MONETARY UNIT: The euro replaced the Irish punt as the official currency in 2002. The euro is divided into 100 cents. There are coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents and 1 euro and 2 euros. There are notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 euros. €1 = $1.25475 (or $1 = €0.79697) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: Since 1988, Ireland has largely converted from the British system of weights and measures to the metric system.

HOLIDAYS: New Year’s Day, 1 January; St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March; Bank Holidays, 1st Monday in June, 1st Monday in August, and last Monday in October; Christmas Day, 25 December; St. Stephen’s Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday and Easter Monday.

TIME: GMT.

1 Location and Size

Ireland is an island in the eastern part of the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the United Kingdom and northwest of continental Europe. It covers an area of 84,421 square kilometers (32,595 square miles), of which 70,282 square kilometers (27,135 square miles) belong to the Irish Republic (Ireland); the rest belongs to Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Republic is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The border with Northern Ireland is 360 kilometers (224 miles) long and the total coastline length is 1,448 kilometers (900 miles).

Ireland’s capital city, Dublin, is located on the Irish Sea coast.

2 Topography

Ireland is a limestone plateau rimmed by coastal highlands. The central plain, characterized by many lakes, bogs, and scattered low ridges, averages about 90 meters (300 feet) above sea level. Principal mountain ranges include the Wicklow Mountains in the east and Macgillycuddy’s Reeks in the southwest. The highest peaks are Carrantuohill at 1,041 meters (3,414 feet) and Mount Brandon at 953 meters (3,127 feet),

GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILE

Geographic Features

Area: 70,280 sq km (27,135 sq mi)

Size ranking: 117 of 194

Highest elevation: 1,041 meters (3,414 feet) at Carrauntuohill

Lowest elevation: Sea level at the Atlantic Ocean

Land Use*

Arable land: 17%

Permanent crops: 0%

Other: 83%

Weather**

Average annual precipitation: (Dublin): 76 centimeters (30 inches)

Average temperature in January: 4°c (39°f)

Average temperature in July: 15°c (59°f)

* Arable Land: Land used for temporary crops, like meadows for mowing or pasture, gardens, and greenhouses.

Permanent crops: Land cultivated with crops that occupy its use for long periods, such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, fruit and nut orchards, and vineyards.

Other: Any land not specified, including built-on areas, roads, and barren land.

** The measurements for precipitation and average temperatures were taken at weather stations closest to the country’s largest city.

Precipitation and average temperature can vary significantly within a country, due to factors such as latitude, altitude, coastal proximity, and wind patterns.

near Killarney. The lowest point is at sea level (Atlantic Ocean).

The coastline is heavily indented along the south and west coasts. On the southern coast, drowned river channels have created deep natural harbors. The east coast has few good harbors.

Most important of the many rivers is the Shannon, which rises in the mountains along the Ulster border and drains the central plain as it flows 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the Atlantic. Other important rivers are the Boyne, Suir, Liffey, Slaney, Barrow, Blackwater, Lee, and Nore. The largest lake, Lough Corrib, has an area of 170 square kilometers (65.6 square miles).

3 Climate

Because of its location in the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than continental Europe. The mean annual temperature is 10°c (50°f), and mean monthly temperatures range from a mild 4°c (39°f) in January to 15°c (59°f) in July. Average yearly rainfall ranges from about 76 centimeters (30 inches) in places near Dublin on the Irish Sea coast to more than 254 centimeters (100 inches) in some mountainous regions. The sunniest area is the extreme southeast, with an annual average of 1,700 hours of bright sunshine. Winds are strongest near the west coast, where the average speed is about 26 kilometers per hour (16 miles per hour).

4 Plants and Animals

Since Ireland was once completely covered by ice sheets, all native plant and animal life originated from the natural migration of species, chiefly from other parts of Europe and especially from Britain. Although many species have since been introduced, Ireland has a much narrower variety of plants and animals than Britain. Forest is the natural dominant vegetation, but the total forest area is now only 5% of the total area. The natural forest cover was chiefly mixed sessile oak woodland with ash, wych elm, birch, and yew. Pine was dominant on poorer soils, along with rowan and birch. Non-native species include beech and lime.

