Republic of Ireland Gaelic, Eire, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 27,136 sq mi (70,282 sq km). It occupies all but the northeastern corner of the island of Ireland in the British Isles. (For physical geography and history to 1922, see Ireland .) From 1922 to 1937 the country was known as the Irish Free State, and from 1937 to 1949 as Eire. Dublin is the capital of the republic and by far its largest city.

Political Geography and People

The republic's 26 counties are Monaghan , Cavan , and Donegal (constituting part of the historic province of Ulster); Louth , Meath , Dublin , Kildare , Wicklow , Carlow , Wexford , Kilkenny , Laoighis , Offaly , Westmeath , and Longford (comprising Leinster); Tipperary , Waterford , Cork , Kerry , Limerick , and Clare (comprising Munster); and Leitrim , Roscommon , Galway , Mayo , and Sligo (comprising Connacht). In addition to the capital, other urban areas are Limerick , Cork , Dún Laoghaire , Waterford , Galway , and Dundalk .

The population is largely Celtic with a minority of English and more recent European and non-European immigrants drawn (since the 1990s) by the country's economic growth. The population is largely Roman Catholic (88%). Although there is no officially established church, the Roman Catholic church has historically played a dominant role in education in the Irish Republic. English and Gaelic are the official languages, with English the more widely used. Gaelic is most common in the west of the country.

Economy

Agriculture, once the most important sector of the economy, now engages only 8% of the workforce. The raising of dairy and beef cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry is the chief agricultural enterprise. Among the leading crops are flax, oats, wheat, turnips, barley, potatoes, and sugar beets. The republic's industries account for more than 45% of its gross domestic product and 80% of its exports, and employ roughly 30% of its workforce. Products include steel, foodstuffs, beer and ale, textiles, clothing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, transportation equipment, vehicles, ships, computer and telecommunications hardware, computer software, linen and laces (for which Ireland is famous), crystal, and handicrafts. The main ports are Dublin and Cork. Around the free port of Shannon are factories producing electronic equipment, chemicals, plastics, and textiles. Copper, lead, zinc, silver, barite, and gypsum are mined, and oil and natural gas are produced offshore. Tourism is also very important. Ireland's main exports are machinery, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, live animals, and animal products. Imports include data processing and other equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, textiles, and clothing. The main trading partners are Great Britain, the United States, and Germany.

Government

The republic is governed under the constitution of 1937. The president, who is the head of state, is popularly elected to a seven-year term and is eligible for a second term. The prime minister, who is the head of government, is appointed by the president, as is the cabinet. There is a bicameral Parliament, the Oireachtas. The House of Representatives or Dáil Éireann is the more powerful chamber. Its 166 members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation. Members of the 60-seat Senate or Śeanad Éireann are indirectly elected or appointed. All legislators serve five-year terms. Administratively, the country is divided into 26 counties.

History

After the establishment by treaty with Great Britain of the Irish Free State (Jan., 1922), civil war broke out between supporters of the treaty and opponents, who refused to accept the partition of Ireland and the retention of any ties with Britain. The antitreaty forces, embodied in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and led by Eamon De Valera , were defeated, although the IRA continued as a secret terrorist organization. William Cosgrave became the first prime minister. De Valera and his followers, the Fianna Fáil party, agreed to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown and entered the Dáil in 1927.

In 1932, De Valera became prime minister, and under his administration a new constitution was promulgated (1937), establishing the sovereign nation of Ireland, or Eire, within the Commonwealth of Nations. De Valera's policies aimed at the political and economic independence and union of all of Ireland. The loyalty oath to the crown was abolished, and certain economic provisions of the 1921 treaty with England were repudiated, leading to an "economic war" (1932-38) with Britain.

During World War II, Eire remained neutral and vigorously protested Allied military activity in Northern Ireland. The British were denied the use of Irish ports, and German and Japanese agents were allowed to operate in the country. However, great numbers of Irishmen volunteered to serve with the British armed forces. The people of Eire suffered relatively little hardship during the war and even profited from increased food exports. The postwar period brought a sharp rise in the cost of living and a decline in population, due in great part to steady emigration to Northern Ireland, Great Britain, and other countries. In 1948, Prime Minister Costello demanded total independence from Great Britain and reunification with the six counties of Northern Ireland.

