Ireland Éire
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:
Location of  Ireland  (green) – on the European continent  (light green & grey) – in the European Union  (light green)  —  [Legend]
Capital (and largest city)		Dublin 53°20.65′N 6°16.05′W / 53.34417°N 6.2675°W / 53.34417; -6.2675
Official language(s)		English, Irish
Ethnic groups		87% Irish 13% Other
Demonym		Irish
Government		Constitutional republic, Parliamentary democracy
-	President (Uachtarán)	Mary McAleese
-	Prime Minister (Taoiseach)	Brian Cowen, TD
Independence		from the United Kingdom
-	Declared	24 April 1916
-	Ratified	21 January 1919
-	Recognised	6 December 1922
-	Current constitution	29 December 1937
-	Became a republic	18 April 1949
EU accession		1 January 1973
Area
-	Total	70,273 km2 (119th) 27,133 sq mi
-	Water (%)	2.00
Population
-	2009 estimate	4,459,300
-	2006 census	4,239,848 (121st)
-	Density	60.3/km2 (139th) 147.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2009 estimate
-	Total	$175.055 billion
-	Per capita	$39,468
GDP (nominal)		2009 estimate
-	Total	$227.781 billion
-	Per capita	$51,356
HDI (2006)		▲ 0.965 (very high) (5th)
Currency		Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone		WET (UTC+0)
-	Summer (DST)	IST (WEST) (UTC+1)
Drives on the		left
Internet TLD		.ie
Calling code		353
a. Article 4 of the Constitution of Ireland and Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 – the constitutional name of the state is ; the supplementary legal description is the , but is deprecated by the state. b. The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɪərlənd/  ( listen), locally [ˈaɾlənd], Irish: , pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə]  ( listen)), described as the Republic of Ireland (Irish: ), is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned into two jurisdictions in 1921.It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic. It is bordered to the north-east by Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom, and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Sea to the east, St George's Channel to the south-east, and the Celtic Sea to the south.

The state, initially named the Irish Free State, was established in 1922 as a dominion within the British Commonwealth, and gained increasing sovereignty through the Statute of Westminster and the abdication crisis of 1936. A new constitution was introduced in 1937 that declared it an entirely sovereign state and named it simply as . In 1949, the last formal link with the United Kingdom was severed when Ireland declared itself a republic and formally ceased to be a dominion. Consequently it left the then British Commonwealth, having already ceased to attend Commonwealth meetings since 1937.

During British rule and initial independence, Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe and had high emigration, but in contrast to many other states in the period, stayed financially solvent and remained a democracy. The protectionist economy was opened in the late 1950s and Ireland joined the European Economic Community (European Union) in 1973. An economic crisis led Ireland to start large-scale economic reforms in the late 1980s. Ireland reduced taxation and regulation dramatically compared to other EU countries. The Irish economy grew rapidly during the course of the 1990s, which saw the beginning of unprecedented economic growth in the in a phenomenon known as the "Celtic Tiger". The financial crisis of 2007–2010 impacted the Irish economy heavily. Ireland entered recession in 2008. In 2009, the unemployment rate in Ireland reached 12.5%.

The state is ranked as the 31st economic power in the world, and in 2006 Ireland had the sixth highest nominal gross domestic product per capita (the ninth highest per capita considering purchasing power parity). Ireland has the fifth highest Human Development Index rank in the world, and has one of the highest qualities of life in the world, ranking first in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality-of-life index. Ireland was ranked sixth on the Global Peace Index, has high rankings for its education system, political freedom and civil rights, press freedom (ranked first in 2009) and economic freedom (ranked fourth in 2009). It is also ranked fifth from bottom on the Failed States Index, being one of the most sustainable states in the world. Ireland is a member of the EU, OECD, and United Nations.

Contents 1 Name 2 Independence history 2.1 Home-rule movement 2.1.1 Unionist resistance 2.2 Revolutionary period 2.3 Irish Civil War 2.4 1937 Constitution 3 Governance 3.1 Politics 3.2 Regions and counties 3.3 Citizenship 4 Geography 4.1 Landscape and rivers 4.1.1 Impact of agriculture 4.2 Climate 4.3 Transport 5 Education 6 Economy 6.1 Economic development 6.2 Currency 7 Military 8 Metropolitan areas 9 Main Cities 10 Demographics 10.1 Languages 10.2 Recent population growth 10.3 Religion 11 Social issues 11.1 Role of religion 12 Culture 12.1 Music 12.2 Cinema 12.3 Architecture & Urban Design 12.4 Sport 13 See also 14 Notes 15.1 Bibliography 16 Further reading

Name

For all official purposes, including international treaties and in other legal documents, where the language of the documents is English, the name of the country is . The same is true in respect of the name for documents written in Irish. Institutions of the European Union follow the same practice. Since Irish became an official language of the Union in 2007, name plates for the state at EU meetings read as , just as the two names are used on Irish passports.

Article 4 of the Constitution of Ireland, which was adopted in 1937, provides that, "The name of the State is , or, in the English language, ." The wording of this article was been criticised in a report of the Constitution Review Group in 1996 which said that the wording was "unnecessarily complicated and that it should be simplified". The Review Group recommended that the article should be amended to state that, "The name of the state is Ireland", with an equivalent change in the Irish text. The report also states that, "The Review Group also considered whether the Article should be amended to include 'Republic of' in the name of the State. It is satisfied that the legislative provision ... which declared the description of the State to be ‘the Republic of Ireland’, is sufficient."

The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 provided that the description of the state be "the Republic of Ireland" (Irish: ). The Act was to change Ireland to a republic by removing the last official functions of the British monarch and transferring these to the elected president. No change of name took place due to that act. In 1989 the Irish Supreme Court rejected an extradition warrant that used the name . Justice Walsh ruled that, "if the courts of other countries seeking the assistance of this country are unwilling to give this State its constitutionally correct and internationally recognised name, then in my view, the warrants should be returned to such countries until they have been rectified."

The island of Ireland was unilaterally proclaimed an independent republic by rebels in 1916 and called the (Irish: ). Following the 1918 general election, that proclamation was ratified by Irish members of parliament. Between 1921 and 1922, the British government legislated to establish Ireland as an autonomous region of the United Kingdom, creating (and Northern Ireland). Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the state was established as an independent dominion in the British Commonwealth, styled the (Irish: ). All of these names are still sometimes used unofficially. Other colloquial names, such and are also often used, particularly among residents of Northern Ireland. (Likewise, from the perspective of the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland is often called or .)

Independence history

Home-rule movement

From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801 until 6 December 1922, all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 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, 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 through widespread agrarian agitation (via the Irish Land League) that won improved tenant land reforms in the form of the Irish Land Acts, and with its attempts to achieve Home Rule, via two unsuccessful Bills which would have granted Ireland limited national autonomy within the United Kingdom. These nevertheless led to the “grass-roots” control of national affairs under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 previously in the hands of landlord-dominated grand juries of the Protestant Ascendancy.

Home Rule seemed certain when the Parliament Act 1911 abolished the veto of the House of Lords, and John Redmond secured the Third Home Rule Act 1914. The Unionist movement, however, had been growing since 1886 among Irish Protestants after the introduction of the first home rule bill, 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 four counties.

Unionist resistance

Under the leadership of the Dublin-born Sir Edward Carson of the Irish Unionist Party and the northerner Sir James Craig of the Ulster Unionist Party, unionists became strongly militant in order to oppose . After the Home Rule Bill passed parliament in May 1914, to avoid rebellion with Ulster, the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith introduced an Amending Bill reluctantly conceded to by the Irish Party leadership, providing for the temporary exclusion of Ulster from the workings of the bill for a trial period of six years, with an as yet undecided new set of measures to be introduced for the area to be temporarily excluded.

