from January 1, 2002. As at early 2007, 0.77 Euros equalled US$1.

Until March 1979, when Ireland joined the European Monetary System (EMS), the Irish pound was exchangeable at a par with the British pound sterling; the requirements of EMS membership prevented this from continuing. The Central Bank of Ireland, established in 1942, is the bank of issue. Associated with the Central Bank are the leading commercial (or associated) banks with their networks of local branches. Mergers had reduced the number of these associated banks to four by the early 1990s. On the other hand, the number of merchant banking houses has increased, and an increasing number of leading North American and continental European banks now have offices in Dublin. Trustee banks and the Post Office Savings Bank mainly serve small individual accounts.

G.

Commerce and Trade

Dublin and Cork are the manufacturing, financial, and commercial centres of Ireland. Dublin is the most important seaport; Cork is the main port for transatlantic passenger travel. Other significant ports include Dún Laoghaire, Waterford, Rosslare, and Limerick. Ireland became a member of the European Community (now the European Union) in 1973. As a result of EU membership the country’s export market has expanded hugely. Ireland has also benefited from considerable EU funding to help develop infrastructure and maintain rural communities.

Imports in 2004 totalled some US$104,314 million; exports, including re-exports, about US$104,314) million. The United Kingdom is still, however, Ireland’s single most important trading partner, being the source of about 33 per cent of Irish imports and the initial market for about 25 per cent of exports in 1994. Other important partners include Germany, the United States, France, and Japan. The most important exports include electric and electronic equipment (about 30 per cent of total exports), livestock, meat, dairy products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and textiles and clothing; about two thirds of all exports are to EU countries. Imports are primarily machinery, transport equipment, oil and refined petroleum products, and chemicals.

H.

Labour

In 2005 the total labour force was about 2.08 million; approximately 10 per cent of people in work were engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 26 per cent in manufacturing and construction, and 62 per cent in services. However, job creation has not been enough to cut significantly Ireland’s unemployment rate, which is one of the highest in the EU. It stood at about 4.4 per cent in 2004; youth unemployment was particularly high. Some 681,000 workers in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are members of unions affiliated with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Centralized pay deals between the government, trade unions, and employers’ organizations have operated since about 1987.

I.

Transport

Ireland has 1,954 km (1,214 mi) of railway track, all operated by Iarnród Éireann (Irish Railways), an autonomous operating company of Córas Iompair Éireann, the Irish Transport Company, and linking all important points on the island. As a result of the scattered rural population, Ireland has developed a large road system, in which even small local roads are generally well surfaced. The road system totalled about 95,736 km (59,488 mi), of which about 100 per cent was paved. In 1996 there were around 939,000 passenger cars; there was a ratio of 382 cars per 1,000 people. Navigable inland waterways total about 435 km (270 mi). International airports are located at Dublin; Shannon; Cork; and Knock, in County Mayo. Several international airlines, together with the national carrier Aer Lingus, provide regular service between Ireland, the United Kingdom, and major cities throughout the world.

J.

Communications

All postal, telegraph, telephone, and broadcasting services are operated by government agencies or statutory bodies. In 1995 the state sold off 35 per cent of its holding in the telecommunications statutory body Telecom Éireann. In 2002 about 1.6 million telephone lines were in use. Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the public broadcasting authority, operates four radio networks (one delivering Irish-language programming, Raidió na Gaeltachta) and two television channels. In 1997 radios in use numbered about 3 million and there were 2 million television licences. In addition to the state radio stations, there were 25 franchised commercial radio stations in 2007.

V.

Government

Under the constitution of 1937, Ireland is a sovereign, democratic state. It became a republic in 1949 when Commonwealth ties with the United Kingdom were severed. The head of state is the president (Irish Uachtarán na hÉireann) elected for a seven-year term by direct vote. The current president, Mary McAleese, was first elected in October 1997. The constitution can only be altered with the approval of the people through a referendum.

A.

Executive and Legislature

Executive power under the Irish constitution is vested in a Cabinet, which consists of between 7 and 15 members, including the Taoiseach (prime minister). The Cabinet is further assisted by some 17 ministers of state. The government is responsible to the lower house of the Oireachtas (the national legislature), Dáil Éireann. The Taoiseach serves as head of government and is appointed by the president after nomination by the lower house. The deputy prime minister is the Tánaiste. Members of the government head the administrative departments, or ministries. They are selected by the Taoiseach, approved by the Dáil, and appointed by the president.

