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Irish Rugby Football Union

Irish Rugby Football Union

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office and grounds at Lansdowne Road, where Irish rugby union international matches are played. In addition the Union also owns Ravenhill Park in Belfast, Thomond Park in Limerick and a number of grounds in provincial areas that have been rented to clubs. Initially there were two unions both founded in 1874. The Irish Football Union had jurisdiction over Clubs in Leinster, Munster and parts of Ulster; the Northern Football Union of Ireland controlled the Belfast area. The IRFU was formed in 1879 as an amalgamation of the two different organisations and branches were formed in Leinster, Munster and Ulster. The Connacht Branch was formed in 1886. Following the political break up of Ireland into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the then Committee of the Irish Rugby Football Union decided that it would continue to administer its affairs on the basis of the 32 Irish counties and the traditional four provinces of Ireland - Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. This led to the unique situation among international rugby union teams, where the Irish representative teams are drawn from players from two separate political territories: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom). To maintain the unity of Irish rugby union and the linkages between North and South the IRFU purchased a new ground in 1923 in the Ravenhill district of Belfast at a cost of £2,300. The last full International at Ravenhill took place in 1953-54 against Scotland who were victorious by 2 tries (6 points) to nil. The single national federation was able to survive (in contrast to the Irish Football Association for instance) because players in the North and South shared a similar outlook and background - educated at private boarding schools and generally unionist in outlook - even if they differed in religion. In many ways this continues to this day - for although most Ulster-based rugby fans and players are protestants and committed to the continued union of the Northern Ireland with Great Britain - they are also middle class and comfortable with the idea of travelling to Dublin to watch the national side play whilst in the South the prominent players come from private schools. However, recent years have seen some controversy over the issue of anthems. When Irish internationals were played alternatively in Belfast and Dublin, God Save the Queen in Belfast and Amhrán na bhFiann in Dublin. More recently Amhrán na bhFiann has been replaced in away games by Ireland's Call but this has prompted some players from the South to complain. During the 1880s the four provincial branches of the IRFU first ran cup competitions and although these tournaments still take place every year their significance has been diminished by the advent of an All-Ireland league of 50 Senior Clubs in 1990. The four provinces have played an Interprovincial Championship since the1920s and continue to be the focal point for players aspiring to the international level. Munster, Leinster and Ulster continue to be the strongest three with Connacht in the west of the country traditionally the weakest. There are presently 60,000 (approx.) players in total in Ireland. 56 clubs are affiliated to the Ulster Branch; 71 to the Leinster Branch: 59 to the Munster Branch and 19 to the Connacht Branch. In addition there are 246 Schools playing rugby, Ulster (107), Leinster (75), Munster (41) and Connacht (23).

See also


- Ireland national rugby union team
- Connacht Rugby
- Leinster Rugby
- Munster Rugby
- Ulster Rugby

External link


- [http://www.irishrugby.ie/ Irish Rugby Football Union]
- [http://www.irishrugby.co.uk/ Irish Rugby Fan Site - Irishrugby.co.uk] Category:Rugby union governing bodies Category:Rugby union in Ireland Rugby union, Ireland

Rugby union

Rugby union is a team sport that was developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby School in England. Two teams, each of 15 players have the task of outscoring the opposing team. Players clutch a prolate spheroid ball in their hands or arms, and may pass it backwards or laterally across the pitch, or kick it in any direction. The opposing players attempt to halt the ball-carrier by tackling him or her with their arms and bodies. When tackled, the ball carrier must release the ball, at which time a contest for possession of the ball commences (either a ruck or a maul). The game is closely related to rugby league. The main points of difference are the number of players per side (league has 13, union 15), the number of tackles allowed before a change of posession (league is limited to six, union has no limit), and league's use of the play the ball rule. The International Rugby Board (IRB), founded in 1886, governs the sport and also publishes the game's [http://www.irb.com/Laws/Laws/home.htm laws].

Method of play

As noted above, rugby union differs from association football in that the hands can be employed to move the ball. However, a player can only pass the ball backwards or laterally (i.e. not forward) to another player, or kick it. This means that the majority of progress made by an attacking team occurs through a leap frog cycle of passing the ball, running to make ground, being tackled and repeating this process. Each of these cycles (greatly simplified) is called a phase of play. The aim of rugby is to score more points than the opposition. Teams score in several ways:

Scoring


- Touching the ball down, in a controlled fashion, with downward pressure from any point on the body from the waist to the neck on or over the opponents' goal line, including the base of the posts, which is considered to be part of the goal line (a try, worth 5 points). A penalty try can be awarded if, following an incident of foul play, in the judgment of the referee a try would have been scored had the foul not occurred. The try got its name because originally the touching down of the ball only gave you a "try" at scoring by successfully kicking for post, which were the only points scored if the kick was good.
- After scoring a try, the scoring team attempts a conversion: a player takes a kick at goal in line with where the touch-down occurred. Scoring the goal earns 2 points.
- Kicking the ball above the crossbar and between the uprights of a large 'H'-shaped set of posts. This may either occur from a penalty kick or kicked from the hand during play. In the latter case, the ball must strike the ground before being kicked (a drop goal). Both types of goal score 3 points.

Set-pieces

Various set-pieces occur in play, principally:

Restart kicks

At the start of each half, one side kicks off. One side, determined following the toss of a coin, takes a drop kick from the middle of the centre line to start the first half. The ball must travel at least 10 metres into the opposition half. The other team kicks off the second half. The kicking side frequently kicks the ball high and aims to drop it just over the 10 metre minimum, which is marked by a dashed line across the pitch. This tactic gives their players time to chase the lobbed ball and hope to catch it before the defenders can do so. Alternatively the kick may be a long kick deep into opposition territory, sacrificing the chance to regain possession for territorial gain. Similarly, there is also a 22 metre drop-out. This is awarded if the attacking side is responsible for sending the ball into the in-goal area, but instead of their player grounding the ball and scoring a try it is first grounded by a defender. If the ball is kicked into the in-goal area by the attackers and instead of being grounded there by either side it continues, under its own momentum, through the in-goal area and crosses the dead-ball line, then the defenders have the option of choosing either a 22 drop out or a scrum at the place where the attackers kicked the ball. The 22 metre drop out is taken at any point along (or behind) the 22 metre line. Note: in rugby union, unlike association football (soccer), the lines bordering the field of play are themselves regarded as out of play. Thus, a player standing on but not over the touch line is regarded to be "in touch".

