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Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

:For an explanation of often confusing terms like Ulster, (Republic of) Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). Northern Ireland is one of four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. It is situated on the island of Ireland and shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, and is the only part of the United Kingdom with an external land border. It was created by the Government of Ireland Act, 1920. It covers 14,139 km² (5,459 mi²) in the northeast of the island of Ireland, about a sixth of the total area of the island, and has a population of 1,685,000 (April 2001) — between a quarter and a third of the island's total population.

Demographics and politics

:Main article: Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland A majority of the present-day population (59%, according to a [http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2004/Political_Attitudes/NIRELAND.html 2004 survey]) wish to remain part of the United Kingdom, but a significant minority (22%) want to see a united Ireland. It is common to refer to the majority "community" as Unionists and the the minority "community" as Nationalists, though there are many who hold a position on the border that is at odds with the label of their "community" or reject these labels completely. The make-up of the Northern Ireland Assembly reflects these divisions within the population. Of the 108 members, 59 are Unionists and 42 are Nationalist (the remaining seven are classified as "other"). Although Protestants are still in the majority, the plurality by religious denomination are Roman Catholics, followed by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Church of Ireland, with the Methodist Church of Ireland coming fourth. The two opposing views of British unionism and Irish nationalism are linked to deeper cultural divisions. Unionists are predominantly Protestant and often descendants of mainly Scottish but also English settlement in previous centuries, while nationalists are predominantly Catholic and usually descend from the population predating such settlement. Discrimination against nationalists under the Stormont government (1921–1972) gave rise to the nationalist civil rights movement in the 1960s. Many unionists argue that any discrimination was not just because of religious or political bigotry, but also the result of more complex socio-economic, socio-political and geographical factors. This eventually led to a long-running conflict known as The Troubles and the political unrest has gone through its most violent phase in recent times between 1968–1994. The main actors have been the Provisional IRA and other republican groups determined to end the British presence, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary, British army and various loyalist paramilitary groups who were defending it. As a consequence of the worsening security situation, self-government for Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972. Since the mid 1990s, the main paramilitary group, the Provisional IRA, has observed an uneasy ceasefire. Following negotiations, the Belfast Agreement of 1998 provides for an elected Northern Ireland Assembly, and a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive comprising representatives of all the main parties. These institutions have been suspended since 2002 because of unionist impatience at the pace of Sinn Fein's movement away from its associations with the Provisional IRA, which reached breaking point after PSNI allegations of spying by people working for Sinn Fein at the Assembly, although nobody was convicted after a high-profile police operation. On 28 July, 2005, the Provisional IRA declared an end to its campaign and have since decommissioned what is thought to be all of their arsenal. This act was performed in accordance with the Belfast Agreement 1998, and under the watch of the International Decommissioning Body and two external church witnesses. Many unionists remain skeptical, however.

Symbols

Today, Northern Ireland comprises a diverse patchwork of community rivalries, represented in some areas by whole communities where lamp posts and some homes fly the flags of the countries to which they hold allegience. The Union Flag and former Flag of Northern Ireland therefore appear in some loyalist areas, with the Irish national flag, the tricolour appearing in some republican areas. Even the kerbstones in less affluent areas get painted red-white-blue or green-white-orange, depending on whether a local community expresses nationalist/republican or unionist/loyalist sympathies. As a constituent part of the United Kingdom, the only "official" flag of Northern Ireland is the Union Flag. The Northern Ireland Flag (also known as the 'Ulster Banner' or 'Red Hand Flag') is no longer official, due to the abolition of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972. Unionists tend to use the Union flag, the 'Ulster Banner' or paramilitary flags, while nationalists typically use the Irish Tricolour. Some unionists also occasionally use the flags of secular and religious organizations they belong to. The 'Ulster Banner' is based on the flag of Ulster. Some groups, including the Irish Rugby Football Union have used the Flag of St. Patrick as a symbol of Ireland which lacks the same nationalist or unionist connotations, but even this is felt by some to be a loyalist flag, as it was used to represent Ireland during British rule and is used by some British army regiments. No universally acceptable symbol has yet been found. Foreign flags are also found, such as the Palestinian flags in some Nationalist areas and Israeli flags in some Unionist areas. The official national anthem of Northern Ireland remains God Save The Queen. At some cross-community events, however, the Londonderry Air, also known as the tune of Danny Boy, may be played as a neutral, though unofficial, substitute.