Ireland has a bicameral parliament, known as the Oireachtas. Members of the lower house, the Dáil, are directly elected by proportional representation for a five-year term. The Dáil has 166 members, known as Teachtaí Dála (“representatives to the assembly”), or TDs. The upper house, Seanad Éireann, has 60 members—11 nominated by the Taoiseach, 6 elected by university graduates, and 43 chosen by an electoral college of some 900 representatives from local government and the national legislature. The slate of candidates represents labour, agriculture and fisheries, public administration, and social services, commerce and industry, and national culture. The upper house is limited in authority, while the lower house has the power to support or bring down governments in the parliamentary tradition.

B.

Political Parties

The system of proportional representation by which members are elected to the Dáil means it is unlikely a single party will obtain an absolute majority. Politics therefore has featured many party mergers, splinter groups, and coalitions. The most powerful parties are Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, and the Progressive Democrats. Other parties represented are Comhaontas Glas (the Green Party) and Sinn Féin, the only party with representation in both the Republic and in Northern Ireland. Over the years Taoiseachs have often been unable to form governments with a clear-cut working majority.

C.

Judiciary

Judicial authority in Ireland is vested in a Supreme Court, a High Court, a court of criminal appeal, a special criminal court, circuit courts, and district courts. The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal and has the power to play a key role in maintaining the constitution. The president can ask, after consultation, the court to rule on any bill (other than a money bill and certain other bills) passed by both houses of parliament, and say whether it is repugnant to the constitution. Judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the government.

D.

Local Government

There are 29 county councils, 5 city councils, 5 borough councils, and 75 town councils (formerly urban district councils and town commissions). They administer local services, including health and sanitation, housing, water supply, and libraries. All members of the various local government authorities are popularly elected, under a system of proportional representation, usually for five-year terms. Full-time local managers support the elected members of local authorities. Selected by the central ministry after examinations, they act as the executive, being responsible for day-to-day management, collecting rents and rates, and employing any necessary staff. In addition, there are eight regional authorities that coordinate some public services and monitor the distribution of EU structural funds.

E.

Health and Welfare

Most health services are provided free of charge for low-income groups and at moderate charges for others through local and national agencies, under the supervision of the department of health. A non-profit, contributory voluntary health insurance scheme is administered by an independent statutory agency. Public insurance and assistance programmes are administered by the department of social welfare and include pensions for the aged, widows, and orphans; children’s allowances; unemployment and disability benefits; and other social security items. In 2004 there were about 422 people per doctor. The infant mortality rate was, in 1998, 5 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 1995 16.26 per cent of government expenditure was spent on health care.

F.

Defence

The active military forces of Ireland, the Permanent Defence Force—army, navy, and air force—total about 10,460 members of all ranks. Reserve forces number about 16,300. The forces are all volunteers; the minimum term of enlistment in the Permanent Defence Force is three years. In the mid-1990s Permanent Defence Force personnel were stationed with United Nations peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, Croatia, Cyprus, Haiti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Western Sahara.

G.

International Organizations

Ireland is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

VI.

History

Ireland has had a long history of involvement with Britain, from the time of the Anglo-Norman invasions in the 12th century to the Act of Union in 1800 and the Irish Revolution of 1912-1921. This article begins with the formation of an independent Irish state from 1919. For the history of Ireland before 1919, see Ireland: History.

A.

Irish Revolution

The Easter Rising was an uprising of Irish nationalists in Dublin on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, organized by the Irish Republican Brotherhood and manned with troops from the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army militia groups. The rising was doomed to failure, in part because of limited support from the Irish people. The subsequent execution of 15 leaders, however, and the threat of forced conscription in Ireland in 1918 during the final stages of World War I, set the stage for Sinn Féin to replace the Irish Parliamentary Party as the dominant political party in Ireland. Founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith and Bulmer Hobson, Sinn Féin called for Ireland to become a republic independent of the United Kingdom, and for an end to the partition movement among Protestants in the north. In the general election in November 1918, Sinn Féin candidates won 73 of the 105 seats allotted to Ireland in the United Kingdom parliament.

In January 1919 the elected Sinn Féin members abstained from the British parliament and instead convened a national assembly in Dublin, called Dáil Éireann. They proclaimed Ireland’s independence and formed a government, with Eamon De Valera, the only surviving commandant of the 1916 rising, later elected president. There followed guerrilla attacks by the Irish Volunteers, reorganized by Michael Collins and increasingly called the Irish Republican Army (IRA), on government forces throughout the year, escalating in early 1920 with an ambitious raid on a police barracks in Carraigtwohill, County Cork. The British government responded by deploying two new forces, the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries, to reinforce the Royal Irish Constabulary. The events of November 21, 1920, known as Bloody Sunday, when 13 men who were mostly British intelligence agents were killed by IRA activists, and Auxiliaries later opened fire on a crowd at a Gaelic football match in Dublin killing 12 people, marked another sharp escalation in the levels of violence and reprisals.