Tackle

A player may tackle an opposing player who has the ball by holding him while bringing him to ground. If a ball carrier is held by an opposition player but still has forward momentum he may continue to slide over the goal-line and score a try. One knee touching the ground, or the ball touching the ground, is sufficient for a ball carrier to be deemed to be grounded. A tackled player must release the ball, and the tackler must release him and move away, allowing the ball to become available, or for a ruck to form. If the ball-carrier is held but is not on the ground, then it is not a tackle and a maul may form. Players will often deliberately go to ground rather than allow a maul to form, to take advantage of the rules governing rucks. Once a player has gone to the ground and at least two others players, one from each side, are rucking (usually by locking shoulders and pushing each other, in an attempt to secure positioning), and the ball is on the ground, a ruck is formed. No player can advance past the back foot of the members of their team unless they are joining the ruck from behind the back foot. If a player does so and interferes with the play, for example by touching the ball, the result would be an offside call. The ball is recovered from a ruck when a player coming from his own side of the ruck from an onside position is able to heel the ball to a player behind the ruck who can then either make a run or pass the ball from the base of the ruck. A ball may not be handled in the ruck. In a maul, the team not in possession is allowed to actively compete for the ball by trying to wrestle it from the carrier. Therefore, it is easier to retain possession of the ball in a ruck (in which the opposition cannot touch the ball) than in a maul, and a ruck will often allow a team to recover the ball quickly and move it on so as to launch another attack before the defenders have had time to re-organise. There are a number of laws governing how to tackle, the most notable of which are that the tackler cannot tackle above the shoulder (the neck and head are out of bounds), and the tackler has to attempt to wrap his arms around the player being tackled to complete the tackle. It is illegal to trip a player using feet or legs, but hands may be used (this being referred to as a tap-tackle or ankle-tap).

Ruck

A ruck is a contest for possession. Once a tackle has grounded a player, he must release the ball and try to move out of the way, as must the tackler. The first player(s) arriving from either side may pick up the ball; however as soon as two players, one from each side, bind together — usually by locking shoulders as they face each other — with the ball at their feet they have formed a ruck, as more players arrive they may join the ruck, but must do so from the last foot (also known as the "gate") of their own side. In a ruck no player may use his hands to win the ball, instead each side attempts to push the other side back, and players use their feet to hook the ball backwards towards their own side — an action known as "rucking the ball" where it will be picked up by the scrum-half or half-back who waits behind the ruck. Players in a ruck may not deliberately go to ground themselves. If the ball becomes trapped in a ruck, the referee awards a scrum to the side going forward. Most infringements occur in rucks. Players may seek to slow down the speed of the recycling of the opposition's ball or speed up their own by using their hands illegally, or by lying over the ball, or going to ground deliberately. Such infringements result in penalties. If the attacking team loses possession by legal means, either because of the attacking player dropping the ball or a defending player stealing it, then the ball is said to have been "turned over". After a turn over play carries on as before, except that the attacker/defender roles of the two teams are switched.

Maul

A maul is formed if the ball carrier is held up after a tackle and one player from each side binds onto him and tries either to rip the ball away or push him forwards. Once a maul has formed other players may join in but, as in a ruck, they must do so from the "gate" on their own side. If the maul stops moving forward, then the referee awards a scrum to the side not in possession when the maul began. The tactic of the rolling maul occurs when mauls are set up, and the ball is passed backwards through the players hands to one at the rear, who rolls off the side to create a new maul. This tactic can be extremely effective in gaining ground and takes great skill and technique to both do properly and to try to prevent. It's a tactic most commonly used when the attacking side is inside their opponents' 22. It is illegal, on safety grounds, to pull down a maul, so that players fall to the ground. Referees are aware that many sides will try to stop a maul by deliberately collapsing it and will watch carefully for this illegal tactic.

Scrum

: Referees generally call scrums for knock-ons, where a player drops the ball forwards, or for other accidental infringements. If a penalty is awarded for a more serious offence, the team to which it is awarded may elect to have a scrum rather than take a penalty kick. This is usually called for if the attacking team is close to the opposition's goal-line, and want to wrap up all of the defending forwards in one place to give the backs more space — or if they believe they can force the scrum over the goal-line and score a "pushover" try.

Line-out

: try When the ball goes into touch the referee calls a line-out. The forwards of each team line up a metre apart between 5m and 15m from the touchline. If the ball went out from a penalty, the side who gained the penalty throws the ball in, if not the other team does so. Both sides compete for the ball, and some players may lift their teammates.

Team positions

A rugby union team consists of 15 players, eight forwards numbered 1 to 8, and seven backs, numbered 9 to 15. Depending upon the competition, there may be up to seven replacements. The main role of the forwards is to gain and retain possession of the ball. They take part in set pieces of the scrum and the line-out. Generally, forwards are larger than the backs, which makes them stronger but slower. Forwards also have a role in taking the ball forwards, but generally do so by driving into the opposing forwards. The role of the backs is to move the game forward by running or kicking the ball. The scrum-half will gain possesion of the ball from the forwards and usually feed it to the fly half (no.10) who then controls how the attacking team will proceed. The backline will tend to score its tries by focussing on the tactical placement of players, creating holes in the opposition defence line. A successful backline will cause the opposition to commit too many players at strategic points allowing for space to open up for the faster, outside backs (wingers and fullback). The following diagram locates the various positions in the 15-man team. All members of the starting 15 wear jerseys numbered from 1 to 15 and keyed to their positions (though alternatives exist); see rugby union positions and rugby union numbering schemes for more information. The first eight players, known as forwards or the pack, play in the scrum. The remaining seven players play as the backs. A referee controls the match, usually assisted by two touch judges.

The rugby union nations

The major rugby union playing nations are those classified as "Tier 1" by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB). The Tier 1 nations are:
- The three which play in the southern hemisphere Tri Nations Series:
  - Australia
  - New Zealand
  - South Africa
- The European nations which play in the northern hemisphere Six Nations Championship:
  - England
  - France
  - Ireland
  - Italy
  - Scotland
  - Wales
- One nation that is not currently involved in any regular multinational competition:
  - Argentina The British and Irish Lions tour once every four years and select from the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The most recent tour was a 2005 tour of New Zealand; the next will be a 2009 tour of South Africa. The minor nations include those nations, apart from the Tier 1 countries, which have qualified for the Rugby Union World Cup. The IRB classifies the following seven nations as "Tier 2":
- Canada
- Fiji
- Japan
- Romania
- Samoa
- Tonga
- United States Other nations classified as "Tier 3" by the IRB that have qualified for a World Cup include Georgia, Namibia, Portugal, Spain, and Uruguay. For further details see the List of international rugby union teams. Rugby union is the national sport of New Zealand, Wales, and Pacific countries such as Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa. The International Rugby Board has 96 Unions and 5 regional Associations. The rugby-playing world often sees a distinction between the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere teams. After decades of domination by New Zealand, South Africa, and more recently Australia, England under Clive Woodward succeeded in turning the rugby world upside down by regularly beating the three Southern Hemisphere giants culminating in 2003 when they beat Australia in the final of the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. New Zealand and France also reached the semifinals.

Teams

International teams

The major international teams (represented on the IRB) are:
- Argentina (nicknamed Los Pumas)
- Australia (nicknamed The Wallabies)
- England logo is the English rose
- France (nicknamed Les Bleus also Les Coqs or Les Tricolores)
- Ireland logo is a four-leaf clover
- Italy (nicknamed The Azzurri)
- Japan - the Cherry Blossoms
- New Zealand (nicknamed The All Blacks)
- Scotland logo is a Scottish thistle
- South Africa (nicknamed The Springboks)
- Wales logo is the Prince of Wales crown complete with the ostrich feathers See also:
- List of international rugby union teams

Tournaments

Major tournaments

Rugby Union World Cup


- Men's and women's versions of the Rugby World Cup take place every four years. England won this most recently on Saturday 22 November, 2003, with Jonny Wilkinson scoring a last minute drop-goal to win the match 20-17 in extra time (normally a game is 80 minutes, in extra time it goes to 100 minutes), beating Australia in a closely contested match. Previous winners have all been participants in the Tri-Nations competition, with South Africa and New Zealand winning one World Cup apiece and Australia winning two World Cups. The next world cup will be held in France in 2007, with New Zealand hosting the tournament in 2011.