Revolutionary period

Though it received the Royal Assent and was placed on the statute books in 1914, the implementation of the Third Home Rule Act 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 of ensuring the implementation of the Act at the end of the war, Redmond and his Irish National Volunteers supported the Allied cause, and 175,000 joined Irish regiments of the 10th (Irish), 16th (Irish), while Unionists joined the 36th (Ulster) divisions of the New British Army.

In January 1919, after the December 1918 general election, 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 Irish parliament called Dáil Éireann. This Dáil in January 1919 issued a 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. The new Irish Republic was recognised internationally only by the Russian Soviet Republic. The Republic's Aireacht (ministry) sent a delegation under Ceann Comhairle Seán T. O'Kelly to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, but it was not admitted.

After the bitterly fought War of Independence and truce called in July 1921, representatives of the British government and the Irish treaty delegates, led by Arthur Griffith, Robert Barton and Michael Collins, negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty in London from 11 October to 6 December 1921. The Irish delegates set up headquarters at Hans Place in Knightsbridge and it was here in private discussions that the decision was taken on 5 December to recommend the Treaty to Dáil Éireann. The Second Dáil Éireann narrowly ratified the Treaty.

In accordance with the Treaty, on 6 December 1922 the entire island of Ireland became a self-governing British dominion called the Irish Free State (Irish: ). Under the Constitution of the Irish Free State, established by the treaty, the Parliament of Northern Ireland had the option to leave the Irish Free State exactly one month later and return to the United Kingdom. During the intervening period, the powers of the Parliament of the Irish Free State and Executive Council of the Irish Free State did not extend to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland exercised its right under the Treaty to of the new dominion and rejoined the United Kingdom on 8 December 1922. It did so by making an Address to the King requesting, "that the powers of the Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State shall no longer extend to Northern Ireland." The Treaty was not entirely satisfactory to either side. The Irish Free State was a constitutional monarchy over which the British monarch reigned. The Irish Free State had a Governor-General, a bicameral parliament, a cabinet called the "Executive Council" and a prime minister called the President of the Executive Council.

Irish Civil War

The Irish Civil War was the consequence of the creation of the Irish Free State. Anti-Treaty forces, led by Éamon de Valera, objected to the fact that acceptance of the Treaty 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 members of the Free State Parliament would have to swear, what the Anti-Treaty side saw as, an oath of fidelity to the British King. 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 disbanded and joined the new Irish 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 with many tens of thousands of WWI veterans from the 1922 disbanded Irish regiments of the British 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 forces (often called the ) and the determination of the government to overcome the Irregulars contributed significantly to their defeat.

In the Northern Ireland question, Irish governments started to seek a peaceful reunification of Ireland and have usually cooperated with the British government in the violent conflict involving many paramilitaries and the British Army in Northern Ireland known as "The Troubles". A peace settlement for Northern Ireland, the Belfast Agreement, was approved in 1998 in referendums north and south of the border. As part of the peace settlement, Ireland dropped its territorial claim to Northern Ireland. The peace settlement is currently being implemented.

1937 Constitution

On 29 December 1937, a new constitution, the Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann), came into force. It replaced the Constitution of the Irish Free State and called the state "Ireland", or, in the Irish language, "Éire". The former Irish Free State government had taken steps to formally abolish the Office of Governor-General some months before the new Constitution came into force. Although the Constitution of Ireland established the office of President of Ireland, between 1937 and 1949 Ireland was not technically a republic. This was because the principal key role possessed by a head of state, that of symbolically representing Ireland internationally remained vested under , in the British king as an of the Irish government. The King's title in the Irish Free State was exactly the same as it was elsewhere in the British Empire, being:

• 1922-1927 – .

• 1927–1937 – .

Ireland remained neutral during World War II, a period it described as The Emergency. The position of King ceased with the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, which came into force on 18 April 1949 when the office of President of Ireland replaced that of the King. The Act declared that the state could be described as a republic. Later, the Crown of Ireland Act was formally repealed in Ireland by the Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act, 1962.

Ireland was technically a member of the British Commonwealth after independence until the declaration of a republic on 18 April 1949. Under the Commonwealth rules at the time, a declaration of a republic automatically terminated membership of the Commonwealth (this rule was changed 10 days after Ireland declared itself a republic, with the London Declaration of 28 April 1949). Ireland therefore immediately ceased to be a member and did not subsequently reapply for membership when the Commonwealth later changed its rules to allow republics to join the Commonwealth. Ireland joined the United Nations in 1955.

Governance

Politics

Ireland 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 is entrusted with certain constitutional powers and functions, aided by an advisory body, the Council of State. The Taoiseach (prime minister) is appointed by the president on the nomination of parliament. Most Taoisigh have been the leader of the political party which wins the most seats in the national elections. It has become normal for coalitions to form a government, and there has not been a single-party government since 1989.

The Oireachtas (bicameral parliament) consists of the President of Ireland, the Senate (Seanad Éireann), being the upper House, and the House of Representatives (Dáil Éireann), being the lower House. The Seanad is composed of sixty members, with 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 five years.

The Government is constitutionally limited to fifteen members. No more than two members of the Government can be selected from the Seanad, 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 Brian Cowen and the Green Party under leader John Gormley, along with numerous independents. The last general election to the Dáil took place on 24 May 2007, after it was called by the Taoiseach on 29 April. The opposition parties in the current Dáil are Fine Gael under Enda Kenny, the Labour Party under Eamon Gilmore, and Sinn Féin led by Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. A number of independent deputies also sit in Dáil Éireann though less in number than before the 2007 election.

Ireland joined the European Union in 1973 along with the United Kingdom and Denmark, but has chosen to remain outside the Schengen Area. Citizens of the United Kingdom can freely enter Ireland without a passport due to the Common Travel Area. The Common Travel Area is a passport-free zone that comprises the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. However, some form of identification is required at airports and seaports.

Regions and counties

The Irish state consists of twenty-six traditional counties which are still used in cultural and sporting contexts, and for postal purposes. However, these are no longer always coterminous with administrative divisions. Several traditional counties have been restructured into new administrative divisions. County Dublin was divided into three separate administrative counties in the 1990s and County Tipperary was divided into two in the 1890s. This gives a present-day total of twenty-nine administrative counties and five cities. The five cities (Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford) are administered separately from the remainder of their respective counties. Five boroughs (Clonmel, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Sligo, Wexford) have a level of autonomy within the county. While Kilkenny is a borough, it is has retained the legal right to be referred to as a city.

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-North Leitrim), but by and large, the actual county boundaries are not crossed. The counties are grouped into eight regions for statistical purposes.

Counties numbered.

Counties Dublin — Dublin City — Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown — Fingal — South Dublin Wicklow Wexford — Wexford Town (Borough) Carlow Kildare Meath Louth — Drogheda Town (Borough) Monaghan Cavan Longford Westmeath Offaly Laois Kilkenny — Kilkenny City (Borough)

Waterford — Waterford City Cork — Cork City Kerry Limerick — Limerick City Tipperary — North Tipperary — South Tipperary  — Clonmel Town (Borough) Clare Galway — Galway City Mayo Roscommon Sligo — Sligo Town (Borough) Leitrim Donegal

Citizenship

Ireland's citizenship laws relate to "the island of Ireland" (incl. islands and seas), thereby extending them to Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. Therefore, anyone born in Northern Ireland who meets the requirements for being an Irish citizen, such as birth on the island of Ireland, may exercise an entitlement to Irish citizenship, such as an Irish passport.