B.

Partition of Ireland

In December 1920 the British parliament enacted the Government of Ireland Act, providing one parliament for the six north-eastern counties of Ireland and another for the remaining 26 counties in the south. The Act also provided for a Council of Ireland to consist of 20 members from each assembly, to promote cooperation and the possibility of a future all-Ireland parliament. The Protestant majority in the north accepted this limited Home Rule and elected a separate parliament in May 1921, although they rejected the Council of Ireland. The partition of Ireland was, however, not accepted by the Roman Catholic minority in the north and majority in the south. Efforts to implement the new government in the 26 counties served only to solidify Sinn Féin’s position.

The guerrilla war ended with a truce on July 11, 1921. Preliminary negotiations began between De Valera and the British prime minister David Lloyd George, following which a plenipotentiary delegation representing the Dáil was sent to London, headed by Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins. After intense negotiations a treaty was signed on December 6, 1921, under which the 26 counties would become the Irish Free State (Saorstát na hÉireann) within the Commonwealth of Nations, with dominion status equal to that of Canada. A governor-general was to be appointed to represent the British monarch, and a modified oath of allegiance was required. Although partition remained in effect, a Boundary Commission was to be established to review territorial claims. Further, Britain retained ownership of a number of ports in the Free State for defensive purposes. The treaty was immediately rejected by De Valera and other Sinn Féin members, largely in opposition to the oath of allegiance and the office of governor-general. The Dáil, however, following heated debate ratified it on January 7, 1922, by a small majority of 64 to 57. De Valera resigned as president, and was replaced by Griffith. The pro-Treaty side formed a Provisional Government with Collins as chairman that, under the terms of the treaty, co-existed with the Dáil and was responsible for overseeing the formation of the new state, drafting its constitution and organizing elections for the new assembly.

C.

The Irish Free State

C.1.

Irish Civil War

Under the leadership of De Valera the dissident Sinn Féin group, known as Republicans, called for a resumption of the struggle against Britain. The majority of the IRA were also anti-Treaty, and became known as the Irregulars. After a six-month period in which positions were consolidated and attempts at reconciliation were made, government troops attacked the headquarters of the Irregulars in the Four Courts building in Dublin in June 1922, initiating the Irish Civil War. By August of that year the pro-Treatyites, better organized and supported with British aid, had retaken control of all of the country’s urban area. There followed a protracted guerrilla campaign by the Irregulars, recalling the tactics used in the Anglo-Irish War of 1919-1921. However, following the death of the vehement anti-Treaty leader Liam Lynch in April 1923, a ceasefire was called, operative from April 30.

Meanwhile, the Provisional Government, headed by William Thomas Cosgrave after the assassination of Collins in August 1922, drafted a new constitution providing for a bicameral legislature, the Oireachtas, comprising Dáil Éireann (Assembly of Ireland) and Seanad Éireann (the Senate), nominally headed by the British monarch, represented by the governor-general. The constitution was ratified by the Dáil in December 1922 and the Provisional Government was dissolved. The official government of the Irish Free State was instituted at once, with Cosgrave assuming office as president of the Executive Council.

C.2.

Cosgrave Government

In August 1923 the Republicans participated in the national elections, and public order was gradually restored. Neither Cumann na nGaedheal, the pro-Treaty party founded by Cosgrave in April 1923, nor the reformed republican Sinn Féin secured a majority in the August elections. Cosgrave retained power, however, and De Valera led the republicans in a boycott of the Dáil. Cosgrave put together a viable government, which reached an agreement with the United Kingdom on some mutual problems and strengthened the economy by a series of measures, including a hydroelectric project at Ardnacrusha on the River Shannon. In December 1925 the Boundary Commission was abandoned after the chairman’s findings were leaked to the press, and instead a tripartite agreement was reached confirming the existing border.

The Irish Free State had joined the League of Nations in September 1923, and the following year it issued its own passports and set a precedent for members of the Commonwealth of Nations by sending its own ambassador to Washington, D.C. At the Imperial Conference of 1926, the Free State joined with other dominions to obtain the Balfour Report, which stated that the British government would not legislate for the dominions or nullify acts passed by their own legislatures. Once this was confirmed by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Ireland had the power to legislate away its relationship with the United Kingdom.

C.3.

De Valera Period

De Valera ended his boycott of the Dáil following the elections in June 1927 and, reluctantly taking the oath of allegiance, entered the Dáil in August with his newly formed Fianna Fáil party. In part as a result of the government’s failure to cope with domestic difficulties brought on by the world economic crisis of the early 1930s, Cosgrave’s party lost several seats to Fianna Fáil in the elections of February 1932. De Valera thereupon became head of a minority government, beginning a stay in office that would last 16 years.