The animals of Ireland are basically similar to those of Britain, but there are some notable gaps. Among those absent from the former are weasel, moles, water voles, roe deer, snakes, and common toads. There are also fewer bird and insect species. Some animals introduced to the island, however, such as the rabbit and brown rat, have been very successful. Ireland also has some species not native to Britain, such as the spotted slug and certain species of wood lice. Ireland’s isolation has made it notably free of plant and animal diseases. Among the common domestic animals, Ireland is particularly noted for its fine horses, dogs, and cattle. The Connemara pony, Irish wolfhound, Kerry blue terrier, and several types of cattle and sheep are recognized as distinct breeds.

5 Environment

Industry is a significant source of air pollution. Water pollution is also a problem, especially pollution of lakes from agricultural runoff. As of 2001, two mammal species and one bird species were threatened with extinction. Threatened species include the Baltic sturgeon, Kerry slug, and Marsh snail.

6 Population

The population was estimated at more than 3.9 million in 2003. The population for the year 2015 is projected to be 4.4 million. About 41% of the inhabitants live in rural areas. The largest urban center (excluding suburbs) is Dublin, with a metropolitan population of 977,000 in 2001. The population density was 59 persons per square kilometers (153 persons per square miles) in 2005.

7 Migration

The great famine in the late 1840s inaugurated the wave of Irish emigrants to the United States, Canada, Argentina, and other countries. By 1851 more than 550,000 people had left Ireland. Since then, emigration has been a traditional feature of Irish life. Emigration slowed after World War II (1939–45) but picked up again early in the 1980s when Ireland’s economy fell into a deep recession. With unemployment at record highs, it was estimated that up to 7% of the population left the country. As the economy improved emigration slowed and in 1992 Ireland recorded a net gain from migration. From 1985 to 1995, however, 150,000 people emigrated from Ireland. In 2003, the net migration rate was estimated at 3.57 migrants per 1,000 population.

8 Ethnic Groups

The Irish are primarily descendants of the Celts, Norsemen, French Normans, and English. Through the centuries, the racial strains represented by these groups have been so intermingled that no purely ethnic divisions remain.

9 Languages

Two languages are spoken, English and Irish (Gaelic). Since the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the government has sought to reestablish Irish as a spoken language throughout the country. It is taught as a subject in schools, and all government publications, street signs, and post office notices are printed in both Irish and English. English, however, remains the language in common use. Irish is spoken regularly in only a few areas, such as the Gaeltacht, and other regions along the western seaboard. In 1995, a national survey found that only 5% of Irish people frequently used the Irish language and only 2% considered it their native tongue. About 30% of the population, however, claims some proficiency in Gaelic.

10 Religions

According to the 1998 estimates, about 92% of the population is nominally Roman Catholic. However, Church officials report that only about half of these members are active members. The next largest organization is the Church of Ireland, with a membership of about 3% of the population. About 0.4% of the people are Presbyterian, 0.1% of them are Methodist, and less than 0.1% of them are Jewish. There are small communities of Muslims and Jehovah’s Witnesses. For ecclesiastical purposes, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (U.K.) constitute a single entity.

11 Transportation

A network of good main roads extends throughout the country and bus routes connect all the major population centers. In 2002 there were 92,500 kilometers (57,480 miles) of roads, of which 87,043 kilometers (54,638 miles) were surfaced. Automobiles in 2000 numbered 1,322,887 passenger vehicles and 213,822 commercial vehicles. Ireland’s railroads, like those of many other European countries, have become increasingly unprofitable for shipping of goods because of competition from trucks. There were 3,314 kilometers (2,059 miles) of track in 2002.

There are deepwater ports at Cork and Dublin. Dublin is the main port. Aer Lingus, the Irish national airline, operates services between Ireland and the rest of the world. A domestic airline, Aer Árann Teo, connects Galway with the Aran Islands and Dublin. The three state airports are located at Dublin, Shannon, and Cork. In 2001 16,374,000 passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international airline flights.