Geography

Landscape and rivers

The island of Ireland extends over 84,421 km² (32,595 sq mi), of which 83% belong to the Irish state (70,280 km²/27,135 sq mi), while the remainder constitutes Northern Ireland. It is bounded to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, and 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 1,038 m or 3,406 ft).

The interior of the country is relatively flat land, traversed by rivers such as the River Shannon and several large lakes or . The centre of the country is part of the River Shannon watershed, containing large areas of bogland used for peat extraction and production. Ireland also has off-shore deposits of oil and gas.

Chief city conurbations are the capital Dublin (1,045,769) on the east coast, Cork (190,384) in the south, Limerick (110,458) in the mid-west, Galway (72,729) on the west coast, and Waterford (49,213) on the south east coast (see Cities in Ireland).

Impact of agriculture

The long history of agricultural production coupled with modern agricultural methods (such as pesticide and fertiliser use) has placed pressure on biodiversity in Ireland. Agriculture is the main factor determining land use patterns in Ireland, leaving limited land to preserve natural habitats (also forestry and urban development to a lesser extent), in particular for larger wild mammals with greater territorial requirements.

With no top predator in Ireland, populations of animals that cannot be controlled by smaller predators (such as the fox) are controlled by annual culling, i.e. semi-wild populations of deer. A land of green fields for crop cultivation and cattle rearing limits the space available for the establishment of native wild species. Hedgerows, however, traditionally used for maintaining and demarcating land boundaries, act as a refuge for native wild flora. Their ecosystems stretch across the countryside and act as a network of connections to preserve remnants of the ecosystem that once covered the island.

Pollution from agricultural activities is one of the principal sources of environmental damage. Runoff of contaminants into streams, rivers and lakes impacts the natural fresh-water ecosystems. Subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy which supported these agricultural practices and contributed to land-use distortions are undergoing reforms. The CAP still subsidises some potentially destructive agricultural practices, however, the recent reforms have gradually decoupled subsidies from production levels and introduced environmental and other requirements.

Forest covers about 10% of the country, with most designated for commercial production. Forested areas typically consist of monoculture plantations of non-native species which may result in habitats that are not suitable for supporting a broad range of native species of invertebrates. Remnants of native forest can be found scattered around the country, in particular in the Killarney National Park. Natural areas require fencing to prevent over-grazing by deer and sheep that roam over uncultivated areas. This is one of the main factors preventing the natural regeneration of forests across many regions of the country.

Climate

Ireland has a temperate oceanic climate meaning that it is mild with temperatures not much lower than −3 °C (26.6 °F) in winter and not much higher than 22 °C (72 °F) in summer. The Atlantic Ocean is the main force shaping Ireland's weather and there is a warming influence due to the Gulf Stream. It can be quite variable and differs from region to region, with the middle and east tending to be more extreme throughout the year compared to other parts of the country. Sunshine duration is highest in the south-east. Ireland rainfall patterns are highest in the winter and lowest during the early months of summer.

Determined by the south-westerly Atlantic winds, geographically the northwest, west and southwest of the country receives the most substantial rainfall; Dublin is the driest part of the country. The far-north and west of Ireland are two of the windiest regions in Europe with substantial potential for wind energy generation. The highest temperature recorded in Ireland was 33.3 °C (91.9 °F) on 26 June 1887 at Kilkenny Castle in Kilkenny, while the lowest was −19.1 °C (−2 °F) on 16 January 1881 at Markree Castle, Sligo.

Climate data for Ireland
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	8.2 (46.8)	8.5 (47.3)	10.5 (50.9)	12.7 (54.9)	15.3 (59.5)	17.9 (64.2)	19.4 (66.9)	19.2 (66.6)	17.2 (63)	14.2 (57.6)	10.4 (50.7)	8.9 (48)	13.5 (56.3)
Average low °C (°F)	2.6 (36.7)	2.7 (36.9)	3.6 (38.5)	4.8 (40.6)	7.3 (45.1)	10.1 (50.2)	12 (54)	11.7 (53.1)	10.1 (50.2)	8.0 (46.4)	4.5 (40.1)	3.6 (38.5)	6.75 (44.15)
Precipitation mm (inches)	108 (4.25)	65 (2.56)	104 (4.09)	52 (2.05)	91 (3.58)	76 (2.99)	58 (2.28)	115 (4.53)	114 (4.49)	132 (5.2)	107 (4.21)	124 (4.88)	1,146 (45.12)

Transport

The state has three main international airports (Dublin, Shannon, Cork) that serve a wide variety of European and intercontinental routes with scheduled and chartered flights. The national airline is Aer Lingus, although low cost airline Ryanair is the largest airline. The route between London and Dublin is the busiest international air route in Europe, with 4.5 million people flying between the two cities in 2006.

Railway services are provided by Iarnród Éireann. Dublin is the centre of the network, with two main stations (Heuston and Connolly) linking to the main towns and cities. The Enterprise service, run jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, connects Dublin with Belfast. Dublin has a steadily improving public transport network of varying quality including the DART, Luas, Bus service and an expanding rail network.

The motorways and national routes (national primary roads and national secondary roads) are managed by the National Roads Authority. The rest of the roads (regional roads and local roads) are managed by the local authorities in each of their areas.

Ireland still has a canal network, however this is mainly used for leisure boating rather than freight.

Regular ferry services operate between Ireland and Great Britain, the Isle of Man and France.

Education

The education systems are largely under the direction of the government via the Minister for Education and Science. Recognised primary and secondary schools must adhere to the curriculum established by authorities that have power to set them.

The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Ireland's education as the 20th best among participating countries in science, being statistically significantly higher than the OECD average. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary (University/College) level education are all free in Ireland for all EU citizens.

Economy

Economic development

From the 1920s Ireland had high trade barriers such as high tariffs, particularly during the Economic War with Britain in the 1930s, and a policy of import substitution. A high number of residents emigrated. In the 1950s, 400,000 (a seventh of the population) emigrated. It became increasingly clear that economic nationalism was unsustainable. While other European countries enjoyed fast growth, Ireland suffered economic stagnation, emigration, and other ills.

The policy changes were drawn together in , an official paper published in 1958 that advocated free trade, foreign investment, productive (rather than mainly social) investment, and growth rather than fiscal restraint as the prime objective of economic management. Ireland joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union) in 1973.

In the 1970s, the population increased for the first time since independence, by 15% for the decade. National income increased at an annual rate of about 4%. Employment increased by around 1% per year, but the state sector amounted to a large part of that. Public sector employment was a third of the total workforce by 1980. Budget deficits and public debt increased, leading to the crisis in the 1980s.

By the 1980s, underlying economic problems became pronounced. High unemployment, emigration, growing public debt returned. Middle income workers were taxed 60% of their marginal income. Unemployment was 20%. Annual emigration to overseas reached over 1% of population. Public deficits reached 15% of GDP. Fianna Fáil was elected in 1987 and surprised everyone by announcing a swing toward small government.

Public spending was reduced quickly and taxes cut. Ireland promoted competition in all areas. Ryanair utilised Ireland's deregulated aviation market and helped European regulators to see benefits of competition in transport markets. The more competitive economy attracted foreign investment quickly. Intel invested in 1989 and was followed by a number of technology companies such as Microsoft and Google, who found Ireland a good investment location. A consensus exists among all government parties about the sustained economic growth. In less than a decade, the GDP per capita in the OECD prosperity ranking rose from 21st in 1993 to 4th in 2002. Between 1985 and 2002, private sector jobs increased 59%.

The economy of Ireland has shifted in recent years from an agricultural one to a modern knowledge economy, with a focus on services and high-tech industries. Economic growth in Ireland averaged a (relatively high) 10% from 1995 to 2000, and 7% from 2001 to 2004. Industry, which accounts for 46% of GDP and about 80% of exports, and employs 29% of the labour force, has replaced agriculture as the country's leading economic sector.