Six Nations Rugby Tournament

The first steps towards the modern day Six Nations tournament took place in 1871 when England lost by one goal to Scotland at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. In the 1880s, both Wales and Ireland joined and the Home International Championships emerged. France joined the tournament in the 1900s and in 1910 the term Five Nations first appeared. However, the Home Nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) excluded France in 1931 amid a run of poor results, allegations of professionalism (rugby union was officially amateur until 1995) and concerns over on-field violence. France then rejoined in 1939-1940, though World War II halted proceedings for a further eight years. France has played in all the tournaments since WWII, the first one of which was played in 1947. In 2000, Italy also joined the tournament, leading to the modern-day Six Nations competition that takes place annually.
- If a team wins all five of their games they achieve a "Grand Slam".
- If one of the Home Nations beats the other three, this is called the "Triple Crown".
- The Calcutta Cup is contested in the annual Six Nations match between England and Scotland.
- The team finishes bottom is said to have won the "Wooden Spoon". Wales won the Grand Slam, the Triple Crown, and the Six Nations championship in 2005 and Italy was left with the Wooden Spoon.

Tri Nations Series

The Tri Nations Series is an annual international rugby union series held between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The series is played on a home and away basis with the three nations playing each other twice. However, starting in 2006, there will be a new system in which each nation will play the others three times. Since the inception of the Tri Nations in 1996, the games played between Australia and New Zealand also determine the winner of the Bledisloe Cup each year. The Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate, scheduled every two years between Australia and South Africa, may in the future also be contested annually within the Tri Nations.

Other tournaments


- Super 14 — teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
- National Provincial Championship (NPC) — New Zealand provincial tournament
- Ranfurly Shield — New Zealand provincial challenge trophy
- Currie Cup — South African provincial tournament
- English Rugby Union competitions — includes Guinness Premiership and National Division 1.
- Powergen Cup — English and Welsh clubs knock-out tournament
- Celtic League — provincial/regional teams from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
- Ligue Nationale de Rugby — French clubs
- Super 10 (Italian premiership) — Italian clubs
- Heineken Cup — European club, provincial and regional teams
- European Challenge Cup and European Shield — European club, provincial and regional teams knock-out tournament
- Top League - Japanese club teams
- Colonial Cup — Fiji club competition
- Churchill Cup — Canada, England, and the United States, with one invited team. From 2006, the tournament is to expand to include 3 invited teams.
  - In this competition, England does not send its full national side, instead sending its "senior A" team. The invited teams are likewise to be senior A-caliber teams from among the European and Southern hemisphere powers.
- European Nations Cup — national teams from second tier countries
- Pacific Tri-Nations — Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa
- Pan-American Championship — Uruguay, Canada, United States and Argentina
- Super Powers Cup — Canada, Japan, Russia and United States
- Rugby World Cup Sevens — Sponsored by the IRB, and held every four years, this is the highest prize in the Sevens version of the game.
- World Sevens Series — Annual IRB-sponsored series of tournaments for national Sevens teams.
- Ulster Schools Cup — Annual Schools competition
- Craven Week — Annual South Africa schools competition
- Rosslyn Park Sevens — Biggest Sevens competition in England
- Bingham Cup — Held every two years, this is the largest international gay rugby tournament and honors 9/11 hero, Mark Bingham
- see also: Rugby union at the Olympic Games

International trophies


- Antim Cup — Georgia and Romania
- Bledisloe Cup — Australia and New Zealand
- Calcutta Cup — England and Scotland
- Cook Cup — Australia and England
- Freedom Cup — New Zealand and South Africa
- Gallaher Cup — France and New Zealand
- Hopetoun Cup — Australia and Scotland
- Lansdowne Cup — Australia and Ireland
- Mandela Challenge Plate — Australia and South Africa
- Millennium Trophy — England and Ireland
- Puma Trophy — Argentina and Australia
- Trophée des Bicentenaires — Australia and France

History

Main article: history of rugby union The legendary story about the origin of Rugby football, whereby a young man named William Webb Ellis "took the ball in his arms (ie caught the ball) and ran" while playing football at Rugby School is almost certainly a complete fiction. Sports historians have dismissed the story as unlikely since an official investigation by the Old Rugbeian Society in 1895. However, the trophy for the Rugby Union World Cup bears the name of "Webb Ellis" in his honour, and a plaque at the school 'commemorates' the 'achievement'. Playing football has a long tradition in England and football games had probably taken place at Rugby School for two hundred years before three boys published the first set of written rules in 1845. Until the formation of the Football Association (FA) in October 1863 each football team would agree on a set of rules with opponents before a match. Teams which competed against each other regularly would tend to agree to play a similar style of football. Rugby football has a claim to the world's first "football club", formed at Guy's Hospital Football Club, London in 1843, by Rugby School old boys. A number of other clubs formed to play games based on the Rugby School rules. Dublin University Football Club is the oldest world's oldest surviving football club having been formed in 1854 and currently playing rugby in the All Ireland League Division One. Blackheath Rugby Club was founded in 1858 ad is probably England's oldest club was a founding member of the Football Association. But when it became clear that the FA would not agree to rules which allowed 'hacking' and 'hacking over' (fundamental parts of the rugby game), Blackheath withdrew from the FA just over a month after the initial meeting. Other rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA. For the next few years rugby clubs continued to agree rules before the start of each game as they had always done, but on January 26, 1871, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) formed, leading to the standardisation of the rules for all clubs in England that played a variety of the Rugby School laws. Soon most countries with a sizable rugby community had formed their own national unions. In 1886, the International Rugby Board (IRB) become the world governing and law-making body for rugby. The RFU recognised it as such in 1890. The introduction of Rugby Football Union into New Zealand was by Charles John Monro, son of Sir David Monro, who was then speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The younger Monro had been sent to Christ's College, East Finchley in north London, England. That school had adopted rugby rules and Monro became an enthusiatic convert. He brought the game back to his native Nelson, and arranged the first rugby match between Nelson College and Nelson Football Club on May 14, 1870 In North America, rugby developed into American football and into Canadian football. The 1890s saw a clash of cultures within the game, between working men's rugby clubs of northern England and the southern clubs of gentleman, a dispute revolving around the nature of professionalism within the game. On August 29, 1895 22 clubs split from the RFU and met at the George Hotel in Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union, commonly called the Northern Union. NRFU rules gradually diverged from those of rugby union, although the name rugby league did not become official until the Northern Rugby League formed in 1901. The name Rugby Football League dates from 1922. A similar schism open up in Australia and other rugby playing nations. Initially rugby league in Australia operated under the same rules as rugby union. But after a tour by a professional New Zealand team in 1907 of Australia and Great Britain; and an Australian Rugby League tour of Great Britain the next year; rugby league teams in the southern hemisphere adopted rugby league rules. For clarity and convenience it became necessary to differentiate the two codes of rugby. The code played by those teams who remained in national organisations which were members of the IRB became known as "rugby union". The code played by those teams which played "open" rugby and allowed professionals became known as "rugby league". Although the IRB claimed to be enforcing the amateur status of rugby union, many referred to the situation as "shamateurism". On August 26, 1995 the IRB declared rugby union an "open" game and removed all restrictions on payments or benefits to those connected with the game. ". The move from amateurism to professionalism has been one of great success and has undoubtedly increased the quality of rugby being played. However, professionalism has meant a huge increase in the gap between the top nations and the second tier. Alongside the success stories there have been some famous rugby clubs which have not coped well with the new era.

