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IRELAND FACTS AND HISTORY
1.Early History.
Relics from the Stone Age have lead to the conclusion that people have
been living in Ireland for the past 8,000 years, the first settlers probably
traveling from Scandinavia to Scotland (at that time England was still
linked by land to northern Europe) then across what was a narrow sea gap
to Ireland. These early settlers beame the Tribes of Firbolg and Tuatha
De Dannann when they were invaded by the Milesius of Spain around 1,000
B.C.. Today's Irish Race is a combination of the three-above mentioned
tribes known as the one Celtic Race. After the Bronze Age and during the
Iron Age around 400 A.D., brought about new technologies . The large Roman
Empire stopped short of Ireland although dominating most of Europe. The
Vikings began invasions of Ireland in the 9th Century. In 1171 King Henry
of England asserted sovereignty with the building of abbey-churches and
castles. Later, Henry VIII added the title of "King Of Ireland" although
the Reformation falling short of it's intentions of pure English control.
By the mid-16 century, the first plantation policy took effect which led
to redistribution of wealth and suppression of Catholicism. Farms lands
were confiscated from Catholics and given to Protestant settlers. By the
mid-17th century Charles Cromwell and his puritan forces supervised revengful
destruction of key parts of Ireland, leaving the Irish resistance in shambles.
In 1690 Protestant William of Organge beat his father-in-law, James II,
over succession of the British throne. In 1800 the Irish parliament was
abolished forming the Act of Union which was the United Kingdom of Great
Britian and Ireland.
2.Geographics.
Ireland, Republic of (Gaelic Éire), republic comprising about
five-sixths of the island of Ireland. the country consists of the provinces
of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught (Connacht) and part of the province
of Ulster. the rest of Ulster, which occupies the northeastern part of
the island, constitutes Northern Ireland, a constituent part of Great Britain.
the republic has a total area of 70,283 sq km (27,136 sq mi).
3Population.
The population of Ireland is predominantly of Celtic origin No significant
ethnic minorities exist. Characteristics of the population of the Irish
Republic is 3,540,643., giving the country an overall population density
of about 50 persons per sq km (about 129 per sq mi). The population decreased
from the 1840s, when about 6.5 million persons lived in the area included
in the republic, until about 1970, largely because of a high emigration
rate. In the 1980's, the population increased at an annual rate of only
0.5%. About 57% of the population live in urban areas.
4.Cities & Counties.
For administrative purposes, Ireland is divided into 27 counties, most
of which are described in separate articles, and 5 county boroughs, which
are coextensive with the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and
Waterford. The following counties are in Ireland: Carlow, Dublin, Kildare,
Kilkenny, Laois (Laoighis), Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath,
Wexford, and Wicklow, in Leinster Province; Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick,
Tipperary North Riding, Tipperary South Riding, and Waterford, in Munster
Province; Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo, in Connaught (Connacht)
Province; and Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan, in Ulster Province. The capital
and largest city is Dublin, with a population of 920,956. Cork is the second
largest city and a major port, with a population of 173,694. Other cities
and towns, important primarily as trading centers for produce, with their
population figures include Limerick (76,557) and Waterford (41,054).
5. Religion and Language.
About 94% of the people of Ireland are Roman Catholics, and less than
4% are Protestants. Protestant groups include the Church of Ireland (Anglican)
and the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations. Freedom of worship is
guaranteed by the constitution. Almost all the people speak English, and
about one-fourth also speak Irish, a Gaelic language that is the traditional
tongue of Ireland. Irish is spoken as the vernacular by a relatively small
number of people, however, mostly in areas of the west. The constitution
provides for both Irish and English as official languages.
6.Education.
Irish influence on Western education began 14 centuries ago. From the
6th to the 8th century, when western Europe was largely illiterate, nearly
1000 Irish missionaries traveled to England and the Continent to teach
Christianity. During the early Middle Ages, Irish missionaries founded
monasteries that achieved extensive cultural influence; the monastery at
Sankt Gallen (Saint Gall), Switzerland, is especially famous for its contributions
to education and literature. Classical studies flowered in ancient Ireland.