12 History

The pre-Christian era in Ireland is known chiefly through legend, although there is archaeological evidence that humans inhabited the region during the Stone and Bronze ages. In about the fourth century bc, the tall, red-haired Celts from Gaul or Galicia arrived, bringing with them the Iron Age. They subdued the native peoples, the Picts in the north and the Érainn tribe in the south, and then settled down to establish a Gaelic civilization, absorbing many of the traditions of the previous inhabitants. By the third century AD, the Gaels had established five permanent kingdoms—Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Meath (North Leinster), and Munster. The kings of these five kingdoms were themselves ruled by a high king at Tara, although his position was primarily ceremonial. After Saint Patrick’s arrival in ad 432, Christian Ireland rapidly became a center of Latin and Gaelic learning. Irish monasteries drew not only the pious but also the intellectuals of the day, and sent out missionaries to many parts of Europe.

Toward the end of the eighth century, the Vikings began their invasions, destroying monasteries and wreaking havoc on the land, but also intermarrying, adopting Irish customs, and establishing coastal settlements from which have grown Ireland’s chief cities. Viking power was finally broken at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. About 150 years later, the Anglo-Norman invasions began. Gradually, the invaders gained control of the whole country. Many of them intermarried, adopted the Irish language, customs, and traditions, and became more Irish than the Gaels. However, the political attachment to the English crown instituted by the Norman invasion caused almost 800 years of strife, as successive English monarchs sought to subdue Gaels and Norman-Irish alike. Wholesale confiscations of land by the English began under England’s Queen Mary I (Mary Tudor) in the 1550s and continued under Elizabeth I, Cromwell, and William III. Treatment of the Irish reached a brutal climax in the 18th century with the Penal Laws, which deprived Catholics and Dissenters (those opposed to English rule: the majority of the population) of all legal rights.

The Fight for Independence By the end of the 18th century, many of the English colonists had come to regard themselves as Irish and, like the English colonists in America, resented the domination of London and their own lack of power to rule themselves. In 1783, they forced the establishment of an independent Irish parliament, but it was abolished by the Act of Union (1800), which gave Ireland direct representation in the English parliament. Catholic emancipation was finally achieved in 1829 through the efforts of Daniel O’Connell, but the great famine of the 1840s, when millions died or emigrated for lack of potatoes while landlords continued to export other crops to England, emphasized the tragic condition of the Irish peasant and the need for land reform.

The desire for independence from England continued to grow and after a sometimes bloody struggle, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in 1921. The treaty did not give Ireland complete independence, but it did establish an Irish Free State with dominion status in the British Commonwealth. Dominion status gave Ireland more control over its affairs, but forced Ireland to accept the British monarch as its chief of state. The treaty also split Ireland along religious lines. Unlike the rest of Ireland, Protestant-dominated Northern Ireland remained a part of the United Kingdom. Violent opposition to dominion status and to a separate government in Northern Ireland precipitated a civil war that lasted almost a year (1922–23). Pro-treaty forces won the war and the Irish Free State was officially proclaimed. In 1937 a new Irish constitution was enacted and the name of the country was officially changed to Ireland (Éire in Irish).

Dominion status proved to be short-lived and in 1948 Ireland voted itself out of the Commonwealth of Nations. On 18 April 1949, it declared itself a republic. Ireland was admitted to the UN in 1955 and became a member of the European Community (EC) in 1973.

Even after independence, sentiment in favor of a reunified Irish Republic remained strong, represented at its extreme by the terrorist activities of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). During the civil violence that disrupted Northern Ireland beginning in the late 1960s, the Irish government attempted to curb the “provisional wing” of the IRA. This part of the IRA tried to intimidate the government through ongoing bombings, assassinations, and other types of terrorist means, often using Ireland as a base for attacks in the north. Despite all the government’s efforts, terrorist acts continued.

In 1997, Ireland’s new prime minister, Bertie Ahern, revived the peace effort and resumed talks with the British government and with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. In April 1998, the Irish Parliament approved a peace agreement (the Good Friday Agreement) that had been authorized by the leaders of Northern Ireland a month earlier. The accord was voted on simultaneously by the people of the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland in May 1998 and approved. The accord stated that the Irish Republic would give up its territorial claim to Northern Ireland.