See also


- Line-out
- List of footballers (Rugby Union) by country
- List of footballers (Rugby Union) (in alphabetical order)
- List of international rugby union teams
- Offside laws
- Penalty
- Rugby league
- Rugby Sevens for the seven-a-side version of the game.
- Scrum
- Rugby Union Hall of Fame
- Tag Rugby, an offshoot of Touch Rugby.
- Touch Rugby for the non-contact version of the game.

External links


- [http://www.rugbytactics.com RugbyTactics.com] Free coaching resource, rugby guide and forums.
- [http://www.heavensgame.com Heavensgame rugby news] (no popups)
- [http://www.planet-rugby.com Planet Rugby] for news, etc. WARNING: popups
- [http://www.itsrugby.com?lang=gb Itsrugby.com from for results, statistics etc. (in English and in French)]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/default.stm BBC site] (no popups!)
- [http://www.uidaho.edu/clubs/womens_rugby/RugbyRoot/rugby/FAQ/positions.html List of player positions in languages other than English]
- [http://wesclark.com/rrr/rugby_phrase_guide.html Guide to rugby union phrases]
- [http://www.sarugby.com rugby news Southern Hemisphere]
- [http://www.rugbydata.com International Rugby Union Statistics] Stats on more than 5000 games.
- [http://www.easports.com/games/rugby2005/home.jsp EA Sports Rugby 2005 official site] new rugby union game
- [http://www.irb.com International Rugby Board] ja:ラグビー・フットボール ko:럭비

Ireland

:This page is about the island of Ireland. For the state also called Ireland, see Republic of Ireland. :For an explanation of terms like Ulster, Northern Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology) . British Isles (terminology)] Ireland (Irish: Éire) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies in the Atlantic Ocean and it is composed of the Republic of Ireland (officially, Ireland), which covers five sixths of the island (south, east, west and north-west), and Northern Ireland; part of the United Kingdom, which covers the northeastern sixth of the island. The population of the island is approximately 5.8 million people; 4.1 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.6 million in Greater Dublin) and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland (0.6 million in Greater Belfast). Belfast 2003. Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales are visible to the east]]

Geography

Wales with more details).]] A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntuohill (Irish: Corrán Tuathail), which is 1041 m (3414 feet). The island is bisected by the River Shannon, at 259 km (161 mi) the longest river in Ireland or Britain. The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall, earns it the sobriquet "Emerald Isle". The island's area is 84,079 km² (32,477 mile²). Ireland is divided into four provinces: Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. In Irish these are referred to as Cúige's ( Cúige - meaning fifths). Previously there were five provinces - Connacht, Munster, Ulster, Leinster and Meath, comprising the counties of Meath, Westmeath and Longford. These were further divided into 32 counties for administrative purposes. Six of the Ulster counties remain under British sovereignty as Northern Ireland following Ireland's partition in 1922 (the remaining 26 forming present-day Republic of Ireland); since the UK's 1974 reshuffle these county boundaries no longer exist in Northern Ireland for administrative purposes, although Fermanagh District Council is almost identical to the county. In the Republic, the county boundaries are still adhered to for local government, albeit with Tipperary and Dublin subdivided (some cities also have their own administrative regions). For election constituencies, some counties are merged or divided, but constitutionally the boundaries have to be observed. Across Ireland, the 32 counties are still used in sports and in some other cultural areas and retain a strong sense of local identity. Ireland's least arable land lies in the south-western and western counties. These areas are largely spectacularly mountainous and rocky, with beautiful green vistas.

Politics

Dublin Politically, Ireland is divided into:
- The Republic of Ireland, with its capital in Dublin. This state is often simply referred to internally and internationally as "Ireland" in English or "Éire" in Irish. Technically Ireland and Éire are the official names of the state while the "Republic of Ireland" is its official description.
- Northern Ireland is unofficially known as 'the North', and 'Ulster' (the province of Ulster also includes Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan which are in the Republic). Northern Ireland is a region of the United Kingdom. Prior to the Government of Ireland Act 1920 the island had been a unified political entity within the United Kingdom (see United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) from 1801. From 1541 the Kingdom of Ireland was established by the King of England, though this realm did not cover the whole island till the early 17th century. Up to then, Ireland had been politically divided into a number of different Irish kingdoms (Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Mide, Ulster, and others). Contrary to some assertions, at no time did a national kingdom headed by an Ard Ri exist. In a number of respects, the island operates officially as a single entity, for example, in most kinds of sports. The major religions, the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, are organised on an all-island basis. Some 92% of the population of the Republic of Ireland and about 44% of Northern Ireland is Roman Catholic. Some trade unions are also organised on an all-Irish basis and associated with the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU) in Dublin, while others in Northern Ireland are affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom - though such unions may organise in both parts of the island as well as in Britain. The island also has a shared culture across the divide in many other ways. Traditional Irish music, for example, though showing some variance in all geographical areas, is, broadly speaking, the same on both sides of the border. Irish and Scottish traditional music have many similarities. The Ireland Funds, an international fund-raising organisation, tries to help people on both sides find peace and reconciliation through community development, education, arts and culture. The island is often referred to as being part of the British Isles. However, some people, especially in Ireland, take exception to this name, which seems to suggest that both islands belong to Britain. For this reason, "Britain and Ireland" is commonly used as a more neutral alternative. Another suggestion, although much less used, is the Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA).

Flag of Ireland

There is no universally agreed flag that represents the island of Ireland. Historically a number of flags were used, including St. Patrick's cross, the flag sometimes used for the Kingdom of Ireland and which represented Ireland on the Union Jack after the Act of Union, a green flag with a harp (used by some radical nationalists in the 19th century and which is also the flag of Leinster), a blue flag with a harp used from the 18th century onwards by many nationalists (now the standard of the President of Ireland), and the Irish tricolour. However as the tricolour is the flag of the Republic of Ireland it is not used to represent the island of Ireland, given that the island also includes Northern Ireland. The Royal Standard also shows a version of an ancient Irish flag in one of its four quadrants. St Patrick's Saltire is used to represent the island of Ireland by the all-island Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). In contrast the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) uses the tricolour to represent the whole island.