Distinctive also at the time were the bardic schools of writers and other
learned men who traveled from town to town, teaching their arts to students.
The bardic schools, an important part of Irish education, were suppressed
in the 16th century by Henry VIII, king of England. University education
in Ireland began with the founding of the University of Dublin, or Trinity
College, in 1592. The National University of Ireland, established in 1908
in Dublin, has constituent university colleges in Cork, Dublin, and Galway;
another leading college is Saint Patrick's College (1795), in Maynooth,
affiliated with the National University. The Irish language has been taught
in all government-subsidized schools since 1922, but fewer than 10,000
pupils speak it as their first language. Ireland has a free public school
system, with attendance compulsory for all children between 6 and 15 years
of age. In the late 1980s some 574,000 pupils were enrolled annually in
about 3440 elementary schools. Secondary schools, primarily operated by
religious orders and largely subsidized by the state, numbered nearly 600,
with an annual enrollment of approximately 234,000. Yearly enrollment at
universities and colleges totaled about 59,500. Ireland also has several
state-subsidized training colleges, various technical colleges in the larger
communities, and a network of winter classes that provide agricultural
instruction for rural inhabitants.
7.Culture & the Arts.
It is probable that Ireland was first occupied by Neolithic people,
users of flint, and then by the small, dark, warlike people from the Mediterranean,
users of bronze, who are known in legend as the Firbolgs. Later came the
Picts, also an immigrant people of the Bronze Age. Extensive traces of
the culture of this early period survive in the form of stone monuments
(menhirs, dolmens, and cromlechs) and stone forts, dating from 2000 to
1000 bc. During the Iron Age, the Celtic invasion (circa 350 bc) introduced
a new cultural strain into Ireland, one that was to predominate. The oldest
relics of the Celtic (Gaelic) language can be seen in the 5th-century Ogham
stone inscriptions in county Kerry. Ireland was Christianized by St. Patrick
in the 5th century. The churches and monasteries founded by him and his
successors became the fountainhead from which Christian art and refinement
permeated the crude and warlike Celtic way of life. Ireland is famous for
its contributions to world literature (see Gaelic Literature; Irish Literature).
Two great mythological cycles in Gaelic—the Ulster (Red Branch) and the
Fenian (Ossianic)—tell the stories of such legendary heroes as Cú
Chulainn (Cuchulain), Maeve Medb), Finn mac Cumhail (Finn MacCool), and
Deirdre. After a long and bitter colonization by England, Ireland gave
the world some of the greatest writers in the English language, including
Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, and George Bernard Shaw. Associated with
the struggle for independence in this century is the Irish literary revival,
which produced the works of William Butler Yeats and Sean O'Casey. James
Joyce was a formative influence on much of later 20th-century European
literature. Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, is the most important national
holiday in Ireland. The national sports are hurling, a strenuous game similar
to field hockey, and Gaelic football, which resembles soccer. Horse racing
is a highly popular spectator sport throughout the republic. From the 5th
to the 9th century the Irish monasteries produced artworks of world renown,
primarily in the form of illuminated manuscripts. The greatest such work
is the Book of Kells, which has some of the most beautiful calligraphy
of the Middle Ages (see Celts: Art). Native art seems to have disappeared
during the period of English domination, but after the 17th century a number
of Irish painters and sculptors achieved fame. The Irish painters George
Barret (1732-84), James Barry (1741-1806), and Nathaniel Hone (1718-84)
were cofounders, with Sir Joshua Reynolds, of the Royal Academy in 1768.
James Arthur O'Connor (1791-1812) was a noted landscape artist of his period,
and Daniel Maclise (1806-70) painted the magnificent frescoes in the Royal
Gallery of the House of Lords. Notable among Irish painters of the 19th
century were Nathaniel Hone, Jr. (1831-1917), and Walter F. Osborne (1859-1903).