On 15 August 1998, a car bomb exploded in Omagh, Northern Ireland, killing twenty-eight people and wounding more than two hundred. The bombing appeared to be conducted by a Roman Catholic splinter group opposed to the accord, and it raised doubts about the new peace agreement. Problems with disarming the IRA continued in 2001, and David Trimble, the first minister of the power-sharing government, resigned in July 2001. In October 2002, the police raided Sinn Feìn’s (the political arm of the IRA) offices at Stormont, the Northern Ireland Assembly, due to spying allegations. On 14 October 2002, direct rule from London returned to Northern Ireland. On 26 November 2003, however, new elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly were held.

In March 2002, Irish voters rejected a proposal that would further restrict abortion laws. Although the vote was a setback to Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, Ahern’s Fianna Fáil party overwhelmingly defeated the opposition Fine Gael party in the May 2002 elections.

Ireland, unlike the United Kingdom, joined the European economic and monetary union in 1999 without any problems, and adopted the euro as its currency. Irish voters in October 2002 approved the Treaty of Nice, which allows for the enlargement of the European Union (EU). Ten new EU candidate countries were due to join the body on 1 May 2004.

13 Government

Under the Irish constitution, legislative power is vested in the national parliament (Oireachtas), which consists of the president and two houses: House of Representatives (Dáil Éireann) and Senate (Seanad Éireann). The parliament sits in Dublin, the capital city. The president is elected by popular vote for seven years. The Dáil consists of 166 seats and the Seanad 60. The cabinet is headed by the prime minister (taoiseach), appointed by the president. Suffrage, the right to vote, is universal at age eighteen.

Prior to 2002, Ireland was divided into twenty-nine county councils, five boroughs, five boroughs governed by municipal corporations, forty-nine urban district councils, and twenty-six boards of town commissioners. Under a new system, the county councils remain the same, but the corporations no longer exist. The cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Galway are city councils, while Drogheda, Wexford, Kilkenny, Sligo, and Clonmel are the five borough councils. The urban district councils and

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE

Name: Bertie Ahern

Position: Prime minister of a republic

Took Office: 26 June 1997, reelected May 2002

Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland

Birthdate: 12 September 1951

Religion: Roman Catholic

Education: University College Dublin, accounting degree

Children: Two daughters

Of interest: Ahern is considered to be very personable and is noted for his abilities as a conciliator and a negotiator.

town commissions are now one and the same and known as town councils, of which there are seventy-five.

14 Political Parties

The major political parties are Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats, and the Labour Party.

Fianna Fáil, the Republican party, was in power for all but six years during the period from 1932 to 1973, when it lost its majority to a Fine Gael-Labour coalition. In recent years both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have lost seats to the Labour Party, which is now the third largest political party in Ireland. Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Provisional IRA, ended its sixty-five-year boycott of the Dáil in 1986 and won a single seat in the 1997 elections. Fianna Fáil won 77 of the 166 seats in the 1997 elections.

In 1999, the Labour Party and the Democratic Left merged and the new party is called the Labour Party. Bertie Ahern remained prime minister after Fianna Fáil won 41.5% of the vote on 16 May 2002, capturing 81 seats in the Dáil. Fine Gael won 22.5% of the vote and 31 seats, its worst defeat in 70 years. The Labour Party took 10.8% of the vote and 21 seats. Other parties winning seats were the Progressive Democrats (9), the Greens (6), Sinn Feìn (5), the Socialist Party (1), and independents (13).

15 Judicial System

Justice is administered by a Supreme Court, a High Court with full original jurisdiction, and eight circuit and twenty-three district courts with local and limited jurisdiction. Individual liberties are protected by the 1937 Constitution and by Supreme Court decisions. The Offenses Against the State Act established a special court to hear cases involving political violence by terrorist groups.

16 Armed Forces

The army and its reserves, the air corps, and the naval service are small but well-trained. In 2002, the active defense force numbered 10,460 personnel, including 200 women, with reserves numbering 14,800. The defense budget in 2000–01 was $700 million, or 0.9% of GDP.

17 Economy

Until the 1950s, Ireland had a predominantly agricultural economy; however, liberal trade policies and the drive for industrialization stimulated economic expansion. As of 2005, agriculture accounted for only 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP), down from 21% in 1958. Industry, on the other hand, went from 23.5% to 46%. Services account for 49% of the GDP.

