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Republic of Ireland

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; European
Countries

                                 Éire
   Ireland

   Flag of Ireland Coat of arms of Ireland
   Flag            Coat of arms
   Motto: none
   Anthem: Amhrán na bhFiann
   ( Irish for "The Soldier's Song")
   Location of Ireland
   Capital
   (and largest city) Dublin
                      53°26′N 6°15′W
   Official languages Irish, English
   Government         Republic
    - President       Mary McAleese
    - Taoiseach       Bertie Ahern
      Independence    from United Kingdom
    - Declared        21 January 1919
    - Recognised      6 December 1922
    Accession to EU   January 1, 1973
                                  Area
    - Total           70,273 km² ( 120th)
                      27,133 sq mi
    - Water (%)       2.00
                               Population
    - 2006 estimate   4,234,925 ( 121st)
    - Density         60.3/km² ( 139th)
                      147.6/sq mi
       GDP ( PPP)     2005 estimate
    - Total           $167.75 billion ( 49th)
    - Per capita      $40,610 ( 4th)
     GDP (nominal)    2005 estimate
    - Total           $199 billion ( (X))
    - Per capita      $48,604 ( 5th)
      HDI  (2004)     0.956 (high) ( 4th)
        Currency      Euro ( €)^1 ( EUR)
       Time zone      GMT ( UTC+0)
      Internet TLD    .ie^2
      Calling code    +353
   ^1 Prior to 1999: Irish pound.

   ^2 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European
   Union member states.

   The Republic of Ireland ( Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is the official
   description of the sovereign state which covers approximately
   five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of north-west
   Europe. The state's official name is Ireland (in the Irish language:
   Éire) and this is how international organisations and residents usually
   refer to the country. It is a member of the European Union, has a
   developed economy and a population of slightly more than 4.2 million.
   The remaining sixth of the island of Ireland is known as Northern
   Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom.

Name

   The constitution provides that the name of the state is Éire, or, in
   the English language, Ireland. However, the state is sometimes referred
   to as the "Republic of Ireland," in order to distinguish it from the
   island of Ireland. The name Republic of Ireland came into use after the
   Republic of Ireland Act defined it as the official description of the
   state in 1949 (the purpose of the act being to declare that the state
   was a republic rather than a form of constitutional monarchy). It is
   also the accepted legal name of the state in the United Kingdom as per
   the Ireland Act 1949. Today, while Republic of Ireland is a valid term
   for the state, Ireland is used for official purposes such as treaties,
   government and legal documents, and membership of international
   organisations. However with Irish being named the European Union's 21st
   official language in 2007; the state will be referred to in both
   constitutional official languages, the Irish and English languages,
   similarly to other countries such as Finland and Belgium using more
   than one language at EU level. This means the label 'Éire Ireland' will
   be used on various signage and nameplates referring to the state.

   The state is also known by many other names in English, such as Éire,
   The Free State and the Twenty-six Counties. The use of Éire when
   speaking English in Ireland has become increasingly rare, not least due
   to historical condescending connotations. Often in the United Kingdom
   the state is referred to as Southern Ireland, though this term is used
   informally and was only used officially for a brief period in the
   state's history. Irish people sometimes refer to the state as "The
   South" - it is not uncommon to hear Northern Irish people talking about
   going "down south". The same is true of "The North". When entering
   Northern Ireland from the South, you are said to be going "up north".
   The names "North" and "South" are used in common speech to refer to the
   individual states, rather than their geographical location; when one
   enters County Donegal (in the Republic) from County Fermanagh (in
   Northern Ireland), one is still said to be going "down south", despite
   Donegal being further north geographically than Fermanagh.

   The state has had more than one official title. The revolutionary
   state, declared in 1919 by the large majority of Irish Members of (the
   United Kindom) Parliament elected in 1918, was known as the " Irish
   Republic"; when the state achieved de jure independence in 1922, it
   became known as the " Irish Free State" (in the Irish language Saorstát
   Éireann), a name that was retained until 1937.

   To confuse matters further, from 1 January 2007, the country will be
   known, at EU level as Eire Ireland in official documents. This is due
   to the Irish Language becoming an official language of the European
   Union on that date .

History

   The state known today as the Republic of Ireland came into being when
   26 of the counties of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom of Great
   Britain and Ireland (UK) in 1922. The remaining six counties remained
   within the UK as Northern Ireland. This action, known as the Partition
   of Ireland, came about because of complex constitutional developments
   in the early twentieth century.