The Republic of Ireland was proclaimed on Apr. 18, 1949. The country withdrew from the Commonwealth and formally claimed jurisdiction over the Ulster counties. It was admitted to the United Nations in 1955. Nothing came of the claim to Ulster, and during the 1950s and 60s the republic and Northern Ireland improved their economic relations. The later decade also saw an all-time low in Irish population, 2.82 million in 1961. In the late 1960s the problem of Northern Ireland flared up again in bitter fighting between the Protestant majority and Catholic minority there, aggravated by the actions of the IRA, which was headquartered in the republic.

In 1973, Erskine H. Childers succeeded De Valera as president of Ireland, and Liam Cosgrave , at the head of a Fine Gael-Labour coalition, replaced Jack Lynch , of Fianna Fáil, as prime minister. In the same year the republic joined the European Community (now the European Union ). Childers died in 1974 and was succeeded by Cearbhal O. Dalaigh. Lynch led Fianna Fáil back into office in 1977; in 1979 fellow party member Charles Haughey replaced Lynch as prime minister. In 1981 a Fine Gael-Labour coalition headed by Garret FitzGerald defeated Fianna Fáil on an economic platform. Although ousted in 1982, the coalition was governing again six months later. Beginning in the late 1970s the republic's political situation was more fluid than it had been; there were several general elections and a variety of party schisms. In 1987, Haughey again became prime minister. As unemployment soared, especially among young people, outmigration increased, reaching a peak of 44,000 in 1989.

During the 1990s, the economy grew significantly, buoyed by EU subsidies and new foreign investment. By the end of the decade, unemployment was below the EU average, although pockets of poverty persisted. In late 1994, after the IRA and Protestant militias agreed to a cease-fire, efforts were begun to negotiate a settlement of the the Northern Ireland issue. Despite some setbacks, agreements were reached in Apr., 1998, and approved by voters in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland in May. Women's issues, such as the government's strong antiabortion stance and the constitutional ban on divorce, also became a focus in the 1990s; a referendum legalizing divorce passed by a narrow margin in 1995. In 1991, Ireland elected its first female president, Mary Robinson, and in 1997 Mary McAleese became its first president from Northern Ireland.

In 1992, Albert Reynolds , of Fianna Fáil, replaced Charles Haughey as prime minister, and when the governing coalition collapsed, Reynolds successfully formed another. The Reynolds government fell in 1994, and Fine Gael leader John Bruton succeeded him, heading a Fine Gael-Labour coalition. Bertie Ahern became prime minister in 1997, heading a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrat coalition; his coalition was returned to office in 2002. Revelations in 2006 that Ahern had received loans from business acquaintances in 1993-94 while he was finance minister and had not yet repaid them sparked controversy. Ahern said his attempts to repay them had been refused; he did repay the loans soon after they were became public.

In 2007 Ahern led his party to another victory at the polls, but Progressive Democrat losses led to the addition of the Green party to the governing coalition. Investigation into Ahern's finances revealed he had received additional secret cash payments in the early 1990s, and in May, 2008, he resigned because the investigation was undermining his government. Deputy Prime Minister Brian Cowen succeeded Ahern as Fianna Fáil leader and prime minister. In June, Irish voters rejected the European Union's Lisbon Treaty amid concerns over the loss of Irish sovereignty. The Irish, who voted in a referendum because of conflicts between the treaty and the Irish constitution, were the only national electorate given a chance to vote on the treaty.

Bibliography

For bibliography, see under Ireland.

Republic of Ireland. The leaders of the rising of 1916, drawing on a long political tradition (see republicanism), proclaimed an Irish Republic which would be a ‘sovereign, independent state’. The first Dáil constitution in 1919 did not define the state, although the Declaration of Independence and the democratic programme both referred to the Republic.

Between 1919 and 1921 ‘republic’ was translated in Dáil documents as ‘saorstát’. When the Irish Free State appropriated the Irish title in 1922, opponents of the Anglo‐Irish treaty reverted to the Irish word ‘poblacht’, which had been used in the 1916 proclamation. During the Civil War, anti‐treaty forces maintained a shadow republican government which became increasingly ineffective after the war ended and when de Valera left Sinn Féin in 1926.