History

Gaelic Athletic Association]] Ireland was mostly ice-covered and joined by land to Britain and Europe during the last ice age, has been inhabited for about 9,000 years. Stone age inhabitants arrived sometime after 8000 BC, with the culture progressing from Mesolithic to high Neolithic over the course of three or four millennia. The Bronze Age, which began around 2500 BC, saw the production of elaborate gold and bronze ornaments and weapons. The Iron Age in Ireland is associated with people now known as Celts. They are traditionally thought to have colonised Ireland in a series of waves between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, with the Gael, the last wave of Celts, conquering the island and dividing it into five or more kingdoms. Many scholars, however, now favour a view that emphasises cultural diffusion from overseas over significant colonisation.The Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia. Ptolemy in AD 100 records Ireland's geography and tribes. Native accounts are confined to Irish poetry, myth, and archaeology. The exact relationship between Rome and the tribes of Hibernia is unclear; the only references are a few Roman writings. Tradition maintains that in AD 432, St. Patrick arrived on the island and, in the years that followed, worked to convert the Irish to Christianity. The druid tradition collapsed in the face of the spread of the new faith. Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished, preserving Latin learning during the Early Middle Ages. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery, and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island. This era was interrupted in the 9th century by 200 years of intermittent warfare with waves of Viking raiders who plundered monasteries and towns. Eventually they settled in Ireland, and established many towns, including the modern day cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. In 1172, King Henry II of England gained Irish lands by the granting of the 1155 Bull Laudibiliter to him by then English Pope Adrian IV, and from the 13th century, English law began to be introduced. English rule was largely limited to the area around Dublin, known as the Pale, and Waterford, but this began to expand in the 16th century with the final collapse of the Gaelic social and political superstructure at the end of the 17th century, as a result of the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland and English and Scottish Protestant colonisation in the Plantations of Ireland, which established English control over the whole island. After the the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Catholics were barred from voting or attending the Irish Parliament. The new English Protestant ruling class was known as the Protestant Ascendancy In 1800 the Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union which, in 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The whole island of Ireland would remain within the United Kingdom, ruled directly by the UK Parliament in London. The 19th century saw the Great Famine of the 1840s in which at least 1 million Irish people died and over a million were forced to emigrate. The late 19th and early 20th century saw a vigorous but unsuccessful campaign for Irish home rule, followed by the eclipse of moderate nationalism by militant separatism. In 1922, following the Anglo-Irish War, twenty-six counties of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State. The remaining six, in the north-east, remained within the Union as Northern Ireland. Secession for the rest of Ireland led directly to the Civil War, as militant nationalists split into two factions and turned against one another.

History since partition

Irish Independence: The Irish Free State, Éire, Ireland

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was narrowly ratified by the Dáil in December 1921 but was rejected by a large minority, resulting in the Irish Civil War which lasted until 1923. In 1922, in the middle of this civil war, the Irish Free State came into being. For its first years the new state was governed by the victors of the Civil War. However in the 1930s Fianna Fáil, the party of the opponents of the treaty, were elected into government. The party introduced a new constitution in 1937 which renamed the state to simply "Éire or in the English language, Ireland" (preface to the Constitution). The state was neutral during World War II but offered some assistance to the Allies. In 1949 the state declared itself to be a republic and that henceforth it should be described as the Republic of Ireland. The state was plagued by poverty and emigration until the 1990s. That decade saw the beginning of unprecedented economic success, in a phenomenon known as the "Celtic Tiger". By the early 2000s, it had become one of the richest countries (in terms of GDP per capita) in the European Union, moving from being a net recipient to a net contributor and from a population with net emigration to one with net immigration.

Northern Ireland

From its creation in 1921 until 1972 Northern Ireland enjoyed limited self-government within the United Kingdom, with its own parliament and prime minister. However the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland each voted almost entirely along sectarian lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by "first past the post") was always controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party. Consequently, Catholics could not participate in the government, which at times openly encouraged discrimination in housing and employment. Nationalist grievances at unionist discrimination within the state eventually led to large civil rights protests in 1960s, which the government suppressed heavy-handedly, most notably on "Bloody Sunday". It was during this period of civil unrest that the paramilitary Provisional IRA, who favoured the creation of a united Ireland, began its campaign against Unionist rule. Other groups, legal and illegal on the unionist side, and illegal on the nationalist side, began to participate in the violence and the period known as the "Troubles" began. Owing to the civil unrest the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed direct rule. In 1998, following a Provisional IRA cease-fire, the Good Friday Agreement was concluded and attempts began to be made to restore self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power sharing between the two communities. Violence has greatly decreased since the signing of the accord. In 2001 the armed police force in the north (which operated much like an army with armoured cars etc.), The Royal Ulster Constabulary (or RUC for short), was removed in place of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) as a result of easing tensions. On July 28 2005, the Provisional IRA (PIRA) announced the end of its armed campaign and on September 25 2005 international weapons inspectors supervised the full disarmament of the PIRA.

Sport

Gaelic football and hurling are the most popular sports in Ireland. Along with Camogie, Ladies' Gaelic football, handball and rounders, they make up the national sports of Ireland, collectively known as Gaelic Games. All Gaelic games are governed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), with the exception of Ladies' Gaelic Football, which is governed by a separate organisation. The GAA is organised on an all-Ireland basis with all 32 counties competing; traditionally, counties first compete within their province, in the provincial championships, and the winners then compete in the All-Ireland senior hurling or football championships. The headquarters of the GAA (and the main stadium) is located at the 83,000 capacity Croke Park in north Dublin. All major GAA games are played here, including the semi-finals and finals of the All-Ireland championships. All GAA players, even at the highest level, are amateurs and receive no wages. The Irish rugby team includes players from north and south, and the Irish Rugby Football Union governs the sport on both sides of the border. Consequently in international rugby, the Ireland team represents the whole island. The same is true of cricket. However, when Ireland was partitioned, organisation of football (soccer) in the Republic was transferred from the Belfast-based Irish Football Association (IFA) to the new Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The IFA remained in charge of the game in the six counties. (Consequently in International Association Football, the island has two teams: the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland.) Northern Ireland qualified for the World Cup Soccer finals in 1958 (where they made it to the quarter finals), 1982 and 1986. The Republic of Ireland made it to the World Cup in 1990 (where they made it to the quarter finals), 1994 and 2002. Greyhound racing and horse racing are both popular in Ireland: greyhound stadiums are well attended and there are frequent horse race meetings. The Republic is noted for the breeding and training of race horses and is also a large exporter of racing dogs. The horse racing sector is largely concentrated in the central east of the Republic. Boxing is also an all-island sport governed by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. Golf is an extremely popular sport in Ireland and Golfing Tourism is a major industry. The 2006 Ryder Cup will be held in the K Club in Co. Kildare, which is just outside Dublin. Prominent Irish sporting stars are: Sean Kelly (cycling), Stephen Roche (cycling), Brian O'Driscoll (rugby), Roy Keane (soccer), Damien Duff (soccer), D.J. Carey (hurling), Peter Canavan (GAA), Aidan O'Brien (racehorse trainer), Kieren Fallon (jockey), Eddie Jordan (F1), Padraig Harrington (golf), Sonia O'Sullivan (athlethics), Steve Collins (boxing) and Ken Doherty (snooker).

Culture

Literature and the arts

For a comparatively small country, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature in all its branches, mainly in English. Poetry in Irish represents the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe with the earliest examples dating from the 6th century; Jonathan Swift, still often called the foremost satirist in the English language, was wildly popular in his day (Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, etc.) and remains so in modern times amongst both children and adults. In more recent times, Ireland has produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Although not a Nobel Prize winner, James Joyce is widely considered one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. His 1922 novel Ulysses is sometimes cited as the greatest English-language novel of the 20th century and his life is celebrated annually on June 16th in Dublin as the Bloomsday celebrations. The early history of Irish visual art is generally considered to begin with early carvings found at sites such as Newgrange and is traced through Bronze age artifacts, particularly ornamental gold objects, and the religious carvings and illuminated manuscripts of the mediæval period. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, a strong indigenous tradition of painting emerged, including such figures as John Butler Yeats, William Orpen, Jack Yeats and Louis le Brocquy.