   From 1 January 1801 until 6 December 1922, Ireland was part of the
   United Kingdom. During the Great Famine from 1845 to 1849 the island's
   population of over 8 million fell by 30 percent. One million Irish died
   of starvation and another 1.5 million emigrated,(see: Mokyr, Joel
   (1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History 1700-1850". Irish
   Economic and Social History xi: 101-121.) which set the pattern of
   emigration for the century to come and would result in a constant
   decline up to the 1960s. From 1874, but particularly from 1880 under
   Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish Parliamentary Party moved to
   prominence with its attempts to achieve Home Rule, which would have
   given Ireland some autonomy without requiring it to leave the United
   Kingdom. It seemed possible in 1911 when the House of Lords lost their
   veto, and John Redmond secured the Third Home Rule Act 1914. The
   unionist movement, however, had been growing since 1886 among Irish
   Protestants, fearing that they would face discrimination and lose
   economic and social privileges if Irish Catholics were to achieve real
   political power. Though Irish unionism existed throughout the whole of
   Ireland, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century unionism
   was particularly strong in parts of Ulster, where industrialisation was
   more common in contrast to the more agrarian rest of the island. (Any
   tariff barriers would, it was feared, most heavily hit that region.) In
   addition, the Protestant population was more strongly located in
   Ulster, with unionist majorities existing in about four counties. Under
   the leadership of the Dublin-born Sir Edward Carson and the northerner
   Sir James Craig they became more militant. In 1914, to avoid rebellion
   in Ulster, the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, with agreement of
   the leadership of the Irish Parliamentary Party leadership, inserted a
   clause into the bill providing for home rule for 26 of the 32 counties,
   with an as of yet undecided new set of measures to be introduced for
   the area temporarily excluded. Though it received the Royal Assent, the
   Third Home Rule Act 1914's implementation was suspended until after the
   Great War. (The war at that stage was expected to be ended by 1915, not
   the four years it did ultimately last.) For the prior reasons Redmond
   and his Irish National Volunteers supported the Allied cause, and tens
   of thousands joined the British Army.
         History of Ireland
   series
   Early history
   Early Christian Ireland
   Early medieval and Viking era
   Norman Ireland
   Early Modern Ireland 1536–1691
   Ireland 1691–1801
   Union with Great Britain
   History of the Republic
   History of Northern Ireland
   Economic history

   In January 1919, after the December 1918 general elections, 73 of
   Ireland's 106 MPs elected were Sinn Féin members who refused to take
   their seats in the British House of Commons. Instead, they set up an
   extra-legal Irish parliament called Dáil Éireann. This Dáil in January
   1919 issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence and proclaimed an
   Irish Republic. The Declaration was mainly a restatement of the 1916
   Proclamation with the additional provision that Ireland was no longer a
   part of the United Kingdom. Despite this, the new Irish Republic
   remained unrecognised internationally except by Lenin's Russian
   Republic. Nevertheless the Republic's Aireacht (ministry) sent a
   delegation under Ceann Comhairle Sean T. O'Kelly to the Paris Peace
   Conference, 1919, but it was not admitted. After the bitterly fought
   War of Independence, representatives of the British government and the
   Irish rebels negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 under which the
   British agreed to the establishment of an independent Irish State
   whereby the Irish Free State (in the Irish language Saorstát Éireann)
   with dominion status was created. The Dáil narrowly ratified the
   treaty.

   The Treaty was not entirely satisfactory to either side. It gave more
   concessions to the Irish than the British had intended to give but did
   not go far enough to satisfy republican aspirations. The new Irish Free
   State was in theory to cover the entire island, subject to the proviso
   that six counties in the north-east, termed "Northern Ireland" (which
   had been created as a separate entity under the Government of Ireland
   Act 1920) could opt out and choose to remain part of the United
   Kingdom, which they duly did. The remaining twenty-six counties became
   the Irish Free State, a constitutional monarchy over which the British
   monarch reigned (from 1927 with the title King of Ireland). It had a
   Governor-General, a bicameral parliament, a cabinet called the
   "Executive Council" and a prime minister called the President of the
   Executive Council.