De Valera sponsored legislation in April 1932 that included provisions for revoking the oath of allegiance. This bill, which would have also virtually ended the political ties between the United Kingdom and the Free State, was approved by the Dáil, but was rejected by the Seanad. Next, he withheld payment of certain land purchase annuities that the British government claimed were legally due. These repayments were for loans advanced to Irish tenant farmers under the Land Acts of 1891-1909 to allow them to purchase farmland. De Valera rejected these claims on the grounds that they had not been ratified in the Dáil, and subsequently refused to accept Commonwealth arbitration on the matter. This led to a protracted tariff war between the two countries, with Britain imposing high duties on Irish cattle and dairy imports, and Ireland responding by taxing British coal, machinery, and iron and steel. The so-called “Economic War” caused serious damage to the economy of the Free State, and was finally resolved through the Anglo-Irish agreements of 1938. In another significant and highly controversial move, De Valera secured repeal of a law restricting the activities of the IRA, many of whom had fought alongside him in the Civil War of 1922-1923. The electorate registered approval of his programme in the January 1933 elections, in which a Fianna Fáil majority was returned to the Dáil.

With this mandate from the people, De Valera systematically developed his programme for the gradual elimination of British influence in Irish affairs, obtaining abrogation of the oath of allegiance, restrictions on the role of the governor-general, and other measures. Simultaneously the government initiated measures designed to give the country a self-sufficient economy. Steps taken included high income taxes on the rich, high protective tariffs, and control of foreign capital invested in Irish industry.

In June 1935 De Valera severed his political ties with the IRA, which had been extremely critical of many of his policies, and imprisoned some of its leaders. Meanwhile, a draft of a new constitution was in progress. In 1936 Fianna Fáil, in coalition with other groups in the Dáil, finally secured passage of legislation abolishing the Seanad, long inimical to De Valera’s policies. The Dáil functioned as a unicameral legislature for the remainder of its term. In connection with the events surrounding the abdication of Edward VIII, the Dáil enacted in 1936 a bill that deleted all references to the British monarch from the constitution of the Free State and abolished the office of governor-general. The External Relations Act of 1936, passed at the same time, restricted the association of the Free State with the Commonwealth to joint action on certain questions involving external policy, specifically the approval of the trade treaties of the Free State and the appointment of foreign envoys.

D.

Éire

The five-year term of the Dáil expired in June 1937. In the subsequent election De Valera and Fianna Fáil were returned to power and, in a simultaneous referendum, voters approved the new constitution. This document abolished the Irish Free State and established Éire as a “sovereign independent democratic state”. The constitution provided for an elected president as head of state; a Taoiseach as head of government; and a two-house legislature, with a new 60-member Seanad. Although it presumed to apply to all Ireland, its application in Northern Ireland was not to take effect prior to unification. It made no reference to the British monarch or to the Commonwealth, but De Valera indicated that Éire’s relations with the United Kingdom would be governed by the External Relations Act of 1936. In 1938 the Irish writer and patriot Douglas Hyde became the first president of Éire, and De Valera became Taoiseach.

In 1938 a series of Anglo-Irish agreements on trade, finance, and defence were reached. They ended the tariff war between Éire and the United Kingdom, and provided for the withdrawal of British forces from naval bases in Éire in exchange for a lump-sum payment of £10 million to settle the annuities owed to Britain. The slight improvement in relations between the two nations was marred by a violent terrorist campaign in mainland Great Britain conducted by the IRA, which included bomb attacks on railway stations. A breakaway fascist faction of the IRA tried to approach Nazi government representatives, but received minimal response.

Éire remained formally neutral in World War II, thereby demonstrating its independence, but in doing so alienating many of the Allied powers, in particular the Unionist-controlled government of Northern Ireland. Many of its citizens, however, joined the Allied forces or worked in British war industries, and in practice Éire followed a policy of quiet cooperation with the Allies. In the immediate post-war era, the economic dislocation in Britain and Europe subjected the economy of Éire to severe strains, resulting in a period of rapid inflation and, indirectly, in the defeat of Fianna Fáil and De Valera in the elections of February 1948. John Aloysius Costello became Taoiseach, leading a coalition of five parties, the chief of which was Fine Gael, a party that had been formed in 1933 through a merger of Cumann na nGaedheal, the National Centre Party, and the quasi-fascist Blueshirt movement. Costello called for lower prices and taxes, the expansion of industrial production, and closer commercial relations with Britain. In November 1948 he led the Dáil in passing the Republic of Ireland Bill.