Exports play an important role in Ireland's economic growth. Over the last 40 years, a series of significant discoveries of base metal deposits have been made, including the giant ore deposit at Tara Mine. Zinc-lead ores are also currently mined from two other underground operations in Lisheen and Galmoy. Ireland now ranks as the seventh largest producer of zinc concentrates in the world, and the twelfth largest producer of lead concentrates. The combined output from these mines, three of Europe’s most modern and developed mines, make Ireland the largest zinc producer in Europe and the second largest producer of lead. Subsidiaries of US multinationals have located in Ireland for low taxation. Ireland is the world's most profitable country for US corporations, according to the US tax journal Tax Notes Ireland is one of the largest exporters of software-related goods and services in the world.

Bord Gáis was established under the Gas Act, and charged with the responsibility for the supply, transmission and distribution of natural gas which was first brought ashore in 1976 from the Kinsale Head Gas Field. New sources of supply are expected to come on stream after 2009/10, including the Corrib gas field and potentially the Shannon Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal. Added to gas supplies, energy exports have the potential to transform Ireland's economy.

As well as exports the economy also benefits from the accompanying rise in consumer spending, construction, and business investment. 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 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 inflation, particularly in the capital. Prices in Dublin, where nearly 30% of Ireland's population lives, are considerably higher than elsewhere in the country, especially in the property market (but property prices are falling rapidly following the recent downturn in the World economy and its knock-on effects on Ireland). At the end of July 2008, the annual rate of inflation was running at 4.4% (as measured by the CPI) or 3.6% (as measured by the HICP) and inflation actually dropped slightly from the previous month.

In terms of GDP per capita, Ireland is ranked as one of the wealthiest countries in the OECD and the EU-27 at 4th in the OECD-28 rankings. In terms of GNP per capita, a better measure of national income, Ireland ranks below the OECD average, despite significant growth in recent years, at 10th in the OECD-28 rankings. GDP (national output) is significantly greater than GNP (national income) due to the repatriation of profits and royalty payments by multinational firms based in Ireland. A study by found Ireland to have the best quality of life in the world. This study employed GDP per capita as a measure of income rather than GNI per capita.

The positive reports and economic statistics mask several underlying imbalances. The construction sector, which is inherently cyclical in nature, now accounts for a significant component of Ireland's GDP. A recent downturn in residential property market sentiment has highlighted the over-exposure of the Irish economy to construction, which now presents a threat to economic growth. Despite several successive years of economic growth and significant improvements since 2000, Ireland's population is marginally more at risk of poverty that the EU-15 average. Figures show that 6.8% of Ireland's population suffer "consistent poverty".

However, after a construction boom in the last decade, economic growth is now slowing. There has been a significant fall in house prices and the cost of living is beginning to stabilise, after rising every year during the economic boom. It is now said the Irish economy is rebalancing itself. During the boom, Ireland had developed a reputation as one of the most expensive countries in Europe. The Irish Economy contracted by -1.7% in 2008, down from 4.7% growth in 2007, in 2009 it is predicted by both the Irish government and the ESRI that the economy could contract by over 9% which would be one of the highest economic contractions of any western economy since World War 2. The huge reduction in construction has caused Ireland's massive economic downturn, the construction crash and the Global recession has hit Ireland very hard. The ESRI has recently predicted that the Irish economy will not recover until 2011 where growth could return to 5% per year until 2015. Ireland now has the second-highest level of household debt in the world, at 190% of household income.

Ireland is currently (2008) ranked as the world's third most economically free economy in an index created by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation, the Index of Economic Freedom. The Financial Crisis of 2008 is currently affecting the Irish economy severely, compounding domestic economic problems related to the collapse of the Irish property bubble. Ireland was the first country in the EU to officially enter a recession as declared by the Central Statistics Office. Ireland was stripped of its AAA credit ranking and downgraded to AA+ by Standard & Poor's ratings agency, due to Ireland`s bleak financial outlook and heavy government debt burden.

Currency

Before the introduction of the euro notes and coins in January 2002, Ireland used the Irish pound or . In January 1999 Ireland was one of eleven European Union member states which launched the European Single Currency, the euro. Euro banknotes are issued in €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500 denominations and share the common design used across Europe, however like other countries in the eurozone, Ireland has its own unique design on one face of euro coins. The government decided on a single national design for all Irish coin denominations, which show a Celtic harp, a traditional symbol of Ireland, decorated with the year of issue and the word .

Military

Ireland's military are organised as the Irish Defence Forces (). The Irish Army is relatively small when compared with other armies in the region, but is well equipped, with 8,500 full-time military personnel (13,000 in the reserve army). This is principally due to Ireland's policy of neutrality, and its "triple-lock" rules governing participation in conflicts whereby approval must be given by the UN, the Government and the Dáil before any Irish troops are deployed into a conflict zone. Deployments of Irish soldiers cover UN peace-keeping duties, protection of Ireland's territorial waters (in the case of the Irish Naval Service) and Aid to Civil Power operations in the state.

There is also an Irish Air Corps, Irish Naval Service and Reserve Defence Forces (Irish Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve) under the Defence Forces. The Irish Army Rangers is a special forces branch which operates under the aegis of the army.

Over 40,000 Irish servicemen have served in UN peacekeeping missions around the world.

Ireland's air facilities were used by the U.S. military for the delivery of military personnel involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq through Shannon Airport; previously the airport had been used for the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, as well as the First Gulf War. This is part of a longer history of use of Shannon for controversial military transport, under Irish military policy which, while ostensibly neutral, was biased towards NATO during the Cold War. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Seán Lemass authorised the search of Cuban and Czechoslovak aircraft passing through Shannon and passed the information to the CIA.

During the Second World War, although officially neutral, Ireland supplied similar, though more extensive, support for the Allied Forces (see ).

Since 1999, Ireland has been a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program.

Metropolitan areas

Pos.	Province	Capital City	Population
1	Leinster	Dublin	2,292,939
2	Munster	Cork	1,172,170
3	Connacht	Galway	503,083
4	Ulster	Belfast*	246,704**

• • Population of Ulster counties in Republic of Ireland only (Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan)
• Belfast in Northern Ireland

Main Cities

Pos.	City	Region	Population
1	Dublin	East Leinster	1,661,185
2	Cork	South Munster	309,527
3	Limerick	West Munster	90,000
4	Galway	West Connacht	72,729
5	Waterford	South-East Munster	55,000

(Includes urban and/or metropolitan population)

Demographics

International rankings
Indicator	Rank	Measure
Economy
GDP (PPP) per capita	8/7th	$44,087
GNP	7th	$41,140
Unemployment rate (2009)	28th	11%
CO2 emissions	30th	10.3 t†
Electricity consumption	61st	22.79 GWh
Economic Freedom	3rd	1.58
Politics
Human Development Index	5th	0.959
Political freedom	1st*	1
Press freedom	4th*	2.00
Corruption (A higher score means less (perceived) corruption.)	↓17th	7.5
Global Peace Index	4th	1.396
Democracy Index	11th	9.01
Failed States Index	↓ 4th	19.5
Society
Literacy rate	18th*	99.0%
Quality-of-life index	1st	8.333 (out of 10)
Broadband penetration	—	30.5% (2009)
Mobile phone penetration	—	121.5%
Alcohol consumption	2nd	13.7 L 3.0 imp gal 3.6 US gal†
Beer consumption	2nd	131.1 L 28.8 imp gal 34.6 US gal†
International Property Rights Index	14th	7.4
Health
Life expectancy		78.4
Birth rate		15.2‡
Fertility rate	133rd	1.96††
Infant mortality	172th	4.9‡‡
Death rate		6.5‡
Suicide rate	48th	♂ 16.3†‡ ♀ 3.2†‡
HIV/AIDS rate	123rd	0.10%
Notes
↓ indicates rank is in reverse order (e.g. 1st is lowest) * joint with one or more other countries † per capita ‡ per 1000 people †† per woman ‡‡ per 1000 live births †‡per 100,000 people ♂ indicates males, ♀ indicates females

Genetic research suggests that the first settlers of Ireland came through migrations from Iberia following the end of the most recent ice age. After the Mesolithic, the Neolithic and Bronze Age migrants introduced Celtic culture and languages to Ireland. These later migrants from the Neolithic to Bronze Age still represent a majority of the genetic heritage of Irish people.