After 1932 de Valera was pressed to declare a republic by critics from the right and the left who disliked the ambiguity of the Free State constitutional position, but refused to apply the term to one section of a partitioned Ireland. There is no reference to a republic in the 1937 constitution although this was recommended in the 1967 review of the constitution.

After the Second World War, there was increasing pressure to declare a republic and thus resolve Ireland's ambiguous international position. In 1948 the interparty government passed the Republic of Ireland Act. This caused confusion because ‘Republic of Ireland’ was the description but not the name of the state as defined in the 1937 constitution.

Deirdre McMahon

Ireland, Republic of

area:	70,280sq km (27,135sq mi)
population:	3,626,087
capital (population):	Dublin (953,000)
government:	Multiparty republic
ethnic groups:	Irish 94%
languages:	Irish and English (both official)
religions:	Christianity (Roman Catholic 93%, Protestant 3%)
currency:	Euro = 100 cents

Country occupying most of the island of Ireland, nw Europe. The Republic of Ireland occupies more than 80% of the island of Ireland. It is divided into four provinces of 26 counties (see individual articles). The capital is Dublin (Gaelic, Baile Atha Cliath). Other major cities include Cork and Limerick. (For land, climate, and pre-1922 history and politics, see Ireland)

History and Politics

In January 1922, the Irish Free State was created as a Dominion within the British Empire. Arthur Griffith of Sinn Féin became Taoiseach. Civil war (1922–23) ensued between supporters of the settlement, and those who refused to countenance the partition of Ireland and the creation of Northern Ireland. The anti-settlement party, led by Eamon De Valera, were defeated by Irish Free State forces led by Michael Collins. Collins was assasinated and William Cosgrave became prime minister (1922–32). In 1926, De Valera formed a separate party, Fianna Fáil, and became Taoiseach (1932–48, 1951–54, 1957–59). In 1933, Fine Gael was founded.

In 1937 a new constitution declared the sovereign nation of Éire to be the whole island of Ireland, and abolished the oath of loyalty to the English crown. During World War II, Éire remained neutral. It opposed Allied operations in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) pursued a pro-German line. In 1949, Ireland became a republic outside of the Commonwealth. Its claim to the six counties of Northern Ireland was reiterated. In 1955, Ireland joined the United Nations. In 1959, De Valera became president (1959–73). During the 1950s, the IRA was banned by both Irish governments and, as a secret organization, it conducted bombing campaigns in Northern Ireland and England. Relations with Northern Ireland improved. In 1973, Ireland joined the European Community (EC). During the 1980s, a series of short-lived coalition governments led by Charles Haughey and Dr Garrett Fitzgerald caused political uncertainty. The Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985) gave Ireland a consultative role in the affairs of Northern Ireland. Mary Robinson became Ireland's first female president in 1990 elections.

The Downing Street Declaration (1993), signed by John Major and Albert Reynolds, continued the momentum for a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland. The Republic agreed to relinquish its claim to Northern Ireland if a majority of the North voted to remain in the UK. In 1995 elections, John Bruton, leader of Fine Gael, defeated Reynolds. Following a 1995 referendum, divorce was legalized. Abortion remains a contentious political issue. In 1997 elections, Bertie Ahern became Taoiseach and Mary McAleese became president. In the Good Friday Agreement (1998), the Irish Republic gave up its constitutional claim to Northern Ireland and a North-South Ministerial Council was established. In 1999, Ireland joined the euro. Bertie Ahern was re-elected in 2002.

Economy

Ireland benefited greatly from its membership of the European Union (2000 GDP per capita, US$21,600). In particular, Common Agricultural Policy grants enabled the modernization of farming. Agriculture employs 14% of the workforce. Food and live animals account for more than 20% of exports. Fishing is also important. Industry greatly expanded in the 20th century and accounts for 35% of GNP. High-tech industries supplemented traditional sectors such as brewing, distilling, and textiles. The service sector employs 57% of the workforce and accounts for more than 50% of GNP. Tourism is very important; receipts from tourism amounted to US$3495 million (1999).

Political map

Physical map

Websites

http://www.irlgov.ie