Ireland

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Ireland

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Poblacht Na hÉireann/Republic of Ireland Area 70,282 sq km/27,135 sq mi Capital Dublin Language Irish Gaelic, English (both official) Religion Roman Catholic 92%, Church of Ireland, other Protestant denominations 3% Time difference GMT +/-0 Major holidays 1 January, 17 March, 25–26 December; variable: Good Friday, Easter Monday, June Holiday, August Holiday, October Holiday, Christmas Holiday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Dundalk, Bray Major ports Cork, Dun Laoghaire, Limerick, Waterford, Galway Physical features central plateau surrounded by hills; rivers Shannon, Liffey, Boyne; Bog of Allen; Macgillicuddy's Reeks, Wicklow Mountains; Lough Corrib, lakes of Killarney; Galway Bay and Aran Islands Airports four international airports and five domestic airports; total passengers carried: 28.9 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 1,872 km/1,163 mi; total passenger journeys: 35.6 million (2003) Roads total road network: 95,736 km/59,488 mi, of which 100% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 447.4 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Mary McAleese from 1997 Head of government Bertie Ahern from 1997 Political system liberal democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions 26 counties within four provinces Political parties Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny), moderate right of centre; Fine Gael (Irish Tribe or United Ireland Party), moderate left of centre; Labour Party, moderate left of centre; Progressive Democrats, radical free-enterprise; Sinn Fein Death penalty abolished in 1990 Armed forces 10,500; plus 14,900 reservists (2006 est) Conscription military service is voluntary Defence spend (% GDP) 0.6 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 4.3 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 5.8 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency euro (Irish pound, or punt Eireannach, until 2002) GDP (US$) 196.4 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 5.8 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 166.6 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 34,720 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 3.9% (2006 est) Unemployment 4.3% (2006 est) Labour force 5.8% agriculture, 27.7% industry, 65.5% services (2005) Major trading partners UK, USA, Germany, Belgium, China, France, Japan, the Netherlands, EU, Singapore Resources lead, zinc, peat, limestone, gypsum, petroleum, natural gas, copper, silver Industries textiles, machinery, chemicals, electronics, motor vehicle manufacturing and assembly, food processing, beer, tourism Exports machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, beverages and tobacco, beef and dairy products, live animals, electronic goods. Principal market: USA 18.7% (2005) Imports petroleum products, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, animal feed, textiles and clothing. Principal source: UK 31.2% (2005) Arable land 16.8% (2006 est) Agricultural products barley, potatoes, sugar beet, wheat, oats; livestock (cattle) and dairy products


POPULATION

Population 4,209,900 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.3% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 60 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 60 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 20%, 15–59 65%, 60+ 15% (2005 est) Ethnic groups most of the population has Celtic origins Life expectancy 76 (men); 81 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 6 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 10 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 23.7 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 3.5 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.2 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <100 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 100 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 49 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 101.5 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 699 (1997) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 540 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 49.7 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 27.6 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

3rd century BC The Gaels, a Celtic people, invaded Ireland and formed about 150 small kingdoms. AD c. 432 St Patrick introduced Christianity. 5th–9th centuries Irish Church was a centre of culture and scholarship. 9th–11th centuries The Vikings raided Ireland until defeated by High King Brian Bóruma at Clontarf in 1014. 12th–13th centuries Anglo-Norman adventurers conquered much of Ireland, but no central government was formed and many became assimilated. 14th–15th centuries Irish chieftains recovered their lands, restricting English rule to the Pale around Dublin. 1536 Henry VIII of England made ineffectual efforts to impose the Protestant Reformation on Ireland. 1541 Irish parliament recognized Henry VIII as king of Ireland; Henry gave peerages to Irish chieftains. 1579 English suppressed Desmond rebellion, confiscated rebel lands, and tried to ‘plant’ them with English settlers. 1610 James I established plantation of Ulster with Protestant settlers from England and Scotland. 1641 Catholic Irish rebelled against English rule; Oliver Cromwell brutally reasserted English control (1649–50); Irish landowners evicted and replaced with English landowners. 1689–91 Following ‘Glorious Revolution’, Catholic Irish unsuccessfully supported James II against Protestant William III in civil war. Penal laws barred Catholics from obtaining wealth and power. 1720 Act passed declaring British Parliament's right to legislate for Ireland. 1739–41 Famine killed one-third of population of 1.5 million. 1782 Protestant landlords led by Henry Grattan secured end of restrictions on Irish trade and parliament. 1798 British suppressed revolt by Society of United Irishmen (with French support) led by Wolfe Tone. 1800 Act of Union abolished Irish parliament and created United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, effective 1801. 1829 Daniel O'Connell secured Catholic Emancipation Act, which permitted Catholics to enter parliament. 1846–52 Potato famine reduced population by 20% through starvation and emigration. 1870 Land Act increased security for tenants but failed to halt agrarian disorder; Isaac Butt formed political party to campaign for Irish home rule (devolution). 1885 Home-rulers, led by Charles Stewart Parnell, held balance of power in Parliament; first Home Rule Bill rejected in 1886; second Home Rule Bill defeated in 1893. 1905 Arthur Griffith founded nationalist movement Sinn Fein (‘Ourselves Alone’). 1914 Ireland came close to civil war as Ulster prepared to resist implementation of Home Rule Act (postponed because of World War I). 1916 Easter Rising: nationalists proclaimed a republic in Dublin; British crushed revolt and executed 15 leaders. 1919 Sinn Fein MPs formed Irish parliament in Dublin in defiance of British government. 1919–21 Irish Republican Army (IRA) waged guerrilla war against British forces. 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland; northern Ireland (Ulster) remained part of the United Kingdom; southern Ireland won full internal self-government with dominion status. 1922 Irish Free State proclaimed; IRA split over Anglo-Irish Treaty led to civil war (1922–23). 1932 Anti-Treaty party, Fianna Fáil, came to power under Éamon de Valera. 1937 New constitution established Eire (Gaelic name for Ireland) as sovereign state and refused to acknowledge partition. 1949 After remaining neutral in World War II, Eire left Commonwealth and became Republic of Ireland. 1973 Ireland joined European Community. 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement gave Republic of Ireland consultative role, but no powers, in government of Northern Ireland. 1990 Mary Robinson elected first female president. 1993 Downing Street Declaration (joint Anglo-Irish peace proposal for Northern Ireland) issued. 1997 Mary McAleese elected president; Bertie Ahern of Fianna Fáil appointed prime minister. 1998 Good Friday Agreement reached on future of Northern Ireland, including new North-South Ministerial Council and British Irish Council; large majority in referendum in favour of dropping Ireland's claim to Northern Ireland. 2002 Second referendum on European Union (EU) enlargement reversed earlier Irish rejection (in 2001) of Treaty of Nice; euro replaced Irish punt as currency. 2004 Irish presidency of EU oversaw accession of ten new member states. 2007 Ahern and Fianna Fáil won third successive parliamentary election victory but no overall majority.


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