Culture spread throughout the island, and the Gaelic tradition became the dominant form in Ireland. Today, Irish people are mainly of Gaelic ancestry, and although some of the population is also of Norse, Anglo-Norman, English, Scottish, French and Welsh ancestry, these groups have been assimilated and do not form distinct minority groups. Gaelic culture and language forms an important part of national identity. In the UK, Irish Travellers are a recognised ethnic minority group, politically (but not ethnically) linked with mainland European Roma and Gypsy groups, although in Ireland, they are not, instead they are classified as a "social group".

Ireland, as of 2007, contains the fastest growing population in Europe. The growth rate in 2006 was 2.5%, the third year in a row it has been above 2%. This rapid growth can be said to be due to falling death rates, rising birth rates and high immigration rates. Ireland also has the youngest population in Europe, with only 11.2% over the age of 65, Ireland is forecast to have the least proportion of the 65+ age group of all European countries by a clear margin up until 2035

Languages

The official languages are English and Irish. The English and Irish languages are compulsory in primary and secondary level schools that receive recognition from the state. Some students may be exempt from the requirement to receive instruction in either language. English is the predominant language spoken throughout the country. People living in predominantly Irish-speaking communities, Gaeltacht regions, are limited to the low tens of thousands in isolated pockets largely on the western seaboard. Road signs are usually bilingual, except in Gaeltacht regions, 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 back to Irish. Dingle had its name changed to despite local opposition and a local plebiscite requesting that the name be changed to a bilingual version: . Most public notices are only in English, as are most of the print media. Most Government publications and forms are available in both English and Irish, and citizens have the right to deal with the state in Irish if they so wish. National media in Irish exist on TV (TG4), radio (e.g. RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta), and in print (e.g. Lá Nua and Foinse).

According to the 2006 census, 1,656,790 people (39%) in the Republic regard themselves as competent in Irish; though no figures are available for English-speakers, it is thought to be almost 100%. However, one will very rarely ever hear the Irish language being spoken casually outside of Gaeltacht regions.

The Polish language is one of the most widely spoken languages in Ireland after English: there are over 63,000 Poles resident in Ireland according to the 2006 census. Central and Eastern European languages such as Polish, can be heard spoken on a day-to-day basis across Ireland. Other languages spoken in Ireland include Shelta, spoken by the Irish Traveller population and a dialect of Scots is spoken by some descendants of Scottish settlers in Ulster.

Most students at second level choose one or two foreign languages to learn. Languages available for the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate include French, German, Italian and Spanish; Leaving Certificate students can also study Arabic, Japanese and Russian. Some schools also offer Ancient Greek, Hebrew Studies and Latin at second level.

Recent population growth

Ireland's population has increased significantly in recent years. Much of this population growth can be attributed to the arrival of immigrants and the return of Irish people (often with their foreign-born children) who emigrated in large numbers in earlier years during periods of high unemployment. In addition the birth rate in Ireland is currently over double the death rate, which is highly unusual among Western European countries. Approximately 10% of Ireland's population is now made up of foreign citizens.

The CSO has published preliminary findings based on the 2006 Census of Population. These indicate:

• The total population of Ireland on Census Day, 23 April 2006, was 4,234,925, an increase of 317,722, or 8.1% since 2002.
• Allowing for births (245,000) and deaths (114,000), the derived net immigration of people between 2002 and 2006 was 186,000.
• The total number of foreign citizens resident in Ireland is 419,733, or around 10% (plus 1,318 people with 'no nationality', and 44,279 people whose nationality is not stated).
• The single largest group of immigrants comes from the United Kingdom (112,548) followed by Poland (63,267), Lithuania (24,628), Nigeria (16,300), Latvia (13,319), the United States (12,475), China (11,161), and Germany (10,289).
• 94.8% of the population was recorded as having a 'White' ethnic or cultural background. 1.1% had a 'Black or Black Irish' background, 1.3% had an 'Asian or Asian Irish' background and 1.7% of the population's background was 'not stated'.
• The average annual rate of increase, 2%, is the highest on record (1.3% from 1996 to 2002 and 1.5% from 1971 to 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, 2.8 million.
• All provinces of Ireland recorded population growth. The population of Leinster grew by 8.9%; Munster by 6.5%; and the population decline of the Connacht–Ulster region halted.
• 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 there are more females in cities and urban areas.

A more detailed breakdown of these figures is available online. Census 2006 Principal Demographic ResultsPDF (894 KB)

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

Forcasted Ireland population growth are the second highest in Europe, with a projected 53% growth by 2060 and an increase to 6,057,000 by 2035.

Religion

Christianity is the predominant religion in Ireland. Irish Christianity is dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Ireland's constitution states that the state may not endorse any particular religion, and also guarantees freedom of religion. In 2006, approximately 86.8% of the population identified themselves as Roman Catholic, 1.4% less than 4 years earlier. According to a Georgetown University study, the country also has one of the highest rates of regular (monthly or more often) and weekly Mass attendance in the Western World. as of 2008, Mass Attendance stands at 63.4%, with 50% attending weekly. However, according to this source, there has been a decline in this attendance in the course of the past 30 years. back to the 1970s the figure had been above 91%. All but two of its major seminaries have closed (St Patrick's College, Maynooth and St Malachy's College, Belfast). A number of theological colleges continue to educate both ordained and lay people.

The second largest Christian denomination, the Church of Ireland (Anglican), declined in membership for most of the twentieth century, but has more recently experienced an increase, as have other small Christian denominations.

Other significant Protestant denominations are the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, followed by the Methodist Church in Ireland. While small in size, the country's Hindu and Muslim populations have experienced significant growth in recent years, due chiefly to immigration. The very small Jewish community in Ireland also recorded a marginal increase (see History of the Jews in Ireland) in the same period. Muslims and atheists are fast growing groups in the republic of Ireland, up by 70% and 35% respectively.

The patron saints of Ireland (the island) are Saint Patrick, Saint Bridget and Saint Columba. However, Saint Patrick is the only one of the three who is commonly recognised as the patron saint. Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, is celebrated in Ireland and abroad as the Irish national day, with parades and other celebrations.

The 2006 census recorded 186,318 people (4.4% of the population) who described themselves as having "no religion." An additional 1,515 people described themselves as agnostic and 929 as atheist. A further 70,322 (1.7%) did not respond to the question.

Social issues

The prohibition on divorce in the 1937 Constitution was repealed in 1995 under the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The 1983 Eighth Amendment to the Constitution recognised "the right to life of the unborn", subject to qualifications concerning the "equal right to life" of the mother. The case of subsequently prompted passage of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, guaranteeing the right to have an abortion performed abroad, and the right to learn about "services" that are illegal in Ireland but legal abroad.