Music and dance

The Irish tradition of folk music and dance is also widely known. In the middle years of the 20th century, as Irish society was attempting to modernise, traditional music tended to fall out of favour, especially in urban areas. During the 1960s, and inspired by the American folk music movement, there was a revival of interest in the Irish tradition. This revival was led by such groups as The Dubliners, The Chieftains, the Clancy Brothers and Sweeney's Men and individuals like Sean Ó Riada and Danny O'Flaherty. Irish and Scottish traditional music are similar. Before long, groups and musicians including Horslips, Van Morrison and even Thin Lizzy were incorporating elements of traditional music into a rock idiom to form a unique new sound. During the 1970s and 1980s, the distinction between traditional and rock musicians became blurred, with many individuals regularly crossing over between these styles of playing as a matter of course. This trend can be seen more recently in the work of bands and individuals like U2, Clannad, The Cranberries, Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher, and The Pogues. Nevertheless, Irish music has shown an immense inflation of popularity with many attempting to return to their roots. There are also contemporary music groups that stick closer to a "traditional" sound, including Altan, Gaelic Storm, Lúnasa, and Solas. Others incorporate multiple cultures in a fusion of style, such as Afro Celt Sound System and Canadian Loreena McKennitt. Ireland has done well in the Eurovision Song Contest, being the most successful country in the competition with seven wins. This achievement evokes mixed feelings in many Irish people.

Demographics

Ireland has been inhabited for at least 9000 years, although little is known about the neolithic inhabitants of the island. Early historical and genealogical records note the existance of dozens of different peoples (Attacotti, Conmaicne, Éoganacht, Érainn, Soghain, to name but a few). Over the last 1000 years, there have been influences by the Vikings, who founded several ports, including Dublin, and Normans, with significant admixture to the gene pool. However the greater part of the Irish population descends from the original inhabitants of the island who came after the end of the Ice Age. Although for many years the Irish were believed to be of Celtic origin, recent genetic evidence shows that both the Irish and the Welsh (and to a lesser degree England and Scotland) have many genetic traits in common with the people of the Basque region. Some theorize that although Basque is certainly not a Celtic language, there may have been a Celto-Basque link while others postulate that the pre-Celtic population of the island may have had Basque origins. Both positions are difficult to prove, as the information is relatively new. Culturally however, Ireland is undeniably Celtic. Mingling of native Irish inhabitants with the latinate peoples of Spain, France and Rome during the height of the Roman Empire (and later following the expulsion of many Protestants from the predominantly Catholic Southern France, many of whom subsequently migrated to Ireland) gave rise to what some refer to as Franco-celts or Latin-celts. These people are charecterised particularly by very dark, black hair color, a trait that does not occur in "pure" Anglo-Saxon, and other significant genetic similarities to Southern Europeans. Franco-celts (or Latin-celts) are responsible in part, but not wholey, for the moderately high occurrence of black hair and other Southern European characteristics amongst the Irish population. Ireland's largest religious denomination is Roman Catholicism (about 70%), and most of the rest of the population adhere to one of the various Protestant denominations. The largest is the Church of Ireland. The Irish Muslim community is growing, mostly through increased immigration (see Islam in Ireland). The island also has a small Jewish community (See History of the Jews in Ireland), although this has declined somewhat in recent years. Since joining the EU in 2004, Polish people have been the largest source of immigrants from Eastern Europe, followed by other migrants from Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Latvia. Ireland has also had large numbers of Romanians entering the country since the 1990s. A high standard of living, high wages and EU citizenship attract many of the migrants from the newest of the European Union countries. Nigerians, Chinese and people from other African countries also make up a large proportion of migrants to Ireland.

Infrastructure

Transport

Air

Africa The three most important international airports in the Republic are Dublin Airport, Cork Airport and Shannon Airport. All provide extensive services to the UK, continental Europe and North America. The Irish national airline Aer Lingus and low-cost operator Ryanair are based at Dublin. Shannon is an important stopover on trans-Atlantic route for refuelling operations. There are several smaller regional airports in the Republic (Galway Airport, Kerry Airport, Knock International Airport, Sligo Airport, Waterford Airport) that mostly limit their services to Ireland and the United Kingdom. In Northern Ireland there are three main airports. Belfast International (Aldergrove) provides routes to Ireland and Great Britain, as well as many international services to Europe and recently Belfast-New York (Newark). Belfast City and City of Derry Airport mainly provide flights to Great Britain.

Rail

Great Britain The rail network in Ireland was developed by various private companies with the help of British Government funding throughout the late 19th century, reaching its greatest extent around the 1920s. The broad gauge of 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) was eventually settled upon throughout the island, although there were narrow gauge (3 ft) railways also. Ireland also has one of the largest freight railways in Europe, operated by Bord na Móna. This company has a narrow gauge railway of 1200 miles. In Dublin a new Light Rail System, named Luas opened in 2004. Two lines serve the south and west suburbs as well as the north city centre. More lines are planned as well as an eventual upgrade to Metro. The scheme is being run by the RPA.

Road

RPA] As with Britain, motorists must drive on the left in Ireland, unfortunately tourists driving on the wrong side of the road cause serious [http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1145.html accidents] every year. The island of Ireland has an extensive road network, despite the low quality of many of these until recently. Northern Ireland has historically had better main roads, while the Republic of Ireland has an increasing motorway network, focused on Dublin and the east coast. Historically land owners developed most roads and later Turnpike Trusts collecting tolls so that as early as 1800 Ireland had a 10,000 mile [http://www.cie.ie/about_us/schools_and_enthusiasts.asp road network]. 1815 marked the inauguration of the first horsecar service from Clonmel to Thurles and Limerick. Nowadays the main bus companies are Bus Éireann in the South and Ulsterbus in the North, with Dublin Bus serving the needs of greater Dublin.

Energy

Dublin Bus For much of their existence electricity networks in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were entirely separate. Both networks were designed and constructed independently, but are now connected with three interlinks and also connected by Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) through Great Britain to mainland Europe. The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in the Republic drove a rural electrification programme in the 1940s until the 1970s. The natural gas network is also now all-island, with a connection from Antrim to Scotland. Most of Ireland's gas comes from the Kinsale field. The Corrib Gas Field in Mayo has yet to come online, and is facing some localised opposition over the controversial decision to refine the gas onshore. Ireland, north and south has faced difficulties in providing continuous power at peak load. The situation in Northern Ireland is complicated by the issue of private companies not supplying NIE with enough power, while in the Republic, the ESB has failed to modernise its power stations. In the latter case, availability of power plants has averaged 66% recently, one of the worst such figures in Western Europe. There have been recent efforts in Ireland to use renewable energy such as wind energy with large wind farms being constructed in coastal counties such as Donegal, Mayo and Antrim. Recently what will be the world's largest offshore wind farm is being developed at Arklow Bank off the coast of Wicklow. It is estimated to generate 10% of Irelands energy needs when it is complete. These constructions have in some cases been delayed by opposition from locals, most recently on Achill Island, some of whom consider the wind turbines to be unsightly. Another issue in the Republic of Ireland is the failure of the ageing network to cope with the varying availability of power from such installations. Turlough Hill is the only energy storage mechanism in Ireland.