During the early 1980s, Ireland suffered from the worldwide recession, experiencing double-digit inflation and high unemployment. The economy continued to lag through 1986. The economy subsequently grew 30% between 1987 and 1992, and continued at an average yearly pace of about 7 to 8% until 1996. Ireland’s economic growth has been faster than any other European Union (EU) nation, and the growth rates in the second half of the 1990s were in double digits. These have been referred to as the “Celtic Tiger” years.

Yearly Growth Rate

This economic indicator tells by what percent the economy has increased or decreased when compared with the previous year.

By 2003, Ireland was experiencing an economic slowdown, with growth dropping to 1.8% that year, from 7% in 2002. In 2004, the economy began to recover, with growth topping 5%. The improvement continued in 2005, with growth reaching 5.5%. Unemployment had remained high through the mid-1990s; it began to drop (to 7.7%) in 1998, and by 2003, stood at approximately 5.3%.

Services, pharmaceuticals, and information technology are important sectors of the economy in the 21st century.

18 Income

In 2006, Ireland’s gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $177.2 billion, or about $43,600 per person. The annual growth rate in 2005 was 5.3%, and the average annual inflation rate was about 4%.

19 Industry

The most important products of manufacturing are food, metal, engineering goods, electronics and data processing (including computer programming), engineering, chemicals and chemical products, pharmaceuticals, nonmetallic minerals, and paper and printing. The making of glass and crystal are also important industries.

Industrial production grew in the late 1990s, the “Celtic Tiger” years, posting a 15.8% growth in 1998. Industry employed 28% of the labor force in 2000, and accounted for 46% of the economy in 2005.

20 Labor

In 2006, the work force was estimated at 2.1 million. Of those employed in 2002, 8% worked in agriculture, 28% in industry, and 64% in services. The estimated unemployment rate in 2005 was 4%.

About 31% of the labor force is organized into 64 trade unions (2002), affiliated with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. The standard work week is thirty-nine hours.

Children under age 16 are legally prohibited from engaging in regular, full-time work. Under certain restrictions, some part-time or educational work may be given to 14- and 15-year-olds. Violations of child labor laws are not common. A national minimum wage of $5.45 went into effect in 2001.

21 Agriculture

As of 2005, about 17% of the total area was arable land. In 1999, agriculture accounted for 8% of Irish employment. Principal crops (with their estimated 1999 production) include barley (1.27 million tons), sugar beets (1.71 million tons), potatoes (559,000 tons), wheat (597,000 tons), and oats (136,000 tons).

22 Domesticated Animals

The main activity of the farming community is the production of grazing animals and other livestock. About 90% of Ireland’s agricultural land is devoted to pasture and hay.

The estimated livestock population in 2001 was 7.26 million head of cattle (including 1.3 million dairy cows), 1.76 million pigs, and 13.2 million poultry. Livestock products included an estimated 129,000 tons of butter; 127,000 tons of cheese; and 12,000 tons of wool. Milk production in 2001 was 5.3 million tons.

23 Fishing

Salmon, eel, trout, pike, perch, and other freshwater fish are found in the rivers and lakes. Sea angling is good along the entire coast and deep-sea fishing is done from the south and west coasts. In 1998, the Irish fishing fleet consisted of 1,156 vessels. Leading varieties of saltwater fish are mackerel, herring, cod, whiting, plaice, ray, skate, and haddock. Lobsters, crawfish, and Dublin Bay prawns are also importantThe marine catch accounted for 70% of the value. The total catch in 2001 was 192,342 tons. Mackerel, herring, and blue whiting accounted for 27% of the volume that year.

24 Forestry

Once well forested, Ireland was stripped of timber in the 17th and 18th centuries by landlords, who converted the forests into farms and grazing lands. In 2000 about 9.6% of Ireland was forested. About 95% of the trees that are planted are coniferous. The aim of the forestry program is to eliminate a large part of timber imports and to produce a surplus of natural and processed timber for export. In 2000, roundwood removals totaled 2.67 million cubic meters (94 million cubic feet).