   The Irish Civil War was the direct consequence of the creation of the
   Irish Free State. Anti-Treaty forces, led by Eamon de Valera, objected
   to the fact that acceptance of the Treaty abolished the Irish Republic
   of 1919 to which they had sworn loyalty, arguing in the face of public
   support for the settlement that the "people have no right to do wrong".
   They objected most to the fact that the state would remain part of the
   British Commonwealth and that Teachtaí Dála would have to swear an oath
   of fidelity to King George V and his successors. Pro-Treaty forces, led
   by Michael Collins, argued that the Treaty gave "not the ultimate
   freedom that all nations aspire to and develop, but the freedom to
   achieve it".

   At the start of the war, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) split into two
   opposing camps: a pro-treaty IRA and an anti-treaty IRA. The pro-Treaty
   IRA became part of the new National Army. However, through the lack of
   an effective command structure in the anti-Treaty IRA, and their
   defensive tactics throughout the war, Collins and his pro-treaty forces
   were able to build up an army capable of overwhelming the
   anti-Treatyists. British supplies of artillery, aircraft, machine-guns
   and ammunition boosted pro-treaty forces, and the threat of a return of
   Crown forces to the Free State removed any doubts about the necessity
   of enforcing the treaty. The lack of public support for the anti-treaty
   Irregulars, and the determination of the government to overcome them,
   contributed significantly to their defeat.

   The National Army suffered 800 fatalities and perhaps as many as 4,000
   people were killed altogether. As their forces retreated, the
   Irregulars showed a major talent for destruction and the economy of the
   Free State suffered a hard blow in the earliest days of its existence.
   Irish population through the 20th century.

   On 29 December 1937 a new constitution, the Constitution of Ireland,
   came into force. It replaced the Irish Free State by a new state called
   simply "Ireland". Though this state's constitutional structures
   provided for a President of Ireland instead of a king, it was not
   technically a republic; the principal key role possessed by a head of
   state, that of symbolically representing the state internationally
   remained vested, in statute law, in the King as an organ. On 21
   December 1948 the Republic of Ireland Act declared a republic, with the
   functions previously given to the Governor-General acting on the behalf
   of the King given instead to the President of Ireland.

   The Irish state had remained a member of the then- British Commonwealth
   after independence until the declaration of a republic on 18th April
   1949. Under Commonwealth rules declaration of a republic automatically
   terminated membership of the association; since a reapplication for
   membership was not made, Ireland consequently ceased to be a member.

   The Republic of Ireland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the
   European Community (now the European Union) in 1973. Irish governments
   have sought the peaceful reunification of Ireland and have usually
   cooperated with the British government in the violent conflict with the
   Provisional IRA and UVF in Northern Ireland known as the " Troubles". A
   peace settlement for Northern Ireland, the Belfast Agreement, was
   approved in 1998 in referenda north and south of the border, and is
   currently being implemented, albeit more slowly than many would like.

Politics

   The state is a republic, with a parliamentary system of government. The
   President of Ireland, who serves as head of state, is elected for a
   seven-year term and can be re-elected only once. The president is
   largely a figurehead but can still carry out certain constitutional
   powers and functions, aided by the Council of State, an advisory body.
   The Taoiseach ( prime minister), is appointed by the president on the
   nomination of parliament. The Taoiseach is normally the leader of the
   political party which wins the most seats in the national elections. It
   has become normal in the Republic for coalitions to form a government,
   and there has not been a single-party government since the period of
   1987–1989.

   The bicameral parliament, the Oireachtas, consists of a Senate, Seanad
   Éireann, and a lower house, Dáil Éireann. The Seanad is composed of
   sixty members; eleven nominated by the Taoiseach, six elected by two
   universities, and 43 elected by public representatives from panels of
   candidates established on a vocational basis. The Dáil has 166 members,
   Teachtaí Dála, elected to represent multi-seat constituencies under the
   system of proportional representation by means of the Single
   Transferable Vote. Under the constitution, parliamentary elections must
   be held at least every seven years, though a lower limit may be set by
   statute law. The current statutory maximum term is every five years.
   Leinster House, the seat of Oireachtas Éireann (the Irish parliament).
   Enlarge
   Leinster House, the seat of Oireachtas Éireann (the Irish parliament).

   The Government is constitutionally limited to fifteen members. No more
   than two members of the Government can be selected from the Senate, and
   the Taoiseach, Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for
   Finance must be members of the Dáil. The current government consists of
   a coalition of two parties; Fianna Fáil under Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
   and the Progressive Democrats under Tánaiste Michael McDowell.