More recently, the expressionist painter Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957), the
cubist painter Mainie Jellett (1897-1944), and the stained-glass artist
Evie Hone (1894-1955) have achieved widespread recognition and acclaim
for their work. rish harpers were known throughout Europe as early as the
12th century. The most celebrated of these was the blind harper Torlogh
O'Carolan, or Carolan (1670-1738), who composed about 200 songs on varied
themes, many of which were published in Dublin in 1720. About the same
time, an annual folk festival called the feis was instituted, devoted to
the preservation and encouragement of harping. Irish folk music ranges
from lullabies to drinking songs, and many variations and nuances of tempo,
rhythm, and tonality are used. At the Belfast Harpers' Festival in 1792,
Edward Bunting (1773-1843) made a collection of traditional Irish songs
and melodies, which he published in 1796. Thomas Moore, the great Irish
poet, made extensive use of Bunting's work in his well-known Irish Melodies,
first published in 1807. Classical forms of music were not widely known
in Ireland until the 18th century. Pianist John Field was the first Irish
composer to win international renown, with his nocturnes. Michael William
Balfe (1808-70) is well known for his opera The Bohemian Girl. Among the
most prominent of Irish performing artists was the concert and operatic
tenor John McCormack. The most important Irish libraries and museums are
in Dublin. The National Library of Ireland, with more than 500,000 volumes,
is the largest public library in the country. Trinity College Library,
founded in 1601, contains about 2.8 million volumes, including the Book
of Kells. Together with exhibits in the fields of art, industry, and natural
history, and representative collections of Irish silver, glass, textiles
and lace, the National Museum houses outstanding specimens of the remarkable
metal craftsmanship of the early Christian period in Ireland, including
the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice, and the Moylough Bell Shrine (all
dating from the 8th century), as well as the Lismore Crozier and the Cross
of Cong (both 12th century). The National Gallery in Dublin has an admirable
collection of paintings of all schools. Most cities have public libraries
and small museums. Interest in the theater is strong in Ireland. The famed
Abbey Theatre and the Gale Theatre, both in Dublin, receive government
grants. The Arts Council, a body appointed by the prime minister, gives
grants to arts organizations and publishers; the Gael-Linn promotes the
Irish language and culture.
8.Economy.
The economy of Ireland has been traditionally agricultural. Since the
mid-1950s, however, the country's industrial base has expanded, and now
mining, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities account for approximately
37% of the gross domestic product and agriculture for only about 12%. Private
enterprise operates in most sectors of the economy.The agricultural enterprise
producing the most income is animal husbandry. In the late 1980s livestock
included some 5.6 million cattle, 4.3 million sheep, 960,000 hogs, and
55,000 horses. Poultry production is also important. The principal field
crops are wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes. Among other important crops
are hay, turnips, and sugar beets. The best farmlands are found in the
east and southeast. The government of Ireland has undertaken extensive
schemes of reforestation in an effort to reduce the country's dependence
on timber imports and to provide raw material for new paper mills and related
industries. In the late 1980s forestland occupied nearly 5% of Ireland's
total area; the annual output of roundwood was 1.2 million cu m (42.3 million
cu ft). The fishing industry, which has traditionally been underdeveloped,
is expanding; the annual catch in the late 1980s was some 247,400 metric
tons. Deep-sea catches include herring, cod, mackerel, whiting, and plaice.