See also


- List of Ireland-related topics
- Republic of Ireland
- Northern Ireland
- Kingdom of Ireland
- The Ireland Funds
- Irish people

External links


- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Republic_of_Ireland Wikitravel guide to the Republic of Ireland]
- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Northern_Ireland Wikitravel guide to Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.ireland-map.co.uk/ Map of Ireland]
- [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/heaven/dnairish.pdf.pdf#search='Ychromosome%20variation%20and%20Irish%20origins' Y-chromosome variation and Irish origin]
- [http://pdphoto.org/PictureHome.php?cid=23&mat=pdef&md=cid Public domain photos of Ireland] Category:Islands in the British Isles Category:Ireland ko:아일랜드 섬 ja:アイルランド島 simple:Ireland th:ไอร์แลนด์

Lansdowne Road

Lansdowne Road is the name of both a road in Dublin, Ireland and a sports stadium located there. In international usage, "Lansdowne Road" generally refers to the stadium. Lansdowne Road is situated in the neighbourhood of Ballsbridge in the city's fashionable Dublin 4 area. It touches the River Dodder and is in close proximity to many fine Victorian redbrick houses. The stadium is the traditional home of both rugby union in Ireland and since the eclipse of Dalymount Park, of football as well. It is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and has a total capacity of 49,250. However, competitive international football matches cannot use the entire capacity because the stands at both ends of the ground (North and South) are standing-room terraces. FIFA and UEFA both mandate that international matches be played in all-seated venues; this reduces the capacity of Lansdowne Road to about 35,000 for competitive football matches. The International Rugby Board does not impose this restriction on international rugby venues. For non competitive international football matches (friendly matches), the UEFA mandate does not apply. In the IRFU grounds, Irish rugby and soccer international matches are played. The ground is also home to Wanderers and Lansdowne Rugby clubs. Leinster have also used the ground on a number of occasions when crowd size has meant their traditional home of Donnybrook is not large enough. In 1999 and 2003 Landsdowne road played host to the Heineken Cup final. Since 1990, Lansdowne has also hosted the FAI Cup Final The grounds have also occasionally been used for music concerts. The stadium is set to be redeveloped by 2009 creating a 50,000 all-seater soccer and rugby stadium. The redevelopment of the stadium was finally announced in January 2004 at a cost of approximately €365 million; of this, €190 million will come from the Irish government, with the remainder paid by the IRFU and Football Association of Ireland. It has been decided that soccer and rugby games will be played in Croke Park while it is being redeveloped. Croke Park is the only stadium big enough in Dublin, and it belongs to the Gaelic Athletic Association, whose constitution until recently did not allow foreign games to be played on their grounds. The stadium has some of the best and most convenient public transport links of any stadium in the world, as the Lansdowne Road station of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit rail system is adjacent to the stadium. In fact, the DART line passes directly underneath the West Stand. In October 2005, a small fire in the north terrace put the terrace out of commission for all of Ireland's Autumn internationals. This meant that people who had travelled from as far away as Australia and New Zealand could not attend the match. The IRFU has not confirmed whether the North Terrace will be back in use for the 6 Nations.

External link


- [http://www.lrsdc.ie Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company]
- [http://irish.rugbynow.net/archives/2004/01/new_stadium_confirmed.php Lansdowne Road Redevelopment]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=dublin,+ireland&ll=53.334897,-6.228819&spn=0.002909,0.010192&t=k&hl=en Satellite Photo of Lansdowne Road]
Image:lansdownetransit.jpg|DART rail system underneath the West stand Image:Lansdowne Road NEW EXTERIOR.jpg|New Lansdowne Road
Category:Rugby union stadiums in Ireland Category:Sport in Dublin Category:Football venues in the Republic of Ireland Category:Buildings and structures in Dublin Category:Streets and squares of Dublin

Republic of Ireland

:For an explanation of often confusing terms like Ulster, (Republic of) Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology) . The Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is the official description of the sovereign state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of north-west Europe. The state's official name is Ireland (Irish: Éire), and this is how international organisations and citizens refer to the country. It is a member of the European Union, has a developed economy and a population of slightly more than four million. The remaining sixth of the island of Ireland is known as Northern Ireland and is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Name

Main article: Names of the Irish state The constitution provides that the name of the state is "Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland." However the state is commonly referred to as the "Republic of Ireland" in order to distinguish it from the island of Ireland as a whole. The name Republic of Ireland came into use after the Republic of Ireland Act defined it as the official "description" of the state in 1949 (the purpose of the act being to declare that the state was a republic rather than a form of constitutional monarchy), it is also the accepted legal name in the United Kingdom of the state as per the Ireland Act 1949. Today while Republic of Ireland is an accepted term for the state, Ireland is used for official purposes such as treaties, government and legal documents and membership of international organisations. The state is also referred to, in English, by many other names such as Éire and the Twenty-six Counties. The use of Éire, in the English language, in Ireland has become increasingly rare, not least due to past condescending connotations. Historically the state has had more than one official title. The revolutionary state established by nationalists in 1919 was known as the "Irish Republic", while when the state achieved de jure independence in 1922 it became known as the "Irish Free State" (in the Irish language Saorstát Éireann), a name that was retained until 1937.