   The main opposition in the current Dáil consists of Fine Gael and
   Labour. Smaller parties such as the Green Party, Sinn Féin and the
   Socialist Party also have representation in the Dáil.

   Ireland joined the European Union in 1973.

Administrative divisions

   The Republic of Ireland has traditionally had 26 counties, and these
   are used in political, cultural and sporting contexts. Dáil
   constituencies are required by statute to follow county boundaries, as
   far as possible. Hence counties with greater populations have multiple
   constituencies (e.g. Limerick East/West) and some constituencies
   consist of more than one county (e.g. Sligo-Leitrim), but by and large,
   the actual county boundaries are not crossed. As local government
   units, however, some have been restructured, with the now-abolished
   County Dublin distributed between three new county councils in the
   1990s and County Tipperary having been administratively two separate
   counties since the 1890s, giving a present-day total of 29
   administrative counties and five cities. The five cities — Dublin,
   Cork, Limerick, Galway , and Waterford — are administered separately
   from the remainder of their respective counties. Five boroughs —
   Clonmel, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Sligo and Wexford — have a level of
   autonomy within the county:

     Map of the Republic of Ireland with numbered counties. Republic of
                                   Ireland
    1. Fingal, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin
    2. Wicklow
    3. Wexford
    4. Carlow
    5. Kildare
    6. Meath
    7. Louth
    8. Monaghan
    9. Cavan
   10. Longford
   11. Westmeath
   12. Offaly
   13. Laois
   14. Kilkenny
   15. Waterford
   16. Cork

   17. Kerry
   18. Limerick
   19. North Tipperary, South Tipperary
   20. Clare
   21. Galway
   22. Mayo
   23. Roscommon
   24. Sligo
   25. Leitrim
   26. Donegal

   Map of Ireland
   Enlarge
   Map of Ireland

   These counties are grouped together into regions for statistical
   purposes.

Geography

   The island of Ireland extends over 84,421  km² of which 83% (or
   five-sixths) belong to the Republic (at 70,280 km²), with the remainder
   constituting Northern Ireland. It is bound to the west by the Atlantic
   Ocean, to the northeast by the North Channel. To the east is found the
   Irish Sea which reconnects to the ocean via the southwest with St
   George's Channel and the Celtic Sea. The west-coast of Ireland mostly
   consists of cliffs, hills and low mountains (the highest point being
   Carrauntoohil at 1,041 m). In from the perimeter of the country is
   mostly relatively flat farmland, traversed by rivers such as the River
   Shannon and several large lakes or loughs. The centre of the country is
   part of the River Shannon watershed, containing large areas of bogland,
   used for peat production.

   The local temperate climate is modified by the North Atlantic Current
   and is relatively mild. Summers are rarely very hot (temperatures only
   exceed 30ºC usually once every decade, though commonly reach 29ºC most
   summers), but it freezes only occasionally in winter (temperatures
   below -5ºC are very rare). Precipitation is very common, with up to 275
   days with rain in some parts of the country. Chief cities are the
   capital Dublin on the east coast, Cork in the south, Limerick, Galway
   on the west coast, and Waterford on the south east coast (see Cities in
   Ireland).

Education

   The education system is under the direction of the government via the
   Minister for Education and Science (currently Mary Hannifan).
   Recognised primary and secondary schools must adhere to the curriculum
   established by authorities that have power to set them.

Economy

   Economy of Ireland
   Irish One Euro coin
   Currency 1 Euro = 100 eurocent
   Fiscal year Calendar year
   Trade organisations EU, WTO and OECD
   Statistics
   GDP ( PPP) €161.6 bn( 2005) ( 48th )
   GDP growth 4.7% (2005 est.)
   GDP per capita $41,000 (2005 est.)
   GDP by sector agriculture (5%), manufacturing (46%), services (49%) (
   2002)
   Inflation ( CPI) 3.9% ( 2006)
   Pop below poverty line 10% (1997 est.)
   Labour force 2.014 million ( 2005)
   Labour force by occupation services (64%), manufacturing (29%),
   agriculture (8%) ( 2005)
   Unemployment 4.4% ( July 2006)
   Main industries steel, lead, zinc, silver, aluminium, barite, and
   gypsum mining processing; food products, brewing, textiles, clothing;
   chemicals, pharmaceuticals; machinery, rail transportation equipment,
   passenger and commercial vehicles, ship construction and refurbishment;
   glass and crystal; software, tourism
   Trading Partners
   Exports $102 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
   Export goods machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals,
   pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products
   Main partners United States 18.7%, United Kingdom 17.3%, Belgium 15.1%,
   Germany 7.3%, Netherlands 4.8% ( 2005)
   Imports $65.47 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
   Imports goods data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment,
   chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing
   Main Partners UK 36.8%, United States 13.8%, Germany 9.1%, Netherlands
   4.5% ( 2005)
   Public finances
   Public debt €37.2 bn (27% of GDP) ( June 2006)
   Revenues €44.3 bn ( 2006)
   Expenses €45.4 billion ( 2006)
   Economic aid donor: ODA, €735 mn ( 2005)
   Main source
   All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars

   The economy of Ireland has transformed in recent years from an
   agricultural focus to one dependent on trade, industry and investment.
   Economic growth in Ireland averaged an exceptional 10% from 1995–2000,
   and 7% from 2001–2004. Industry, which accounts for 46% of GDP, about
   80% of exports, and 29% of the labor force, now takes the place of
   agriculture as the country's leading sector.

   Exports play a fundamental role in the state's robust growth, but the
   economy also benefits from the accompanying rise in consumer spending,
   construction, and business investment. On paper, the country is the
   largest exporter of software-related goods and services in the world.
   In fact, a lot of foreign software, and sometimes music, is filtered
   through the country to avail of the state's non-taxing of royalties
   from copyrighted goods.

   One key reason for the country's economic surge might be the
   government's role in the past ten years. A number of initiatives to
   address the problems of high inflation (with poor results in recent
   years), large tax burdens, government spending, lack-lustre foreign
   investment and low job skills have been introduced.

   A key part of economic policy, since 1987, has been Social Partnership
   which is a neo-corporatist set of voluntary 'pay pacts' between the
   Government, employers and trades unions. These usually set agreed pay
   rises for three-year periods.

   The state joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999
   (leaving behind the Irish pound) along with ten other EU nations. The
   1995 to 2000 period of high economic growth led many to call the
   country the Celtic Tiger. The economy felt the impact of the global
   economic slowdown in 2001, particularly in the high-tech export sector
   — the growth rate in that area was cut by nearly half. GDP growth
   continued to be relatively robust, with a rate of about 6% in 2001 and
   2002. Growth for 2004 was over 4%, and for 2005 was 4.7%.

   With high growth came high levels of inflation, particularly in the
   capital city. Prices in Dublin, where nearly 30% of Ireland's
   population lives, are considerably higher than elsewhere in the country
   , especially in the booming property market.

   Ireland has the fourth-highest GDP (based on PPP) per capita in the
   world after Luxembourg, Norway and the United States, and lies 4th in
   the 2006 UN Human Development Index, which counts GDP per capita as a
   factor.

   The Economist Intelligence Unit's Quality of Life Index ( ) placed
   Ireland in 1st place in its World in Review 2005 survey.

   Poverty figures show that 6.8% of Ireland's population suffer
   "consistent poverty" (2004).

Military

   The Republic's armed forces are organised under the Irish Defence
   Forces ( Óglaigh na hÉireann). The Irish Army is relatively
   small(compared to other armies in the region), but well equipped, with
   8,500 full-time military personnel (13,000 in the reserve army). This
   is principally due to Ireland's designation as a neutral country. Due
   to the "triple-lock" rules governing participation in conflicts,
   deployments are on UN peace-keeping duties and protection of the
   Republic's territorial waters (in the case of the Irish Naval Service).
   See Irish neutrality.

   There is also an Irish Air Corps and Reserve Defence Forces ( Irish
   Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve) under the Defence Forces. Over
   40,000 servicemen have served in UN peacekeeping missions around the
   world.

Demographics

General situation

   The Irish peoples are mainly of indigenous Neolithic ancestry; although
   some of the population are also of English, Scottish, Anglo-Norman,
   Viking and Welsh ancestry, these groups have been assimilated and do
   not form distinct minority groups. Celtic culture and language forms an
   important part of national identity (see language section below). The
   Irish Travellers are an ethnic minority group.