Crustaceans, particularly lobsters, crawfish, and prawns, and such mollusks
as oysters and periwinkles, are plentiful in coastal waters and form the
bulk of the country's seafood exports. The inland rivers and lakes provide
excellent fishing for salmon, trout, eel, and several varieties of coarse
fish. Although mining plays a relatively minor role in the Irish economy,
discoveries of new deposits in recent decades have led to a considerable
expansion of mineral production. Annual mineral output in the late 1980s
included about 45,000 metric tons of coal, 177,000 metric tons of zinc,
and 33,800 metric tons of lead. Ireland is one of the leading exporters
of lead and zinc in Europe. Natural gas is extracted off the southwestern
coast; yearly output in the mid-1980s was 1.6 billion cu m (56.5 billion
cu ft). Peat is dug in large quantities for domestic and industrial fuel
and also for horticultural purposes; annual output in the late 1980s was
6.3 million tons. Ireland has diversified manufacturing, most of it developed
since 1930. Among the food-processing industries, the most important are
meat packing, brewing and distilling, grain milling, sugar refining, and
the manufacture of dairy products, margarine, confections, and jam. Other
important manufactured articles include office machinery and data-processing
equipment; electrical machinery; tobacco products; woolen and worsted goods;
clothing; cement; furniture; soap; candles; building materials; footwear;
cotton, rayon, and linen textiles; hosiery; paper; leather; machinery;
refined petroleum; and chemicals. The Irish pound (0.7 pounds equal U.S.$1;
1998) is the basic unit of currency, and is one of the strongest currencies
in the world having gained 30% against the mighty US Dollar in the nineties.
Before March 1979, the Irish pound was exchangeable at a par with the British
pound sterling. The Central Bank of Ireland, established in 1942, is the
bank of issue. Associated with the Central Bank are the leading commercial
(or associated) banks with their networks of local branches. Mergers have
reduced the number of these associated banks. On the other hand, the number
of merchant banking houses has increased, and leading North American and
continental European banks now have offices in Dublin. Trustee banks and
the Post Office Savings Bank mainly serve small individual accounts. Commerce
and Trade:Dublin and Cork are the manufacturing, financial, and commercial
centers of Ireland. Dublin is the most important seaport; Cork is the main
port for transatlantic passenger travel. Other significant ports include
Dún Laoghaire, Waterford, Rosslare, and Limerick. Ireland became
a member of the European Community (EC) in 1973, thus expanding the market
for the country's important agricultural exports. Imports in the late 1980s
totaled about $14.6 billion annually, and exports, including reexports,
about $18.4 billion. The major trading partners of Ireland include Great
Britain, Germany, the United States, France, and Japan. The most important
exports include electric and electronic equipment, livestock, meat, dairy
products, chemicals, and textiles and clothing; about two-thirds of all
exports are to EC countries. Imports are primarily machinery, transport
equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, cereals and foodstuffs,
textiles, and iron and steel. Tourism has been effectively promoted and
has increased steadily in importance. By the late 1980s, some 2.7 million
tourists annually generated approximately $1 billion for the economy of
Ireland. Transportation and Communications: Ireland has 2700 km (1680 mi)
of railway track, all operated by the state-owned Irish Transport Company
and linking all important points on the island. The highway system totals
about 92,300 km (about 57,350 mi), of which about 94% was paved. Navigable
inland waterways total about 435 km (about 270 mi). International airports
are located at Shannon, Dublin, and Cork, and several international air-transport
systems provide regular service between Ireland and major cities throughout
the world. All postal, telegraph, telephone, and broadcasting services
are operated by government agencies or statutory bodies. In the mid-1980s
about 942,000 telephones were in use. Radio Telefís Éireann,
the public broadcasting authority, operated three radio channels and two
television channels. In the late 1980s radios in use numbered about 2.1
million and television receivers, approximately 937,000. Labor:In the late
1980s the total labor force was about 1.3 million, of which approximately
13% was engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Some 667,000 workers
in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland are members of unions affiliated
with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
9.Government.
The government of Ireland is based on the constitution of 1937, as
amended. This document proclaims Ireland a sovereign, independent, democratic
state. The constitution also defines the national territory as the whole
of Ireland. The country became a republic in 1949. Executive power under
the Irish constitution is vested in the government (cabinet), consisting
of about 15 members. The government, responsible to the lower house of
the national legislature, is headed by the taoiseach, or prime minister.
This official is nominated by the lower house and appointed by the president.