25 Mining

In 2001, Ireland was a leading European producer of zinc and an important producer of lead, alumina, and peat. Mineral production in 2001 included 225,136 tons of zinc, 44.5 million tons of lead, and 1.2 million tons of alumina. Other commercially exploited minerals were silver,

Components of the Economy

This pie chart shows how much of the country’s economy is devoted to agriculture (including forestry, hunting, and fishing), industry, or services.

limestone, marble, sand and gravel, and aggregate building materials.

26 Foreign Trade

Ireland’s most profitable export products are computers and office supplies. Ireland also exports musical instruments, chemicals, electronic circuitry, and medicines. Primary imports include grains, petroleum products, machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, and textile yarns. Major trading partners are the United Kingdom and the United States.

27 Energy and Power

Of all European Union (EU) members, Ireland is the most dependent on imported oil for its energy needs. Hydroelectric plants have been built on the Shannon, Lee, Liffey, and Erne Rivers. Natural gas fields exist in the Atlantic Ocean and in fields south of Cork.

Turf or peat from the extensive Irish bogs supplies the staple fuel for many homes and is utilized as intermediate fuel for electricity production. Ireland produced 22.3 billion kilowatthours of electricity in 2000, of which about 95% was from fossil fuels, mostly thermal coal or oil stations.

Yearly Balance of Trade

The balance of trade is the difference between what a country sells to other countries (its exports) and what it buys (its imports). If a country imports more than it exports, it has a negative balance of trade (a trade deficit). If exports exceed imports there is a positive balance of trade (a trade surplus).

28 Social Development

A social insurance program covers unemployment insurance, disability benefits, retirement and old age pensions, widows’ pensions, maternity benefits, work injury benefits, adoptive services, and a death grant. The universal medical care system provides medical services to all residents. There is also a family allowance benefit based on the number of children.

The prominence of the Roman Catholic Church has had a significant impact on social legislation. Abortion is illegal in Ireland, and divorce was made legal in 1995.

Selected Social Indicators

The statistics below are the most recent estimates available as of 2006. For comparison purposes, data for the United States and averages for low-income countries and high-income countries are also given. About 15% of the world’s 6.5 billion people live in high-income countries, while 37% live in low-income countries.

Indicator	Ireland	Low-income countries	High-income countries	United States
sources: World Bank. World Development Indicators. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2006; Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2006; World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.
Per capita gross national income (GNI)*	$32,930	$2,258	$31,009	$39,820
Population growth rate	1.1%	2%	0.8%	1.2%
People per square kilometer of land	59	80	30	32
Life expectancy in years: male	76	58	76	75
female	81	60	82	80
Number of physicians per 1,000 people	2.8	0.4	3.7	2.3
Number of pupils per teacher (primary school)	19	43	16	15
Literacy rate (15 years and older)	99%	65%	>95%	99%
Television sets per 1,000 people	694	84	735	938
Internet users per 1,000 people	296	28	538	630
Energy consumed per capita (kg of oil equivalent)	3,777	501	5,410	7,843
CO² emissions per capita (metric tons)	11.12	0.85	12.97	19.92
* The GNI is the total of all goods and services produced by the residents of a country in a year. The per capita GNI is calculated by dividing a country’s GNI by its population and adjusting for relative purchasing power.
n.a.: data not available >: greater than <: less than

Women are well-represented in the workforce but generally do not hold senior management positions. Although prohibited by law, discrimination exists in the workplace. Women earn approximately 15% less than men. Domestic abuse and spousal violence remain serious problems. The government addresses the issue of child abuse, and it funds systems to promote child welfare.

The government attempts to curb discrimination against foreign workers and the ethnic community known as “Travellers.”

29 Health

A comprehensive health service, with free hospitalization, treatment, and medication, is provided for low-income groups. Fewer services are offered free to the rest of the population. As of 2004, there were an estimated 2.8 physicians per 1,000 people.

Average life expectancy at birth in 2004 was 76 years for men and 81 years for women. While deaths from cancer, particularly lung cancer, and heart disease are rising, those from many other causes have been decreasing rapidly. In 1993, the major causes of death were heart and circulatory disease and cancer. As of 2001, the number of people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) was estimated at 2,400. Deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at fewer than 100.