Geography and climate

Danny Boy :Main article: Geography of Ireland, Geography of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland was covered by an ice sheet for most of the last ice age and on numerous previous occasions, the legacy of which can be seen in the extensive coverage of drumlins in Counties Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and particularly Down. The centrepiece of Northern Ireland's geography is Lough Neagh, at 392 km² the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. A second extensive lake system is centred on Lower and Upper Lough Erne in Fermanagh. There are substantial uplands in the Sperrin Mountains (an extension of the Caledonian fold mountains) with extensive gold deposits, granite Mourne Mountains and basalt Antrim Plateau, as well as smaller ranges in South Armagh and along the Fermanagh–Tyrone border. None of the hills are especially high, with Slieve Donard in the dramatic Mournes reaching 848 metres, Northern Ireland's highest point. The volcanic activity which created the Antrim Plateau also formed the eerily geometric pillars of the Giant's Causeway. The Lower and Upper River Bann, River Foyle and River Blackwater form extensive fertile lowlands, with excellent arable land also found in North and East Down, although much of the hill country is marginal and suitable largely for animal husbandry. The valley of the River Lagan is dominated by Belfast, whose metropolitan area includes over a third of the population of Northern Ireland, with heavy urbanisation and industrialisation along the Lagan Valley and both shores of Belfast Lough. The whole of Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate, rather wetter in the west than the east, although cloud cover is persistent across the region. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the year, and although the seasons are distinct, they are considerably less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of North America. Average daytime maximums in Belfast are 6.5°C (43.7°F) in January and 17.5°C (63.5°F) in July. The damp climate and extensive deforestation in the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in much of the region being covered in rich green grassland. Highest maximum temperature: 30.8°C (87.4°F) at Knockarevan, near Belleek, County Fermanagh on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast on 12 July 1983. Lowest minimum temperature: -17.5°C (0.5°F) at Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on 1 January 1979. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/nireland/#temperature]

The Counties in Northern Ireland

1979 Northern Ireland consists of six counties:
- County Antrim
- County Armagh
- County Down
- County Fermanagh
- County Londonderry (Political, Geographical Term) \ County Derry (Nationalist & Irish geographic usage)
- County Tyrone These counties are no longer used for local government purposes; instead there are twenty-six districts of Northern Ireland which have different geographical extents, even in the case of those named after the counties from which they derive their name. Fermanagh District Council most closely follows the borders of the county it takes its name from. Though Coleraine borough council for example derives its name from the town of Coleraine in County Londonderry.

Towns and villages

Main articles: Towns in Northern Ireland and Villages in Northern Ireland See also the list of places in Northern Ireland for all villages, towns and cities
- Ahoghill, Armagh, Antrim
- Ballycastle, Ballyclare, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Ballynahinch, Banbridge, Bangor, Belfast, Bushmills
- Carnmoney, Carrickfergus, Castlerock, Comber, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon
- Derry/Londonderry, Donaghadee, Downpatrick,Dromore, Dundonald, Dungannon, Dungiven
- Enniskillen
- Glengormley
- Hillsborough, Holywood
- Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Lurgan
- Magherafelt
- Newcastle, Newry, Newtownards, Newtownstewart
- Omagh
- Portrush, Portstewart, Portadown, Portaferry, Poyntzpass
- Strabane
- Warrenpoint

Places of interest

Warrenpoint
- The Mountains of Mourne
- Lough Neagh, the biggest lake in the British Isles, 153 square miles
- Lough Erne
- Strangford Lough
- Carlingford Lough
- The Giant's Causeway
- The Glens of Antrim
- Fermanagh Lakeland
- The Sperrin Mountains
- National parks of Northern Ireland
- National Trust Properties in Northern Ireland
- Dromore, County Down