The members of the government head the various administrative departments,
or ministries. They are nominated by the prime minister and, subject to
the approval of the lower house, appointed by the president. The president
of Ireland is the head of state and is elected by direct popular vote for
a 7-year term. Legislative authority is vested in a bicameral legislature
known as the Oireachtas. This is composed of a 166-member lower house,
or Dáil Éireann, and a 60-member senate, or Seanad Éireann.
The members of the Dáil are elected for terms of up to five years
by proportional representation. Eleven members of the senate are selected
by the prime minister and six members are elected by the universities.
The remaining 43 members of the senate are elected by an electoral college
consisting of about 900 members from the county borough councils, county
councils, the Dáil, and the senate. The elected members of the senate
are chosen from candidates representing national culture, labor, agriculture
and fisheries, public administration and social services, and commerce
and industry. The senate may not veto legislation enacted by the Dáil
and is otherwise restricted in authority. Judicial authority in Ireland
is vested in a supreme court, a high court, a court of criminal appeal,
and circuit and district courts. All of the judges of these courts are
appointed by the president on the recommendation of the government. The
system of proportional representation by which members are elected to the
Dáil favors a multiplicity of political parties representing special
interests. In recent years, however, four parties have emerged as the most
powerful: Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats. and
Labour. Local Government: County councils, county borough corporations,
borough corporations, urban district councils, and town commissioners are
charged with responsibility for most locally administered services , including
health and sanitation, housing, water supply, and libraries. Members are
elected to these local bodies by popular vote, generally for 5-year terms.
Local executive organization is based on the manager system. A central
appointments commission in Dublin chooses the executive manager of local
authorities by examination. Local government generally is supervised by
the department of local government.
10.Health and Welfare.
Most health services are provided free of charge for low-income groups
and at moderate charges for others, through local and national agencies.
The department of health administers all official health services. A nonprofit,
contributory voluntary health insurance scheme is administered by an independent
statutory agency. The department of social welfare administers the official
compulsory insurance and assistance programs, which include pensions for
the aged, widows, and orphans; children's allowances; unemployment benefits;
and other social security schemes. Defense: The total strength of the permanent
Irish defense force, including all army, navy, and air corps personnel,
is about 13,000. The reserve defense force numbers about 16,100. Enlistment
for all services is voluntary.
11.Potato Famine(1847).
The famine was caused by a lack of foresight of a world revolving into
an industrial society where agricultural remained the main source of the
Irish ecomomy. A combination of greedy landlords and the controlling English
Goverment's dramatic reduction in Irish agricultural investments, primarly
potatoes, led to increased unemployment and poverty resulting in to tens-of-thousands
of victims developing typhus diseases and many of these dying, forcing
many others to migrate,primarily to America, reducing the Irish population
to 6.5 million by 1951 down from 8 million in 1841.
12.The Easter Rising of 1916.
In 1916rebels seized the General Post Office in Dublin proclaiming
a provisional government for the Irish Republic, but were defeated.
13.Irish liberation from British rule.
This was achieved as the result of a struggle extending over several
centuries and marked by numerous rebellions. Following the Easter Rebellion,
an uprising of Irish nationalists on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, Sinn
Fein became the most influential political party in Ireland. This party,
founded in 1900 by Arthur Griffith, a Dublin journalist, campaigned in
the parliamentary election of 1918 on a program that called for the severance
of all ties with Great Britain, an end to the separatist movement in northern
Ireland, and the establishment of an Irish republic. Candidates of Sinn
Fein won 73 of the 106 seats allotted to Ireland in the British Parliament.
The Irish Revolution (1919-22). In January 1919 the Sinn Fein members of
Parliament assembled in Dublin as the Dáil Éireann, or national
assembly. Proclaiming the independence of Ireland, the Dáil forthwith
formed a government, with Eamon De Valera as president. There followed
guerrilla attacks by Irish insurgents, later called the Irish Republican
Army (IRA), on British forces, particularly the Royal Irish Constabulary,
called the Black and Tans; and the British instituted vigorous reprisals.