E.

Republic of Ireland

On Easter Monday, April 18, 1949, 30 years after the Easter Rising, Éire became the Republic of Ireland, formally free of allegiance to Britain and no longer a member of the Commonwealth. In the following month, the British parliament confirmed the status of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom until its own parliament chose otherwise. It allowed the Republic of Ireland to retain the economic benefits of Commonwealth membership and, in keeping with this, it extended to Irish citizens resident in the United Kingdom the same rights as British citizens. Ireland granted British citizens residing in the republic similar benefits, not including political rights. The republic became a member of the UN on December 14, 1955. It declined to join NATO, however, since this would have entailed entering into an alliance with the United Kingdom, which retained possession of Northern Ireland.

F.

Economic Progress and Social Change

Although inflation and an unfavourable balance of trade remained difficult problems, Ireland made significant strides towards economic stability through the 1950s and 1960s. In 1958 an official report from the Department of Finance outlined a blueprint for new economic reforms, advocating abolition of the protectionism that had characterized economic policy during the De Valera years. In 1964 the government completed its five-year First Programme for Economic Expansion, which exceeded its goals. A feature of the programme was the offer of tax incentives to foreign investors with the aim of bringing in new industries and creating new jobs to help stem the continuing exodus of the population. Partly as a result of such programmes, the rate of economic growth increased from about 1 per cent per year in the 1950s to more than 4.5 per cent in the late 1960s. It was officially reported in 1964 that more than 200 factories had begun production since 1955, most of them with foreign participation. A second plan aimed to raise GNP by 50 per cent over the 1960 level within ten years.

The improving economic circumstances were regarded as the main cause of a decline in emigration, reversing a population decline that had continued unabated for more than a century. The new prosperity was also reflected in social and cultural changes. The traditional influence of the Roman Catholic Church was eroded, while the Church itself underwent modernization in the light of the Second Vatican Council. In 1961 a national television station, Radio Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), was launched that provided a new forum for political and social debate, and in confronting controversial issues it faced regular criticism from the Church and political establishment. Improved communications and the relaxation of censorship opened the way for new cultural influences, with new styles of popular culture, music, literature, and art being imported from Britain and America. Free secondary education was introduced in 1967. Politically, a new style of technocratic management emerged that increasingly supplanted the certainties of pre-War nationalism.

With economic recovery came a new measure of political stability and a decline in traditional anti-British feeling. As early as 1957, Costello, who regarded terrorist activities as damaging to relations with Britain and tending to prolong the partition of Ireland, had called for forceful action against the IRA. De Valera, who succeeded Costello following the 1957 elections, publicly agreed that unity could not be achieved by force. This, together with a decline in active membership led the IRA in February 1962 to announce that it had abandoned violence, but continued with isolated acts of terrorism.

In June 1959 De Valera, at the age of 77, was elected president, a position he would hold for 14 years. He was succeeded as Taoiseach by Sean Lemass, whose enthusiastic support for the new economic policy was seen by many as representative of the new generation of Irish politics. Lemass promoted warmer relations with Northern Ireland, and was the first Taoiseach in the history of the state to visit the province, being received by the Northern Ireland prime minister Captain Terence O’Neill in January 1965. Lemass and John Lynch, who succeeded him in 1966, both attempted to build up industry in order to reduce unemployment and increase exports. In 1965 the United Kingdom abolished virtually all tariffs on Irish goods, and Ireland undertook to do the same for British goods over a period of 15 years.

In early 1972 Ireland signed a treaty joining the European Community (now the European Union), which became effective on January 1, 1973. The move was favoured in a referendum by 83 per cent of the voters. In December of the same year another referendum ended the special constitutional status of the Roman Catholic Church.

G.

Political Instability

The international economic crisis caused by the rising price of oil in 1973 had an adverse effect on Ireland’s economy. Inflation rose rapidly and international trade, on which the economic expansion of the 1960s had been based, fell sharply. As a result unemployment levels rose and the government was forced to borrow massively. A coalition of the Fine Gael and Labour parties gained a slim majority in the 1973 elections, and Fine Gael leader Liam Cosgrave became Taoiseach. In 1977 Fianna Fáil returned to power in a government headed by Lynch; in 1979 he was replaced by Charles J. Haughey.

An increase of violence between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s was followed by the resurgence of paramilitary activity, with the revival of IRA activity by the splinter group the Provisional IRA and the formation of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association. In 1971 the Dáil banned the purchase or holding of arms for use outside Ireland, and in 1972 the government required the surrender of all firearms. The crisis reached a peak on January 30, 1972, when British paratroopers opened fire on a banned civil rights march in Londonderry, killing 14 civilians. The incident became known as Bloody Sunday, echoing the same name given to events on November 21, 1920. The British government responded by proroguing the Stormont assembly in March 1972 and imposing direct rule from Westminster. In December loyalist bombs in Dublin’s city centre killed two people and injured 80.