Languages

   The official languages are Irish and English. Teaching of the Irish
   language is compulsory in primary and secondary level schools which
   receive money and recognition from the state. Some students may be
   exempt from the requirement to receive instruction in the language.
   English is by far the predominant language spoken throughout the
   country. People living in predominantly Irish-speaking communities (the
   Gaeltacht) are limited to the low tens of thousands in isolated pockets
   largely on the western seaboard. Roads signs are usually bilingual,
   except in the Gaeltacht, where they are in Irish only. The legal status
   of place names has recently been the subject of controversy, with an
   order made in 2005 under the Official Languages Act changing the
   official name of certain locations from English to Irish (e.g. Dingle
   is now officially named An Daingean). Most public notices are only in
   English, as are most of the print media. National media in Irish exist
   on TV, radio, and in print.

Recent population growth

   According to "Marketing Ireland" Ireland has experienced a massive
   influx in the number of people from the 10 new EU accession states.
   Some 210,000 PPS numbers have been issued to people from Poland,
   Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. 140,000 PPS number have been given to
   Poles in Ireland. However, not all those who have received PPS numbers
   will have remained in Ireland. There are also around 10,000 Americans
   living in Ireland. There is also a significant Asian, largely Chinese,
   community in Ireland with an estimated 22,000 people and a Nigerian
   population of around 9,000 in 2002 . It is estimated that 10,000 Poles
   arrive in Ireland to work every month.

   The CSO published preliminary findings based on the 2006 Census of
   Population on July 19, 2006. These indicate:
     * The total population of Ireland on Census Day, April 23, 2006, was
       4,234,925, an increase of 317,722, or 8.1% since 2002
     * Allowing for the incidence of births (245,000) and deaths
       (114,000), the derived net immigration of people to Ireland between
       2002 and 2006 was 186,000. It is estimated that the cohort of
       non-nationals resident in Ireland is of the order of 400,000 — a
       number that will be clarified in April 2007.
     * The average annual rate of increase, 2%, is the highest on record –
       compared to 1.3% between 1996 and 2002 and 1.5% between 1971 and
       1979.
     * The 2006 population was last exceeded in the 1861 Census when the
       population then was 4.4 million The lowest population of Ireland
       was recorded in the 1961 Census – 2.6 million.
     * All provinces of Ireland recorded population growth. The population
       of Leinster grew by 8.9%; Munster by 6.5%; and the long-term
       population decline of Connacht – Ulster has stopped.
     * The ratio of males to females has declined in each of the four
       provinces between 1979 and 2006. Leinster is the only province
       where the number of females exceeds the number of males. Males
       predominate in rural counties such as Cavan, Leitrim, and Roscommon
       while the are more females in cities and urban areas.

   Detailed statistics into the population of Ireland since 1841 are
   available at Irish Population Analysis.

Religion

   A Roman Catholic Mass in Ireland, ca. 1950. The population of Ireland
   is still predominantly Roman Catholic.
   Enlarge
   A Roman Catholic Mass in Ireland, ca. 1950.
   The population of Ireland is still predominantly Roman Catholic.
   St. Patrick's Cathedral in DublinThe National Cathedral of the Church
   of Ireland, part of the Anglican communion.
   Enlarge
   St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin
   The National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland, part of the Anglican
   communion.

   The Republic of Ireland is 88% nominally Roman Catholic, and has one of
   the highest rates of church attendance in the Western World. However,
   there has been a major decline in Mass attendance among Irish Catholics
   since the liturgical, disciplinary and theological reforms of the
   Second Vatican Council were implemented. Between 1996 and 2001, regular
   Mass attendance, already previously in decline, declined from 60% to
   48% (it had been above 90% before 1973), and all but two of its
   sacerdotal seminaries have closed.

   The second largest Christian denomination, the Church of Ireland
   (Anglicanism), having been in decline for most of the twentieth
   century, has now experienced an increase in membership, according to
   the 2002 census, as have other small Christian denominations, and
   Islam. The largest other Protestant denominations are the Presbyterian
   Church in Ireland, followed by the Methodist Church in Ireland. The
   very small Jewish community in the state also recorded a marginal
   increase(see History of the Jews in Ireland).

Religion and politics

   The 1937 Constitution of Ireland gave the Roman Catholic Church a
   "special position" as the church of the majority, but also recognised
   other Christian and Jewish sects. As with other predominantly Roman
   Catholic European states (e.g., Italy), the Irish state underwent a
   period of legal secularisation in the late 20th century. In 1972, the
   articles mentioning specific religions groups, including the Catholic
   Church were deleted from the Irish constitution by the Fifth Amendment
   of the Constitution of Ireland.

   Still remaining in the Constitution is Article 44, which begins:

          The State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due
          to Almighty God. It shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall
          respect and honour religion.