In the course of the war, the British Parliament enacted, in December 1920,
a Home Rule Bill, providing separate parliaments for six counties of Ulster
Province and for the remainder of Ireland. By the terms of the bill, Great
Britain retained effective control of Irish affairs. The people of Northern
Ireland, as the six counties in Ulster Province were known, ratified the
legislation in May 1921 and elected a parliament. Although the rest of
Ireland also elected a parliament in May, the Sinn Feiners, constituting
an overwhelming majority outside of Ulster, refused to recognize the other
provisions of the Home Rule Bill. The warfare against the British continued
until July 10, 1921, when a truce was arranged. Subsequent negotiations
led to the signing, in December 1921, of a peace treaty by representatives
of the second Dáil Éireann and the British government. By
the terms of the treaty, all of Ireland except the six counties constituting
Northern Ireland was to receive dominion status identical with that of
Canada. After considerable debate, in which the opposition, led by De Valera,
objected strenuously to a provision that virtually guaranteed a separate
government in Northern Ireland and to an article that required members
of the Dáil to swear allegiance to the British sovereign, the Dáil
ratified the treaty on January 15, 1922, by a vote of 64 to 57. Ratification
brought into being the Irish Free State, with Arthur Griffith as president
and Michael Collins, who was another prominent member of Sinn Fein, as
chairman of the provisional government. The Irish Free State (1922-37)
Under the leadership of De Valera, the dissident Sinn Fein group, termed
the Republicans and later known as Fianna Fáil, called for a resumption
of the struggle against Great Britain and instituted a campaign, including
insurrectionary acts, against the provisional government. With the question
of the treaty the chief issue, an election for a provisional Dáil
was held in June 1922. Candidates supporting the treaty won a majority
of the seats. The Republicans, refusing to recognize the authority of the
new Dáil, proclaimed a rival government and intensified their attacks
on the Irish Free State. In the course of the ensuing struggle, hundreds
were killed on both sides, and many prominent Republican leaders were executed.
while, the Dáil, headed now by William Thomas Cosgrave, drafted
a constitution providing for a bicameral legislature (Dáil and Saenad,
or senate), which was adopted on October 11, 1922. Following approval by
the British Parliament, it became operative on December 6. The official
government of the Irish Free State was instituted at once, with Cosgrave
assuming office as president of the executive council. In April 1923 the
Republicans declared a truce in hostilities in order to participate in
the forthcoming national elections, and public order was gradually restored.
Neither the Sinn Fein party nor the Republican party secured a majority
in the elections held late in August 1923. The Republicans boycotted the
Dáil, however, and Cosgrave, supported by a coalition of parties,
retained power. The boundary between the Free State and Northern Ireland
was established in December 1925. During the next few years, agreement
was reached with the British government on various mutual problems, and
the national economy was substantially strengthened by a series of measures,
including the initiation of a hydroelectric project on the Shannon River.