An attempt to resolve the conflict was made in the Sunningdale Agreement of December 1973, in which representatives of the British and Irish governments and loyalist and nationalist leaders agreed on a power-sharing executive and a Council of Ireland to oversee cross-border cooperation on socio-economic and security matters. The agreement failed to receive popular support, however, and strikes by the loyalist Ulster Workers’ Council in May 1974 eventually succeeded in bringing down the executive.

In the 1980s frequent elections, fostered by Ireland’s proportional representation system of voting, saw power alternating between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the latter in coalition with several minority parties. Elections in 1981 resulted in a brief coalition government led by Garret FitzGerald of Fine Gael. Inconclusive elections in February 1982 returned Haughey to power, but another election in late 1982 brought FitzGerald back in coalition with the Labour Party. In 1985 FitzGerald signed a pact with the United Kingdom, known as the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which gave the Republic of Ireland a consultative role in governing Northern Ireland. FitzGerald remained Taoiseach until 1987, when he was replaced by Haughey with a single-vote majority in the Dáil. After inconclusive elections in June 1989, Haughey formed a new coalition government, significantly the first time Fianna Fáil entered into such an arrangement.

H.

Ireland in the 1990s

In November 1990 Mary Robinson was elected president, without the endorsement of the major parties, and remained in the post until 1997. A champion of women’s rights and civil liberties, Robinson was the first woman to hold so high an office in the Republic of Ireland and gained a worldwide reputation as a statesperson. Although in the office of president she exercised little direct power, her energy and liberalism was seen by many as representative of the modern, pluralist, secular state that had been evolving since the 1960s.

Ireland signed the Treaty of Maastricht on European Union in December 1991, after securing a special provision that guaranteed that Ireland’s abortion laws would not be affected by future EU policies. The treaty was ratified in a national referendum held in June 1992, by a 69 per cent “Yes” vote.

Haughey resigned as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil in early 1992, amid allegations of impropriety; his former finance minister, Albert Reynolds, was chosen to replace him. Reynolds remained Taoiseach after the elections of November 1992. However, inconclusive election results, in which both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael lost seats to the Labour Party, led to the formation of a Fianna Fáil-Labour coalition.

In a referendum in November 1992, Irish voters approved proposals to make information about abortion available in Ireland and to recognize the right to travel abroad to get an abortion, but rejected a constitutional amendment that would have made abortion available within the Republic in certain very limited circumstances. However, these changes were not supported by an Irish Supreme Court decision in July 1993, which upheld a ban on the distribution of overseas abortion information by a Dublin clinic. In March 1995 a bill to legalize the provision of information on abortion services outside Ireland was approved by both the Dáil and the Seanad. The bill was introduced to the Dáil by the coalition government of Fine Gael, the Labour Party, and Democratic Left that took over in December 1994, following the collapse the previous month of the Fine Fáil-Labour Party coalition in power since January 1993. The collapse had been precipitated by Reynolds’s appointment of a contentious new Attorney-General, a move which led to the withdrawal of Labour’s support for Fianna Fáil. In the month of politicking that followed before the new coalition was formed, Labour was able to extract some important government positions in return for its support of the new coalition. Fine Gael leader John Bruton became Taoiseach; his deputy and Foreign Affairs Minister was Labour leader Dick Spring.

I.

Peace Process

I.1.

Downing Street Declaration

During the first half of the 1990s, the Irish government played a leading role in renewed efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland. Discussions with Britain on the issue culminated on December 15, 1993, with the Downing Street Declaration signed by the then Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, and his British counterpart, John Major. It was a declaration of “fundamental principles” in the search for a settlement, primarily that any constitutional change in the position of Northern Ireland would require the consent of the majority of its people.

Concomitant with this, the British government asserted its willingness to introduce legislation to bring about a united Ireland if required, while the Irish government agreed that, to reflect the principal of free consent, and in the event of an overall settlement, it would bring forward legislation to remove from the Irish constitution Articles 2 and 3, its territorial claims to Northern Ireland. Both sides also agreed that Sinn Féin would only be able to join in the settlement process after the IRA implemented a permanent ceasefire.

I.2.

IRA Ceasefire

The announcement on August 31, 1994, of a ceasefire by the IRA was welcomed by Reynolds, who was prepared to accept it as permanent before the British government; he met with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and John Hume, leader of Northern Ireland’s Social Democratic and Labour Party, a week after the announcement. In October the government announced proposals to revoke the 1976 Emergency Powers Act; this was eventually done by the Bruton administration in February 1995.