   The article also establishes freedom of religion (for belief, practice,
   and organisation without undue interference from the state), prohibits
   endowment of any particular religion, prohibits the state from
   religious discrimination, and requires the state to treat religious and
   non-religious schools in a non-prejudicial manner.

   Catholic doctrine prohibits abortion in most circumstances, putting it
   in conflict with the pro-choice movement. In 1983, the Eighth Amendment
   of the Constitution of Ireland recognised "the right to life of the
   unborn", subject to qualifications concerning the "equal right to life"
   of the mother. The case of Attorney General v. X prompted passage of
   the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, guaranteeing the right to
   travel abroad to have an abortion performed, and the right of citizens
   to learn about "services" that are illegal in Ireland but legal outside
   the country. (See Abortion in Ireland.)

   Catholic and Protestant attitudes in 1937 also disfavoured divorce,
   which was prohibited by the original Constitution. It was not until
   1995 that the Fifteenth Amendment repealed this ban.

   The Catholic Church was hit in the 1990s by a series of sexual abuse
   scandals and cover-up charges against its hierarchy. In 2005, a major
   inquiry was made into child sexual abuse allegations. The Ferns report,
   published on 25 October 2005, revealed that more than 100 cases of
   child sexual abuse, between 1962 and 2002, by 21 priests, had taken
   place in the Diocese of Ferns alone. The report criticised the Garda
   and the health authorities, who failed to protect the children to the
   best of their abilities; and in the case of the Garda before 1988, no
   file was ever recorded on sexual abuse complaints. (See Roman Catholic
   sex abuse cases.)

Culture

   The island of Ireland has produced the Book of Kells, and writers such
   as George Berkeley, Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw,
   Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats,
   Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett, John Millington Synge, Seán O'Casey,
   Séamus Heaney, Bram Stoker and others. Shaw, Yeats, Beckett and Heaney
   are Nobel Literature laureates. Other prominent writers include John
   Banville, Roddy Doyle, Séamus Ó Grianna, Dermot Bolger, Maeve Binchy,
   Frank McCourt, Edna O'Brien, Joseph O'Connor, John McGahern and Colm
   Tóibín.

   Ireland is known for its Irish traditional music, but has produced many
   other internationally influential artists in other musical genres;
   Blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, folk singer Christy Moore, the Wolfe
   Tones, Shane MacGowan with his band The Pogues and singer Sinéad
   O'Connor.

   In classical music, the Island of Ireland was also the birthplace of
   the notable composers Turlough O'Carolan, John Field (inventor of the
   Nocturne), Gerald Barry, Michael William Balfe, Sir Charles Villiers
   Stanford and Charles Wood.

   Successful entertainment exports in the late twentieth century include
   acts such as Horslips, U2, Thin Lizzy, Boomtown Rats, The Corrs,
   Boyzone, Ronan Keating, The Cranberries, Flogging Molly, Gilbert
   O'Sullivan, Westlife and Enya, and the internationally acclaimed dance
   shows Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. In the early twenty-first
   century, Damien Rice rose to international fame.

   Notable Irish Hollywood actors include Barry Fitzgerald, Colin Farrell,
   Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, Daniel Day Lewis (by
   citizenship), Colm Meaney and Cillian Murphy.

   Ireland has produced a number of talented sportsmen and women. In
   soccer, former players include Roy Keane, Packie Bonnar and Paul
   McGrath, while footballers whose careers are ongoing include Shay Given
   and Robbie Keane. In rugby Ireland has produced Ronan O'Gara and Brian
   O'Driscoll while in athletics Sonia O'Sullivan and Derval O'Rourke have
   had success in international events. Notable GAA players include the
   now retired pair of DJ Carey and Peter Canavan.

   Ernest Walton of Trinity College Dublin shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in
   Physics for "splitting the atom". William Rowan Hamilton was a
   significant mathematician.

Neighbouring countries

   North Atlantic Ocean Flag of United Kingdom  United Kingdom Flag of
   United Kingdom  United Kingdom
   North Irish Sea  Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation East.png   Flag
   of United Kingdom  United Kingdom
   West    Flag of Republic of Ireland  Ireland     East
   South
   North Atlantic Ocean Celtic Sea St. George's Channel  Image:Template
   CanadianCityGeoLocation East.png   Flag of United Kingdom  United
   Kingdom
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland"
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