Although the Republicans gradually increased their representation in the
Dáil during this period, they continued their boycott until August
1927. They then assumed their 57 seats in the newly elected Dáil.
Partly as a result of the failure of the government to cope with domestic
difficulties brought on by the world economic crisis of the early 1930s,
Cosgrave's party lost several seats to the Republicans in the elections
of February 1932. De Valera thereupon became head of the government. Legislation
that he sponsored in the following April included provisions for the abrogation
of the oath of allegiance to the British crown. This bill, which also would
have virtually ended the political ties between Great Britain and the Free
State, received the approval of the Dáil, but was rejected, in effect,
by the Saenad. In his next move against the British, De Valera withheld
payment of certain land purchase annuities that the British claimed were
legally due them. The withholding of the payment of annuities led to a
protracted tariff war between the two countries, with serious damage to
the economy of the Free State. In another significant move, De Valera secured
repeal of a law restricting the activities of the IRA. The electorate registered
approval of his program in elections held in January 1933, in which a majority
of Republicans were returned to the Dáil. With this mandate from
the people, De Valera systematically developed his program for the gradual
elimination of British influence in Irish affairs, obtaining abrogation
of the oath of allegiance, restrictions on the role of the governor-general
who represented the British crown, and other measures. Simultaneously,
the government initiated measures designed to give the country a self-sufficient
economy. Steps taken included high income taxes on the rich, high protective
tariffs, and control of foreign capital invested in Irish industry. In
June 1935, De Valera severed his political ties with the IRA, which had
been extremely critical of many of his policies, and imprisoned a number
of its leaders. It became general knowledge, meanwhile, that the draft
of a new constitution was in progress. In 1936 the Republicans, in coalition
with other groups in the Dáil, finally secured passage of legislation
abolishing the Saenad, long inimical to De Valera's policies. The Dáil
functioned as a unicameral legislature for the remainder of its term. In
connection with the events surrounding the abdication of Edward VIII, king
of Great Britain, the Dáil enacted in 1936 a bill that deleted all
references to the king from the constitution of the Free State and abolished
the office of governor-general. Parallel legislation, which was known as
the External Relations Act of 1936, restricted the association of the Free
State with the British Commonwealth of Nations to joint action on certain
questions involving external policy, specifically the approval of the trade
treaties of the Free State and the appointment of its foreign envoys in
the name of the British crown. 11.Eire (1937-49).The 5-year term of office
of the Dáil expired in June 1937. In the subsequent election the
Republican party won a plurality of the seats in the Dáil. The new
constitution, which abolished the Irish Free State and established Eire
as a “sovereign independent democratic state,” was approved by the voters
in a plebiscite conducted simultaneously with the election. This document
provided for a new senate of 60 members. Although the constitution specifically
applied to all Ireland, it provided that the laws of Eire should be executed,
pending unification with Northern Ireland, only within the territory of
the republic. The constitution contained no references to the British sovereign
or to the Commonwealth of Nations. A subsequent statement by De Valera
indicated, however, that Eire's relations with Great Britain would be governed
by the External Relations Act of 1936. In 1938 the Irish writer and patriot
Douglas Hyde became the first president of Eire, and De Valera became prime
minister. Through a treaty adopted in April 1938, the tariff war between
Eire and Great Britain was concluded. The latter agreed to withdraw its
forces from naval bases in Eire, and Eire agreed to a settlement of the
annuities owed to Great Britain. The slight improvement in relations between
the two nations was marred by a violent terrorist campaign in Great Britain
conducted by the IRA. Eire maintained neutrality in World War II, although
many thousands of Irish citizens joined the Allied forces or worked in
British war industry. In the immediate postwar era, the economic dislocations
in Great Britain and Europe subjected the economy of Eire to severe strains,
resulting in a period of rapid inflation and, indirectly, in the defeat
of Fianna Fáil in the elections of February 1948. De Valera was
defeated in the Dáil for the prime ministry by John Aloysius Costello,
candidate of a six-party coalition opposed to Fianna Fáil. Costello,
a former attorney general, called for lower prices and taxes, the expansion
of industrial production, and closer commercial relations with Great Britain.
Republic of Ireland, On Easter Monday, April 18, 1949, by the terms of
the Republic of Ireland Bill approved by the Dáil in November 1948,
Eire became the Republic of Ireland, formally free of allegiance to the
British crown and the Commonwealth of Nations. In the following month,
the British Parliament approved a bill continuing the status of Northern
Ireland as a part of Great Britain and extending to citizens of the republic
resident in Britain the same rights as British citizens. Similar legal
provision was made by the Eire government in respect of British citizens
resident in Eire. The republic became a member of the United Nations on
December 14, 1955, when the General Assembly approved the admission of
4 Communist and 12 non-Communist nations.
14.Economic Gains.