I.3.

Joint Framework Document

The change in administration in December 1994 did not affect Irish policy towards the Northern Irish peace process, and the government remained committed to doing everything possible to ensure its success. Nine convicted IRA members were released from prison in December, and another five in February 1995, in what was viewed as a move to maintain momentum.

On February 22, 1995, Bruton and Major unveiled a Joint Framework Document for all-party constitutional talks on a durable settlement for Northern Ireland. Its key provisions included the establishment of an elected Northern Irish Assembly; the establishment of a “north-south body”, whose executive, harmonizing, and other functions would ultimately be determined by the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Irish parliament; and the establishment of a standing inter-governmental conference between Britain and Ireland, supported by a permanent staff. The Irish government confirmed that it would introduce proposals to amend Articles 2 and 3 of the constitution, which maintained territorial and jurisdictional claim to Northern Ireland.

I.4.

Demands for Disarmament

Efforts to get the all-party talks under way made little headway in 1995, mainly because of a stalemate between the British government and Sinn Féin and the IRA over the issue of disarmament. The British government insisted that the IRA must lay down its weapons before the start of talks; the IRA rejected these terms. In July Bruton tried to break the impasse by proposing that talks could start, and Sinn Féin be allowed to join in, if it agreed to parallel talks on IRA disarmament. His efforts failed because of continuing British insistence on IRA disarmament.

With the peace process in danger of running out of steam, and US President Bill Clinton about to visit Northern Ireland, Bruton and Major, on November 28, 1995, announced an international commission to study the decommissioning programme, to be chaired by US Senator George Mitchell. The commission’s report, published on January 24, 1996, rejected the idea that the IRA should de-arm in advance of the all-party talks. Instead it proposed that the IRA and Protestant extremist groups should commit themselves to a phased disarmament in parallel to the talks, and recommended that the decommissioning should be carried out under international supervision. The report also discussed the idea of elections to a constitutional assembly. It was endorsed by the Irish government, but the British government concentrated on the idea of an elected assembly. Major told the British parliament that the only path left was for Republican and Unionist parties to seek an electoral mandate and discuss peace in the new forum.

I.5.

Renewed IRA Violence

Frustrated with the lack of political progress and critical of what it claimed was obfuscation by the British government, the IRA ended its 17-month ceasefire by exploding a huge bomb in London’s Docklands on February 9, 1996, killing 2 people and injuring over 100. Over the next nine days another two bombs were planted in London—the first was defused; the second went off prematurely, killing the bomber and another man, and injuring about a dozen more people.

In an effort to save the peace process Bruton and Major issued a communiqué on February 28 detailing a timetable for future negotiations and setting a specific date for the start of all-party talks: June 10. Bruton, like Major, made it clear that a new IRA commitment to a ceasefire was necessary before Sinn Féin could attend either the all-party talks or the preceding “proximity” talks to discuss details of the elected assembly. In the event the IRA did not declare a ceasefire, preventing Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams from attending the proximity talks.

The results of these talks, announced on March 21, included the establishment of a 110-member elected forum whose activities would include selecting negotiating teams to attend the all-party negotiations. Sinn Féin, which initially looked like it was going to boycott the elections on May 30, came in fourth with more than 15 per cent of the vote, far higher than had been expected.

However, Sinn Féin was excluded from the all-party talks, which started on schedule, because of the IRA’s continuing refusal to resume the ceasefire. On June 15, 1997, five days after the start of the talks, a huge bomb exploded in Manchester; no one was killed, but hundreds were injured by flying glass and the city centre was largely destroyed. Because of this and other events, the Irish government announced that it would have to re-evaluate its relationship with Sinn Féin.

Continued violence from both the IRA and loyalist groups in Northern Ireland in late 1996 and early 1997 threatened to derail the peace process. The new British Labour government took part in discussions with the Irish government and Sinn Féin in May and June 1997. Sinn Féin was first excluded from the full round of multi-party talks at Stormont Castle on June 3 because it had still not agreed to a ceasefire. On July 20, 1997, the IRA announced a cessation of operations; Sinn Féin joined the talks on September 15.

In the June 1997 general election the Fianna Fáil party, led by Bertie Ahern, won 77 of the 166 seats in the Dail. Ahern became Taoiseach and formed a coalition government with the Progressive Democrats, with support from some independents.

I.6.