Variations in Geographic nomenclature

Many people inside and outside Northern Ireland use other names for the entity, as part of a linguistic agenda to define the nature of the state from their historic, cultural or political viewpoint. The most common names used are

Unionist/Loyalist


- Ulster - to suggest that Northern Ireland has an older ancestry that predates its founding in 1921, dating back both to the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century and to the millennium-old province of Ulster, one of four provinces on the island of Ireland. The province of Ulster covers a greater landmass than Northern Ireland: 6 of its counties are in Northern Ireland, 3 in the Republic of Ireland.
- The Province - to again link to the historic Irish province of Ulster, with its mythology.
- Northern Ireland - Many more liberal-minded Protestants who reject the extreme form of Unionism prefer to use the official name of the state. Ulster is both inaccurate and, in their view, has very orangist overtones.

Nationalist/Republican


- North of Ireland - to link Northern Ireland to the rest of island, by describing the state as being in the 'north of Ireland' and so by implication playing down Northern Ireland's links with Britain. (The northernmost point in Ireland, in County Donegal, is in fact in the Republic.)
- The Six Counties - language which avoids using the name given to the state by the British-enacted Government of Ireland Act, 1920. (The Republic is similarly described as the Twenty-Six Counties.) Some of the users of these terms contend that using the official name of the region would imply acceptance of the legitimacy of the Government of Ireland Act.
- The Occupied Six Counties. The Republic, whose legitimacy is not recognised by republicans who oppose the Belfast Agreement, is described as being "The Free State", referring to the Irish Free State, the Republic's old name.

The use of language for Northern Ireland geography

Disagreement on nomenclature, and the reading of political symbolism into the use or non-use of a word, also attaches to some urban centres. The most famous example is whether Northern Ireland's second city should be called Derry or Londonderry. Choice of language and nomenclature in Northern Ireland often reveals the cultural, ethnic and religious identity of the speaker. The first Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Seamus Mallon was criticised by unionist politicians for calling the region the "North of Ireland" while Sinn Féin has been criticised in some newspapers in the Republic for referring to the "Six Counties". Those who do not belong to any group but lean towards one side often tend to use the language of that group. Supporters of unionism in the British media (notably the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express) regularly call Northern Ireland "Ulster" while nationalist and republican-leaning media outlets in Ireland (such as Daily Ireland) almost always use "North of Ireland" or the "Six Counties". State institutions and cultural organisations in Northern Ireland, particularly those pre-dating the 1980s, often used the word "Ulster" in their title; for example, the University of Ulster the Ulster Orchestra, and BBC Radio Ulster. Many news bulletins since the 1990s have opted avoid all contentious terms and use either the official name, Northern Ireland, or the shorter term, "the North". For Northern Ireland's second largest city, broadcasting outlets which are unaligned to either community and broadcast to both use both names interchangeably, often starting a report with "Londonderry" and then using "Derry" in the rest of the report. However within Northern Ireland, print media which are aligned to either community (the Belfast Newsletter is aligned to the unionist community while the Irish News is aligned to the nationalist community) generally use their community's preferred term. British newspapers with unionist leanings, such as the Daily Telegraph[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F06%2F16%2Fnblud16.xml], usually use the language of the unionist community, while others, such as The Guardian use the terms interchangeably [http://www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,184915,00.html] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,2763,1394346,00.html] The media in the Republic of Ireland use the nomenclature preferred by nationalists, eg [http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0609/northviolence.html RTÉ News]. The division in nomenclature is seen particularly in sports and religions associated with one of the communities. Gaelic games and football (soccer) use Derry in club names for example. Nor is there clear agreement on how to decide on a name. When the nationalist-controlled local council voted to re-name the city "Derry" unionists objected, stating that as it owed its city status to a Royal Charter, only a charter issued by Queen Elizabeth II could change the name. Queen Elizabeth refused to intervene on the matter and thus the council is now called "Derry City Council" while the city is still officially "Londonderry". Nevertheless, the council has printed two sets of stationery - one for each term - and their policy is to reply to correspondence using whichever term the original sender used. At times of high communal tension, each side regularly complains of the use of the nomenclature associated with the other community by a third party such as a media organisation, claiming such usage indicates evident "bias" against their community.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland economy is the smallest of the four economies making up the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of Northern Ireland; for events before 1900 see History of Ireland. The area now known as Northern Ireland has had a diverse history. From serving as the bedrock of Irish resistance in the era of the plantations of Queen Elizabeth and James I in other parts of Ireland, it became itself the subject of major planting of Scottish and English settlers after the Flight of the Earls in 1607 (when the native Gaelic aristocracy left en masse for Catholic Europe). The all-island Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1801) was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain merged under a central parliament, government and monarchy based in London. In the early 20th century Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson, opposed the introduction of Home Rule in Ireland. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but were in the majority in the four counties of Armagh, Antrim, Down, and Londonderry, thereby forming a narrow majority in the northern province of Ulster. The clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords of the controversial budget of Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, produced the Parliament Act 1911 which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. Given that the Lords had been the unionists' main guarantee that a Home Rule Act would be enacted, because of the majority of pro-unionist peers in the House, the Parliament Act made Home Rule a likely prospect in Ireland. Opponents to Home Rule, from Conservative Party leaders like Andrew Bonar Law and Lord Randolph Churchill to militant unionists in Ireland threatened the use of voilence, producing the Larne Gun Running in 1912, when they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for the Ulster Volunteer Force. Churchill famously told a unionist audience in Ulster that "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right." The prospect of civil war on Ireland was seen by some as likely. In 1914 the Third Home Rule Act, which contained provision for a temporary partition, received the Royal Assent. However its implementation was suspended for the duration of the intervening First World War, which was only expected to a few weeks but lasted four years. But the time it concluded, the Act was seen as dead in the water, with public opinion in the majority nationalist community having moved from a demand for home rule to something more substantial, independence. Lloyd George proposed in 1919 a new bill which would divide Ireland into two Home Rule areas, twenty-six counties being ruled from Dublin, six being ruled from Belfast, with a shared Lord Lieutenant of Ireland appointing both executives and a Council of Ireland, which Lloyd George believed would evolve into an all-island parliament.