Contraception was illegal in Ireland until 1979. The legislation which outlawed homosexual acts was repealed in 1993, though before this it was generally only enforced when dealing with under-age sex. Discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation, maritial or familial status, religion, race or membership of the travelling community is illegal. Same-sex civil partnerships legislation was published in June 2008 (though not yet enshrined in law). A poll carried out in 2008 showed that 84% of Irish people supported civil marriage or civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples, with 58% supporting full marriage rights in registry offices. A later poll put support for same-sex marriage at 63%.

In 2002, Ireland became the first country to have an environmental levy for all plastic shopping bags; while in 2004 the country became the first in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces. The country was also the first in Europe to ban incandescent lightbulbs in 2008. The death penalty is constitutionally banned in Ireland, and the country was one of the main nations involved in the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was formally endorsed in Dublin. Ireland became the first country in the European Union (and third in the world, after Canada and Iceland) to ban in-store tobacco advertising and displays of tobacco products on 1 July 2009. Ireland ranks eighth in the world in terms of gender equality.

Role of religion

Originally, the 1937 Constitution of Ireland gave the Catholic Church a "special position" as the church of the majority, but also recognised other Christian denominations and Judaism. As with other predominantly Catholic European states, the Irish state underwent a period of legal secularisation in the late twentieth century. In 1972, the article of the Constitution naming specific religious groups, including the Catholic Church, was deleted by the fifth amendment of the constitution in a referendum.

Article 44 remains in the Constitution. It begins:

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.

Despite a large number of schools in Ireland being run by religious organisations, a general trend of secularism is occurring within the Irish population, particularly in the younger generations. Many efforts have been made by secular groups to eliminate the rigorous study in the second and sixth classes, to prepare for the sacraments of Holy Communion and confirmation in Catholic schools – parents can ask for their children to be excluded from religious study if they wish. However, religious studies as a subject was introduced into the state administered Junior Certificate in 2001; it is not compulsory and deals with aspects of different religions, not focusing on one particular religion.

Schools run by religious organisations, but receiving public money and recognition, are not allowed to discriminate against pupils based upon religion (or lack of). A sanctioned system of preference does exist, where students of a particular religion may be accepted before those who do not share the ethos of the school, in a case where a school's quota has already been reached.

Culture

James Joyce published his most famous work , an interpretation of the Odyssey set in Dublin, in 1922. Edith Somerville continued writing after the death of her partner Martin Ross in 1915. Dublin's Annie M. P. Smithson was one of several authors catering for fans of romantic fiction in the 1920s and 1930s. After the war popular novels were published by, among others, Brian O'Nolan, who published as Flann O'Brien, Elizabeth Bowen, Kate O'Brien. In the last few decades of the 20th century Edna O'Brien, John McGahern, Maeve Binchy, Joseph O'Connor, Roddy Doyle, Colm Tóibín and John Banville came to the fore as novelists.

Patricia Lynch (1898–1972) was a prolific children's author, while recently Eoin Colfer has been particularly successful in this genre. In the genre of the short story, a form favoured by Irish writers, Seán Ó Faoláin, Frank O'Connor and William Trevor are prominent. Poets include W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney (Nobel Literature laureate), Thomas McCarthy and Dermot Bolger. Prominent writers in the Irish language are Pádraic Ó Conaire, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Séamus Ó Grianna and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.

Following in the tradition of Shaw, Wilde and Samuel Beckett, playwrights such as Seán O'Casey, Brian Friel, Sebastian Barry, Brendan Behan, Conor McPherson and Billy Roche have gained popular success. Prominent visual artists include Jack Butler Yeats, Louis le Brocquy, Anne Madden, Robert Ballagh, James Coleman, Dorothy Cross and John Gerrard.

Music

Ireland is known for its traditional music and song, in origin going back hundreds of years but still played throughout the country. Among the best-known modern performers are groups such as The Dubliners, The Chieftains, Clannad, The Saw Doctors and Altan, singers such as Christy Moore and Mary Black, ensembles such as Anúna and Celtic Woman and cross-over artists such as singers Enya and Sinéad O'Connor. Built upon this tradition is the dance company Riverdance.

Ireland has produced internationally influential artists in other musical genres such as rock, pop, jazz and blues including The Pogues, U2, Boyzone, Westlife, Chris de Burgh, Ronan Keating, Thin Lizzy, The Corrs, The Cranberries, Damien Rice, Blues guitarist Rory Gallagher and Academy Award winner Glen Hansard of The Frames. Contemporary artists include the highly popular rock band The Script, as well as The Coronas, Bell X1 and The Blizzards.

There are a number of classical music ensembles around the country, such as the RTÉ Performing Groups, and opera lovers are catered for by three organizations, Opera Ireland, which produces large-scale operas in Dublin, Opera Theatre Company, which is also based in Dublin, and tours its chamber-style operas throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland, and the third being the annual Wexford Opera Festival which during late October-early November promotes lesser-known operas and is located in the southern city of Wexford.

Ireland won the Eurovision Song Contest a total of 7 times, more than any other country that participated in the event.

Cinema

The flourishing Irish film industry, state-supported by Bord Scannán na hÉireann, helped launch the careers of directors Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan, and supported Irish films such as John Crowley's , Neil Jordan's , and others. A policy of tax breaks and other incentives has also attracted international film to Ireland, including Mel Gibson's and Steven Spielberg's .

Maureen O'Sullivan is considered by many to be Ireland's first film star. Other Irish actors who have made it to Hollywood include Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Richard Harris, Evanna Lynch, Peter O'Toole, Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson, Daniel Day Lewis (by citizenship), Colm Meaney, Colin Farrell, Brenda Fricker, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Saoirse Ronan, Stuart Townsend, Michael Gambon, and Cillian Murphy.

Architecture & Urban Design

Some architectural features in Ireland date back to the prehistoric period, including standing stones and tombs. The best known example is the World Heritage Site, (Palace of the Boyne), as well as the Poulnabrone dolmen, Castlestrange stone, Turoe stone and Drombeg circle. Due to the Roman Empire never conquering the island, ancient architecture of Greco-Roman origin is extremely rare, though Drumanagh is a possible example. Ireland instead had an extended, though developing, period of Iron Age architecture. The Irish round tower acting as a belfry is a building type originating from the island during the Early Medieval period. The other building types unique to ireland are the handball alley and the now almost unknown combined bar and shop outlet.

With the introduction of Christianity, simple monastic houses constructed from stone were built—Clonmacnoise, Skellig Michael and Scattery Island are examples. Some academics have remarked a stylistic similarity between these early double monastery buildings and those of the Copts of Egypt. Gaelic kings and aristocrats lived in ringforts on top of hills or on lakes. After Viking invasions the first significantly built up urban areas were created, the Viking longphorts located on the coast such as Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Wexford and Limerick. 12th century Church reforms via the Cistercians stimulated continental influence as abbeys; Mellifont, Boyle and Tintern were built in a Romanesque style. With the Norman invasion in parts of the island, castles were built, such as Dublin Castle, Kilkenny Castle and Ashford Castle. More importantly the Normans introduced the concept of the planned walled trading town owned by the Castle dwelling landlord (the only previous settlements were Monastic proto-towns and the five major Hiberno-Norse ports) which with the later plantation towns constitute the majority of present day Irish towns. Examples of still surviving Norman founded planned towns include Drogheda, Arklow and Youghal whilst an example of the plantation towns is Portlaoise.