History

Main article: History of the Republic of Ireland The partition of Ireland came about because of complex constitutional developments in the early twentieth century. From 1 January 1801 until 6 December 1922, Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Famine in 1845-1847, in which 1.5 million Irish died, was followed by enormous emigration. From 1874, but particularly from 1880 under Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish Parliamentary Party moved to prominence with its attempts to achieve Home Rule, which would have given Ireland some autonomy without requiring it to leave the United Kingdom. It seemed possible in 1911 when the House of Lords lost their veto, and John Redmond secured the Third Home Rule Act 1914. The unionist movement, however, had been growing since 1886 among Irish Protestants, fearing that they would face discrimination, and lose economic and social privileges if Irish Catholics were to achieve real political power. Though Irish unionism existed throughout the whole of Ireland, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century unionism was particularly strong in parts of Ulster, where industrialisation was more common in contrast to the more agrarian rest of the island. (Any tariff barriers would, it was feared, most heavily hit that region.) In addition, the Protestant population was more strongly located in Ulster, with unionist majorities existing in about four counties. Under the leadership of the Dublin-born Sir Edward Carson and the northerner Sir James Craig they became more militant. In 1914, to avoid rebellion in Ulster, the British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, with agreement of the leadership of the Irish Parliamentary Party leadership, inserted a clause into the bill providing for home rule for 26 of the 32 counties, with an as of yet undecided new set of measures to be introduced for the area temporarily excluded. Though it received the Royal Assent, the Third Home Rule Act 1914's implementation was suspended until after the Great War. (The war at that stage was expected to be ended by 1915, not the four years it did ultimately last.) For the prior reasons Redmond and his Irish National Volunteers supported the Allied cause, and tens of thousands joined the British Army. In January 1919, after the December 1918 general elections, 73 of Ireland's 106 MPs elected were Sinn Fein members who refused to take their seats in the British House of Commons. Instead they set up an extra-legal Irish parliament called Dáil Éireann. This Dáil in January 1919 issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence and proclaimed an Irish Republic. This Declaration of Independence was mainly a restatement of the 1916 Proclamation with the additional provision that Ireland was no longer a part of the United Kingdom. Despite this, the new Irish Republic remained unrecognised internationally except by Lenin's Russian Republic. Nevertheless the Republic's Áireacht (ministry) sent a delegation under Ceann Comhairle Sean T. O'Kelly to the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. However it was not admitted. After the bitterly fought War of Independence, representatives of the British government and the Irish rebels negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 under which the British agreed to the establishment of an independent Irish State whereby the Irish Free State (in the Irish language Saorstát Éireann) with dominion status was created. The Dáil narrowly ratified the treaty. The Treaty however was not entirely satisfactory to either side. It gave more concessions to the Irish than the British had intended to give but did not go far enough to satisfy Republican concerns. The new Irish Free State was in theory to cover the entire island, subject to the proviso that Northern Ireland (which had been created as a separate entity under the Government of Ireland Act 1920) could opt out and choose to remain part of the United Kingdom, which it duly did, to no-one's surprise. The remaining 26 counties of the island became the Irish Free State, a constitutional monarchy over which the British monarch reigned (from 1927 with the title King of Ireland). It had a Governor-General, a bicameral parliament, a cabinet called the "Executive Council" and a prime minister called the President of the Executive Council. The Irish Civil War was the direct consequence of the creation the Irish Free State. Anti-Treaty forces, led by Eamon de Valera, objected to the fact that acceptance of the Treaty abolished the Irish Republic of 1919 to which they had sworn loyalty, arguing in the face of public support for the settlement that the "people have no right to do wrong". They objected most to the fact that the state would remain part of the British Commonwealth and that TDs would have to swear an oath of fidelity to King George V and his successors. Pro-Treaty forces, led by Michael Collins, argued that the Treaty gave "not the ultimate freedom that all nations aspire to and develop, but the freedom to achieve it". At the start of the war, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) split into two opposing camps: a pro-treaty IRA and an anti-treaty IRA. However, through the lack of an effective command structure in the anti-treaty IRA, and the pro-treaty IRA's defensive tactics throughout the war, Collins and his pro-treaty commanders were able to build up an army capable of overwhelming the anti-treaty forces on the battlefield. British supplies of artillery, aircraft, machine-guns and ammunition boosted pro-treaty forces, and the threat of a return of Crown forces to the Free State removed any doubts about the necessity of enforcing the treaty. The lack of public support for the anti-treaty Irregulars, and the determination of the government to overcome them, contributed significantly to their defeat. The National Army suffered 800 fatalities and perhaps as many as 4000 people were killed altogether. As their forces retreated, the Irregulars showed a major talent for destruction and the economy of the Free State suffered a hard blow in the earliest days of its existence as a result. Collins On the 29 December 1937 a new constitution, the Constitution of Ireland, came into force. It replaced the Irish Free State by a new state called simply "Ireland". Though this state's constitutional structures provided for a President of Ireland instead of a king, it was not technically a republic. The principal key role possessed by a head of state, that of representing the state symbolically internationally remained vested in statute law in the King as an organ. On 1 April 1949 the Republic of Ireland Act declared a republic, with the functions previously given to the King given instead to the President of Ireland. The Irish state had remained a member of the then British Commonwealth after independence until the declaration of a republic in April 1949. Under Commonwealth rules declaration of a republic automatically terminated membership of the association, consequently Ireland ceased to be a member. The Republic of Ireland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the European Community (now the European Union) in 1973. Irish governments have sought the peaceful reunification of Ireland and have usually cooperated with the British government in the violent conflict with the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland known as the "Troubles". A peace settlement for Northern Ireland, the Belfast Agreement, was approved in 1998 in referenda north and south of the border, and is currently being implemented, albeit more slowly than many would like.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the Republic of Ireland The state is a republic, with a parliamentary system of government. The President of Ireland, who serves as head of state, is elected for a seven-year term and can be re-elected only once. The president is largely a figurehead but can still carry out certain constitutional powers and functions, aided by the Council of State, an advisory body. The Taoiseach (prime minister), is appointed by the president on the nomination of parliament. The Taoiseach is normally the leader of the political party which wins the most seats in the national elections. It has become normal in the Republic for coalitions to form a government, and there has not been a single-party government since the period of 1987–1989. The bicameral parliament, the Oireachtas, consists of a Senate, Seanad Éireann, and a lower house, Dáil Éireann. The Seanad is composed of sixty members; eleven nominated by the Taoiseach, six elected by two universities, and 43 elected by public representatives from panels of candidates established on a vocational basis. The Dáil has 166 members, Teachtaí Dála, elected to represent multi-seat constituencies under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. Under the constitution, parliamentary elections must be held at least every seven years, though a lower limit may be set by statute law. The current statutory maximum term is every five years. Single Transferable Vote (Parliament of Ireland)]] The Government is constitutionally limited to fifteen members. No more than two members of the Government can be selected from the Senate, and the Taoiseach, Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Finance must be members of the Dáil. The current government is made up of a coalition of two parties; Fianna Fáil under Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Progressive Democrats under Tánaiste Mary Harney. The main opposition in the current Dáil is made up of Fine Gael and Labour. Smaller parties such as the Progressive Democrats, Green Party, Sinn Féin and the Socialist Party also have representation in the Dáil. Ireland has been in the European Union since 1973. Although it has less than 1% of the Union's population, it has received 16% of all "first warnings" issued on environmental issues.

Role of the Catholic church in national affairs

As mentioned in the Demographics section, church attendance has declined rapidly in Ireland in recent years. As with other European states (eg, Italy) that were predominently Roman Catholic, the Irish state has undergone a period of secularisation and legal de-Catholicisation. In 1972 the "special position" of the Catholic Church in Ireland was deleted from the Irish constitution. The Catholic Church was hit in the 1990s by a series of sexual scandals and cover-up charges against its hierarchy. In 1995, after a seventy-year ban, a constitutional amendment allowed divorce in the Republic. In 1983, the Irish constitution was amended to recognise "the right to life of the unborn", subject to qualifications concerning the "equal right to life" of the mother. In the 1990s the Supreme Court interpreted the qualifications in the amendment as allowing abortion in limited circumstances. However, the Oireachtas has not introduced a law enabling abortion to take place in those circumstances allowed by the court. A subsequent series of constitutional amendments allow Irish citizens access to information about abortion and to travel freely to get abortions outside Ireland. In 2005, a major inquiry was made into child sex abuse allegations. The Fern's report, which was published on 25 October, revealed that more than 100 cases of child sex abuse, between 1962 and 2002, by 21 priests, had taken place in the Diocese of Ferns alone. The report criticised the Garda and the health authorities, who failed to protect the children to the best of their ablities and in the case of the Garda before 1988, no file was ever recorded on sex abuse complaints.

Counties

Main article: Counties of Ireland The Republic of Ireland has 26 counties, and these are used in political, cultural and sporting contexts. Dáil constituencies are required by statute to follow county boundaries, as far as possible. Hence counties with greater populations have multiple constituencies (e.g. Limerick East/West) and some constituencies consist of more than one county (e.g. Sligo-Leitrim), but by and large, the actual county boundaries are not crossed. As local government units, however, some have been restructured, with County Dublin distributed between three new county councils in the 1990s and County Tipperary having been administratively two separate counties since the 1890s, giving a present-day total of 29 administrative counties and five cities. The f