Towards a Historic Agreement

On October 13, 1997, the Sinn Féin leaders met the new British prime minister, Tony Blair, for the first time at Stormont Castle, and on December 11, at 10 Downing Street, the first Republican encounters with a British premier since Michael Collins negotiated the partition of Ireland with Lloyd George in 1921. In January 1998 Sinn Féin formally rejected the British and Irish governments’ new proposals for a settlement. The next phase of the talks was marred by wrangling and by a series of republican and loyalist killings, succeeded by various dissident republican bomb attacks in Northern Ireland during March and April.

After Sinn Féin’s brief suspension because of the attacks, it rejoined the now round-the-clock talks in late March and all parties were presented with a deadline of April 9 for completion. Several days of frantic activity between the Irish and British governments finally led to the agreement, signed by the Taoiseach and the British prime minister, on Good Friday, April 10, 1998. It aims to end years of bitter civil and sectarian conflict between the two communities in Northern Ireland, and between the North and the South.

I.7.

The Stormont Agreement and Irish Referendums

The main principles of the agreement are:

1) Change in the status of Northern Ireland can only come about with the consent of a majority of its people, and that if that situation changes, there is a binding obligation on both governments to comply with the wishes expressed by the people of the North.

2) The right of the people in Northern Ireland to hold both British and Irish citizenship remains, and would not be changed even if the status of Northern Ireland changed.

3) Proposed new North-South bodies are to be set up to implement cross-border cooperation.

4) A 108-member assembly is to be elected by proportional representation; key decisions of the assembly must be taken on a cross-community basis. For a decision to be made by simple majority, there must be a majority among both nationalist and unionist members. The assembly will meet first as an interim body without legislative and executive powers.

5) A British-Irish Agreement will establish a British-Irish Conference, which will subsume the inter-governmental machinery established under the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement.

Importantly for the Republic, the Irish government was bound by the Agreement to hold a referendum to amend Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution, and to allow the proposed new North-South bodies to exercise powers. This was held in the Republic on May 22, 1998, the same day as the referendum to ratify the Agreement in the north. The result in the Republic was 94.39 per cent vote in favour; over 71 per cent of voters in Northern Ireland endorsed it. Turnout in the Republic was 55.6 per cent.

Further action towards the aims of the peace agreement was delayed for over a year due to the crucial issue of the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. In September 1999 Senator George Mitchell agreed to help formulate a new peace plan. Ten weeks later the Ulster Unionists voted to accept Mitchell's proposals and on December 1, 1999, Northern Ireland's executive and general assembly met for the first time. The assembly was suspended in February 2000 because of the impasse over a formal and precise deadline for decommissioning; direct rule from Westminster was temporarily re-imposed until April.

J.

New Millennium Politics

Michael Noonan replaced John Bruton, the former prime minister, as leader of Fine Gael in February 2001. In June voters rejected the Nice Agreement on European Union enlargement—the only nation to do so. All 15 nations needed to ratify the treaty before the next round of admissions could go ahead, so a future referendum was planned for October 2002. In a separate referendum, the government’s proposals to tighten the existing abortion laws were rejected by a slim majority. On January 1, 2002, Ireland adopted Euro notes and coins in line with its commitment to the European single currency.

The May 2002 Dáil elections saw the re-election of Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fáil with an increased number of seats, though not enough for an overall majority. In the same election the poor Fine Gael performance (the party finished with just 31 seats) led to Noonan’s resignation as leader, while Sinn Féin increased its representation from one seat to five. Noonan was replaced by Enda Kenny in June 2002. In the second referendum held on the Nice Treaty, 63 per cent of voters backed it, leading to the invitation to ten new states to join the EU in May 2004. In January 2004, Ireland succeeded to the rotating presidency of the EU and Ahern oversaw the election of José Manuel Durão Barroso as the new president of the European Commission.

In March and April 2003 Ahern and Tony Blair held intensive discussions in a concerted attempt to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, suspended since October 2002. Little progress was made, and the Northern Ireland assembly remained suspended while Ahern and Blair persisted in pressing for continued dialogue. The momentum was revived in early 2007 when Ian Paisley of the DUP and Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin finally agreed to share power.

Questions surrounding Ahern’s financial probity arose in September 2006, when he was asked by the Mahon Tribunal, set up to investigate corruption in Irish politics, to explain a number of loans that he had received from businessmen. In the ensuing furore (dubbed “Bertigate” by the press) Ahern remained adamant that he had not violated any rules in accepting the loans, though the following month he formally apologized to the Dáil, admitting an error of judgement. The controversy was largely ignored less than nine months later as voters at the May legislative election once again elected Fianna Fáil as the largest party in the Dáil, with 78 seats, and Ahern entered his third term as Taoiseach, heading another coalition government. Less than a year later he unexpectedly announced his intention to stand down as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil nearly 11 years after coming to power.