Gothic cathedrals with high-pointed arches and clustered columns such as St Patrick's were also introduced by the Normans. Franciscans were dominant in directing the abbeys by the Late Middle Ages, while elegant tower houses were built by the Gaelic and Norman aristocracy—Bunratty Castle is perhaps the best preserved. After the Tudor conquest many religious buildings were ruined with the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Following the Restoration, palladianism and rococo, particularly country houses, swept through Ireland under the initiative of Edward Lovett Pearce—the Irish Parliament House being the most significant. With the erection of buildings such as the Custom House, Four Courts, General Post Office and King's Inns, the neoclassical and Georgian styles flourished, especially in the capital Dublin. The Georgian townhouses, with a more complex section than their London antecedents, combined to produce streets of singular distinction, and to a large extent still survive, mainly in Dublin but also in Limerick and Cork, and continue to contribute greatly to the streetscape, urban character and sense of place in the central parts of those cities.

Following Catholic Emancipation cathedrals and churches, such as St Colman's and St Finbarre's, influenced by the French Gothic Revival sprung up. Ireland has long been associated with thatched roof cottages, though these are nowadays considered quaint. In many Irish towns, colourfully painted shop fronts are to be found, sometimes extended to houses. Since the 20th century, starting with the American designed art deco church at Turner's Cross in 1927, various modernist forms have been created. The best known examples include Busáras and the Spire of Dublin, sometimes proving controversial in public reception. Traditional projects are still undertaken, such as Galway Cathedral in 1958. Modern developments in Urban Design would include the regeneration of Ballymun and an Urban Extension of Dublin at the new town for 25,000 people at Adamstown.

Sport

Ireland's national sports are Gaelic football and hurling, which are organised on an all-Ireland basis. Hurling, along with Gaelic football, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association; as is handball. Notable former Gaelic games players include the now retired pair of DJ Carey and Seamus Moynihan. The former Taoiseach Jack Lynch was a noted hurler and All-Ireland winner before entering politics. Well-known current players include Henry Shefflin, Sean Cavanagh and Colm Cooper.

In rugby union the all-Ireland national team has produced world class players such as Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Paul O'Connell and Keith Wood and most recent achievements include winning the RBS Six Nations and Grand Slam 2009. In athletics, Sonia O'Sullivan, Eamonn Coghlan, Catherina McKiernan, Ronnie Delaney, John Treacy, David Gillick and Derval O'Rourke have won medals at international events. In cricket, the Ireland national cricket team represents all-Ireland. The team is an associate member of the International Cricket Council with One Day International status. Ken Doherty is a former World Champion (1997) snooker player.

Ireland's national football league is the League of Ireland but most internationals and well-known players play in the English Premier League and Scottish Premier League. Notable Irish internationals include former players Roy Keane, Johnny Giles, Liam Brady, Denis Irwin, Packie Bonner, Niall Quinn and Paul McGrath, and current players Steve Finnan, Shay Given, Damien Duff, John O'Shea, Aiden McGeady and Robbie Keane.

John L. Sullivan, born 1858 in the United States to Irish immigrant parents, was the first modern world heavyweight champion. Barry McGuigan and Steve Collins were also world champion boxers, while Bernard Dunne was a European super bantamweight champion and is current WBA Super Bantamweight champion. Michael Carruth is also an Olympic gold medallist having won at welterweight at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. Current prospects in the middleweight division are the undefeated John Duddy, and Andy Lee who has one defeat. Both fighters are aiming for world championship fights. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in China, the Irish team won 3 medals, with Kenneth Egan winning silver and Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes earning bronzes. Boxing has proven a successful sport for Ireland in the Olympics and also at professional level.

In motor sport, during the 1990s Jordan Grand Prix became the only independent team to win multiple Formula One races. Rallying also has a measure of popularity as a spectator sport, and in 2007 the Rally of Ireland (which was held in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) became a qualifying round of the FIA World Rally Championship and attracted an estimated attendance of some 200,000 spectators. In cycling, Ireland produced Stephen Roche, the first and only Irishman to win the Tour de France in 1987, and the prolific Seán Kelly. In clay pigeon shooting Derek Burnett, David Malone and Philip Murphy are notable for their silver and gold medals in ISSF World Cup competitions, as well as Malones single gold medal in a world cup. Malone and Burnett are also notable for their appearances in the Summer Olympics, with Malone competing in Sydney in 2000, and Burnett competing in Sydney, Athens and Beijing, from 2000 to 2008. In golf, the 2008 USPGA champion was Irishman Pádraig Harrington, which was his third major win. In 2002, Dermott Lennon became the first Irish rider to win a Show Jumping World Championship gold medal.

By attendance figures Gaelic football and hurling are by far the most popular sports in Ireland, 34% of total attendances at sports events being to football and 24% to hurling. while golf and soccer (including 5-a-side) are the most played at 17% of the population each.

See also

• Island of Ireland
• List of Ireland-related topics

Notes

1. ^ Ireland joined the EU (then EEC) in 1973 under a treaty drawn up in several languages including Irish and English. Since then, its two names have been used in the EU. For further consideration of the practice applied by the European Union, see Clause 7.2.4 of the Inter Institutional Style Guide of the European Union.