30 Housing

Government subsidies are given to encourage home ownership, and local authorities provide housing for those unable to house themselves adequately. In 2002, some 51,932 new private dwellings and 5,763 social housing buildings were built.

31 Education

Six years of primary education are free and education is compulsory for nine years. All secondary schools are private and many are operated by religious orders. Most post-primary education is single-sex. The student-to-teacher ratio in primary schools stands at about 19 to 1. Almost all school-age children attend both primary and secondary school.

Ireland has two universities: the University of Dublin (Trinity College) and the National University of Ireland. There are also various colleges of education, home economics, technology, and the arts. The adult illiteracy rate is estimated at about 1%.

32 Media

In 2001 there were approximately 1.6 million mainline telephones in use with an additional 2 million mobile cellular phones. As of 1998, there were 9 AM and 106 FM radio stations. In 2001, at least 43 stations were independent. In 2003, there were 694 television sets for every 1,000 people. About 177 of every 1,000 people subscribed to cable television. The same year, there were about 359 personal computers in use for every 1,000 people. About 22 Internet service providers served 1.25 million users in 2001. In 2004, about 296 people of every 1,000 were Internet users.

Ireland’s major newspapers, with estimated 2002 circulation, were: Sunday Independent, 310,500; Sunday World, 229,000; Irish Independent, 168,200; Irish Times, 119,200; Irish Examiner, 63,600; and Cork Evening Echo, 28,800. Waterford, Limerick, Galway, and many other smaller cities and towns have their own newspapers, most of them weeklies.

33 Tourism and Recreation

A total of 6,749,000 tourists entered Ireland in 2000. Tourist receipts totaled $3.3 billion that year. There were 60,000 hotel rooms with a 65% occupancy rate. Among Ireland’s numerous ancient and prehistoric sights are a restored Bronze Age lake dwelling (crannog) near Quin in County Clare, burial mounds at Newgrange and Knowth along the Boyne, and the palace at the Hill of Tara, the seat of government up to the Middle Ages. Numerous castles may be visited, including Blarney Castle in County Cork, where visitors kiss the famous Blarney Stone.

Other popular attractions include Trinity College Library, with its eighth-century illuminated Book of Kells, and literary landmarks associated with such writers as William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, and Oscar Wilde.

Traditional musical events are held frequently, one of the best known being the All-Ireland Fleadh at Ennis in County Clare. Numerous parades, concerts, and other festivities occur on and around the Saint Patrick’s Day holiday of 17 March.

Ireland has numerous golf courses, some of which have earned a worldwide reputation. Fishing, sailing, horseback riding, hunting, horse racing, and greyhound racing are other popular sports. The traditional sports of Gaelic football, hurling, and camogie (the women’s version of hurling) were revived in the 19th century and have become increasingly popular.

34 Famous Irish

A list of famous Irish must begin with Saint Patrick (c. 385–461), who, though not born in Ireland, represents Ireland to the rest of the world. Brian Boru (962?–1014) was a national hero known for temporarily uniting the kings of Ireland and defeating the Vikings. Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891) and American-born Éamon de Valera (1882–1975), were other political heroes. The politician and statesman Seán MacBride (1904–1988) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974.

Irishmen who have made outstanding contributions to science and scholarship include physicist Robert Boyle (1627–1691), who defined Boyle’s law relating to pressure and volume of gas, and the nuclear physicist Ernest T. S. Walton (1903–1995) won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1951.

Irish musicians include the pianist and composer John Field (1782–1837), the tenor John McCormack (1884–1945), and the flutist James Galway (1939–). Other writers include Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), creator of Gulliver’s Travels; Oliver Goldsmith (1730?-1774); and George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950). Thomas Moore (1779–1852) wrote patriotic airs, hymns, and love lyrics. Poet-dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) won the Nobel Prize. Thomas Kinsella (1928–) and Seamus Heaney (1939–) are also prominent authors, along with Flann O’Brien (Brian O’Nolan, 1911–1966). Two outstanding authors of novels and plays whose experimental styles have had worldwide influence are James Augustine Joyce (1882–1941), the author of Ulysses, and Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), recipient of the 1969 Nobel Prize for literature.