Although inflation and an unfavorable balance of trade remained difficult
problems, Ireland made significant strides toward economic stability through
the 1950s and '60s. In 1964 the government completed a five-year plan of
economic development, which exceeded its goals. A feature of the program
was the offer of tax incentives to foreign investors. Partly as a result
of such programs, the rate of economic growth increased from about 1 percent
per year in the 1950s to more than 4.5 percent in the late 1960s. It was
officially reported in 1964 that more than 200 factories had begun production
since 1955, most of them with foreign participation. A second plan began
that year with a goal by 1970 of a net increase of 50 percent in the gross
national product over the 1960 level. The improving economic circumstances
were regarded as the main cause of a decline in emigration, ending a population
decline that had continued unabated for more than a century. Political
Developments. With economic stability came a new measure of political stability
and a decline in traditional anti-British feeling. As early as 1957 Prime
Minister Costello, who regarded the terrorist activities of the IRA as
damaging to relations with Great Britain and tending to prolong the partition
of Ireland, had called for forceful action against the organization. Costello
was defeated for reelection, but early in 1958 his successor, De Valera,
publicly agreed that unity could not be achieved by force. In June 1959,
De Valera, at the age of 77, was elected president, and Seán Francis
Lemass (1899-1971), deputy prime minister, became prime minister. Opposition
to IRA activity, plus a decline in the active membership, led to the announcement
in February 1962 that the group had abandoned violence. Nevertheless, Ireland
continued to suffer occasional acts of terrorism. In 1966 Prime Minister
Lemass resigned. The Fianna Fáil won the ensuing elections, and
John Mary Lynch became prime minister. To reduce unemployment and increase
exports, he tried to build up industry in order . An increase of violence
between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland was followed by IRA
terrorist activity in the Irish Republic. In 1971 the Dáil banned
the purchase or holding of arms for use outside Ireland. In 1972 the government
required the surrender of all firearms. Also in early 1972 Ireland signed
a treaty joining the European Community, effective January 1, 1973,a move
favored by 83 percent of the voters; and, by referendum, ended the special
constitutional status of the Roman Catholic church. Shifts in Power: Hoping
to strengthen his party, Lynch called elections in February 1973. A coalition
of the Fine Gael and Labour parties gained a slim majority, however, and
Fine Gael leader Liam Cosgrave became prime minister. Fianna Fáil
returned to power in a government headed by Lynch in 1977; in 1979 Lynch
was replaced by Charles Haughey (1925- ). In the late 1970s and early '80s
the Irish government faced increased domestic terrorism by extremist Irish
nationalists. Ireland also had a high rate of inflation and suffered some
economic dislocation from membership in the European Community. Amid rising
unemployment, elections were held in 1981, and the coalition government
was led briefly by Garret FitzGerald (1926- ), head of Fine Gael. Inconclusive
elections in February 1982 returned Haughey to power, but another election,
in late 1982, brought FitzGerald back. In 1985 FitzGerald signed a pact
with Great Britain giving the Irish Republic a consultive role in governing
Northern Ireland. The collapse of the FitzGerald government in January
1987 led to new elections one month later. Haughey won a single-vote majority
in the Dáil Éireann and became prime minister once again.
FitzGerald subsequently resigned as Fine Gael leader. After inconclusive
elections in June 1989, Haughey formed a new coalition government. In November
1990, Mary Robinson (1944- ), a feminist lawyer who ran with Labour and
Workers' party backing, became the first woman ever to win election as
president of Ireland. Haughey resigned as prime minister and leader of
Fianna Fáil in early 1992, amid allegations of scandal; his former
finance minister, Albert Reynolds (1932- ), was chosen to replace him.
In June 1992, Irish voters ratified a treaty strengthening political and
monetary integration within the European Community. Mary McAleese (1951)
succeeded Ms. Robinson in 1997 as President. Born of a Catholic Belfast
family, Ms. McAleese is actually not a citizen of Ireland but Great Britan,and
because residents of Northern Ireland can hold office in the Republic,
such was the case for the new president whose views and are nearly identical
to that of Ms. Robinson.
15.Tomorrow?
With a strong currency, the arrival of numerous hi-tech companies which
will keep many of Ireland's talented residents in the country... To be
continued, hopefully with a happy ending, one that has to be better than
Ireland's past.....
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Email: Daniel Berry