Bibliography

Further reading

Government

Articles related to the Republic of Ireland Ireland topics Republic of Ireland (topics)  · Northern Ireland (topics)   History Timeline Prehistory · Protohistory · Early history Gaelic Ireland / Lordship of Ireland (800–1166 · 1166–1536) Kingdom of Ireland (1536–1691 · 1691–1801) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (since 1922) Irish Free State (1922–1937) Ireland (since 1922) Events Battle of Tara/Battle of Glenmama/Battle of Clontarf · Norman invasion · Bruce campaign · Black Death · Tudor reconquest · Desmond Rebellions · Spanish Armada · Tyrone's Rebellion · Flight of the Earls · Plantation of Ulster · 1641 Rebellion and Confederate War · Cromwellian reconquest and Settlement of 1652 · Williamite War · Penal Laws · First Great Famine · 1798 Rebellion · Act of Union 1800 · 1803 Rebellion · Tithe War · Second Great Famine · Land War · Fenian Rising · Dublin Lockout · Home Rule Crisis · Easter Rising · War of Independence · Anglo-Irish Treaty · Civil War · The Emergency · IRA Northern Campaign · IRA Border Campaign · The Troubles Other topics List of Irish battles · List of Irish tribes · List of High Kings · Gaelic clothing and fashion   Geography Natural Climate · Islands · Loughs · Rivers (List) · Mountains · Extreme points · Fauna · National Parks Human Demographics of ROI / Demographics of NI · Provinces · Counties · Cities · Towns · Ports · Tourist destinations · ROI–UK border · Transport · Architecture · Notable buildings · Tallest buildings and structures   Culture People Gaels (and the Gaeltachtaí) · Ulster Scots · Anglo-Irish · Hiberno-Norman · Travellers · Irish diaspora · List of Irish people Languages Irish · Ulster Scots · Shelta · Hiberno-English · Mid Ulster English Literature Poetry · Fiction · Theatre · Gaeilge literature · Irish annals · Irish triads Mythology Mythological Cycle · Ulster Cycle · Fenian Cycle · Echtrai · Immrama · Tuatha Dé Danann · Aos Sí Music Folk music · Folk music sessions · Céilí · Irish instruments · Traditional singing · Ballads · Rock music Dance Sean-nós dance · Stepdance · Set dance · Jig Cuisine Irish stew · Barmbrack · Boxty · Champ · Coddle · Colcannon · Drisheen · Soda bread · Ulster fry Sport Association football · Gaelic football · Hurling · Camogie · Gaelic handball · Road bowling · Rounders · Gaelic Athletic Association · Rugby union Symbols Flags · Flags issue · National coat of arms · County coats of arms · Shamrock · Cláirseach · Red Hand · Irish Wolfhound · Irish Elk Other Irish calendar · Irish names · Irish placenames / Irish placenames outside Ireland · Public holidays of ROI · Public holidays of NI   Politics Ideologies Irish nationalism · Irish republicanism · Unionism · Ulster loyalism Republic of Ireland Government · Parliament (Lower House · Upper House · President) · Constitution · Local government · Economy (Celtic Tiger) · Education · Foreign relations Northern Ireland Peace process · Government · Assembly (D'Hondt method) · Local government · Economy · Education Portal   Geographic locale Lat. and Long. 53°20′39″N 6°16′3″W / 53.34417°N 6.2675°W / 53.34417; -6.2675 (Dublin) Countries of Europe Abkhazia1·5 · Albania · Andorra · Armenia2 · Austria · Azerbaijan1 · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus2 · Czech Republic · Denmark3 · Estonia · Finland · France1 · Georgia1 · Germany · Greece  · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy1 · Kazakhstan1 · Kosovo5 · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia4 · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands3 · Nagorno-Karabakh2·5 · Northern Cyprus2·5 · Norway3 · Poland · Portugal3 · Romania · Russia1 · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · South Ossetia1·5 · Spain1 · Sweden · Switzerland · Transnistria5 · Turkey1 · Ukraine · United Kingdom3 · Vatican City 1 Has part of its territory outside Europe.  2 Entirely in Western Asia but having socio-political connections with Europe.  3 Has dependencies or similar territories outside Europe. 4 Name disputed by Greece; see Macedonia naming dispute. 5 Is a state with limited international recognition The British Isles Terminology · Naming dispute · Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA) Politics Sovereign states and constituent countries Ireland · United Kingdom (England · Northern Ireland · Scotland · Wales) British Crown dependencies Guernsey · Jersey · Isle of Man Political cooperation British–Irish Council · British Irish Parliamentary Assembly · Common Travel Area · North/South Ministerial Council Geography Island groups Channel Islands · Islands of the Clyde · Great Britain · Hebrides (Inner · Outer) · Ireland · Isle of Man · Isles of Scilly · Northern Isles (Orkney · Shetland) Lists of islands of Ireland · Isle of Man · United Kingdom (England · Scotland · Wales) History Current states and dependencies Ireland · United Kingdom (England · Northern Ireland · Scotland · Wales) Guernsey · Jersey · Isle of Man Former states Kingdom of England · Kingdom of Scotland · Kingdom of Ireland · Principality of Wales · Kingdom of Great Britain · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · Irish Free State Society Modern languages Auregnais · BSL · Cornish · English · French · Guernésiais · Irish · ISL · Jèrriais · Manx · NISL · Scots · Scottish Gaelic · Sercquiais · Shelta · Welsh People British · Cornish · English · English Gypsies · Irish · Irish Traveller · Kale · Manx · Scottish · Ulster-Scots · Welsh   International membership Member states of the European Union Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · United Kingdom Member states by: political system · GDP Council of Europe Institutions Secretary General · Committee of Ministers · Parliamentary Assembly · Congress · Court of Human Rights · Commissioner for Human Rights · Commission for the Efficiency of Justice Members Full Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia1 · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · United Kingdom Observer Canada · Israel · Japan · Mexico · United States · Vatican City Former Czechoslovakia (1991–1992) · Saar (assoc. 1950–1956) 1 Provisionally referred to by the Council of Europe as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"; see Macedonia naming dispute. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Australia · Austria · Belgium · Canada · Chile · Czech Republic · Denmark · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Japan · Luxembourg · Mexico · Netherlands · New Zealand · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Slovakia · South Korea · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · United Kingdom · United States Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Albania · Angola · Antigua and Barbuda · Argentina · Armenia · Australia · Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belize · Benin · Bolivia · Botswana · Brazil · Brunei · Burkina Faso · Burma · Burundi · Cambodia · Cameroon · Canada · Cape Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Chile · PR China · Colombia · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Costa Rica · Côte d'Ivoire · Croatia · Cuba · Djibouti · Dominica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Egypt · El Salvador · European Union¹ · Fiji · Gabon · The Gambia · Georgia · Ghana · Grenada · Guatemala · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Hong Kong² · Iceland · India · Indonesia · Israel · Jamaica · Japan · Jordan · Kenya · South Korea · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Lesotho · Liechtenstein · Macau² · Macedonia · Madagascar · Malawi · Malaysia · Maldives · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mexico · Moldova · Mongolia · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Nepal · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · Norway · Oman · Pakistan · Panama · Papua New Guinea · Paraguay · Peru · Philippines · Qatar · Rwanda · St. Kitts and Nevis · St. Lucia · St. Vincent and the Grenadines · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Solomon Islands · South Africa · Sri Lanka · Suriname · Swaziland · Switzerland · Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu³ · Tanzania · Thailand · Togo · Tonga · Trinidad and Tobago · Tunisia · Turkey · Uganda · Ukraine · United Arab Emirates · United States · Uruguay · Venezuela · Vietnam · Zambia · Zimbabwe All twenty-seven member states of the European Union are also members of the WTO in their own right: Austria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands and Netherlands Antilles • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • United Kingdom. Special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. Designated name for the Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) Celtic nations and their cultures Nations Celtic League definition Brittany · Cornwall · Ireland · Isle of Man · Scotland · Wales Other claimants Asturias · Galicia Languages  Breton · Cornish · Welsh  Irish · Manx · Scottish Gaelic  Shelta · Bungee Culture Brittany · Cornwall · Ireland · Isle of Man · Scotland · Wales · Celtic art Music Brittany · Cornwall · Ireland · Isle of Man · Scotland · Wales Sport Cammag · Cornish hurling · Cornish wrestling · Curling · Gaelic football · Gaelic handball · Golf · Gouren · Rounders · Highland games · Hurling · Road bowls · Shinty Peoples Breton · Cornish · Irish · Irish Traveller · Manx · Scottish · Ulster-Scots · Welsh Irish states since 1171 Ireland (1937 onward)  · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1922† onward) Medieval period Gaelic Ireland (until 1607) · Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541) Modern period Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1801) · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922†) Twentieth century Irish Free State (1922–37) Notable declared states Republic of Connaught (1798) · Irish Republic (1919–22) · Munster Republic (1922) See also Confederate Ireland (1642–53) · Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland (1649–60) · Northern Ireland (1921–72) · Southern Ireland (1921–22) †Date marks the secession of the majority of Ireland from the United Kingdom rather than the creation of a new state. Official name was changed in 1927. English-speaking world Anglosphere Dark blue: Countries and territories where English is spoken natively by a significant population. Light blue: Countries where English is an official language but not widely spoken. Click on the coloured regions to view the related article.     Regions where English is an official language and spoken by a significant population Africa Nigeria · Mauritius · Saint Helena · South Africa  Americas Anguilla · Antigua and Barbuda · The Bahamas · Barbados · Belize · Bermuda · British Virgin Islands · Canada · Cayman Islands · Dominica · Falkland Islands · Grenada · Guyana · Jamaica · Montserrat · Netherlands Antilles (Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Maarten)  · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Trinidad and Tobago · Turks and Caicos Islands · United States · United States Virgin Islands Asia Hong Kong · Philippines · Singapore Europe Gibraltar · Guernsey · Isle of Man · Jersey · Malta · Republic of Ireland · United Kingdom Oceania Australia · Marshall Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · New Zealand · Palau   Regions where English is an official language but not widely spoken Africa Botswana · Cameroon · Ghana · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Madagascar · Malawi · Namibia · Rwanda · Sierra Leone · Sudan · Swaziland · Tanzania · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe Americas Puerto Rico Asia India · Malaysia · Pakistan    Oceania Fiji · Papua New Guinea · Solomon Islands · Tuvalu English Wiktionary