Partition of Ireland, partition of Ulster

In United Kingdom law, Ireland was partitioned in 1921 under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Six of the nine Ulster counties in the northeast formed Northern Ireland and the remaining three counties joined those of Leinster, Munster and Connacht to form Southern Ireland. Whilst the former came into being, the latter had only a momentary existence to ratify (in UK law) the Anglo-Irish Treaty that ended the Anglo-Irish War. Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Northern Ireland was provisionally scheduled to be included in the Irish Free State, though it could opt-out should the Parliament of Northern Ireland elect to do. As expected it did so immediately. Once that happened, as provided for, an Irish Boundary Commission came into being, to decide on the territorial boundaries between the Irish state and the Northern Ireland home rule region. Though leaders in Dublin expected a substantial reduction in the territory of Northern Ireland, with nationalist areas like Derry, Armagh, Tyrone and urban territories like Derry and Newry moving to the Free State, it appears that the Boundary Commission decided against this. The British and Irish governments agreed to leave the boundaries as they were defined in the 1920 Act.

1925 to the present

In the mid 1940s, to encourage the Irish state to join with the Allies, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered Taoiseach Éamon de Valera Irish unity but, believing that Churchill could not deliver, de Valera declined the offer. The British did not inform the Northern Ireland government that they had made the offer to the Dublin government. The Ireland Act 1949 gave the first legal guarantee to the Parliament and Government that Northern Ireland would not cease to be part of the United Kingdom without consent of the majority of its citizens, and this was most recently reaffirmed by the Northern Ireland Act 1998. This status was echoed in the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985, which was signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic, was amended in 1999 to remove a claim to sovereignty over the whole of Ireland (in Article 2), a claim qualified by an acknowledgement of British rule in the northeast. The new Articles 2 and 3, added to the Bunreacht to replace the earlier articles, implicitly acknowledge that the status of Northern Ireland, and its relationships with the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, would only be changed with the agreement of a majority of voters in Northern Ireland. An acknowledgement that a decision on whether to remain in the United Kingdom or join the Republic of Ireland rests with the people of Northern Ireland was also central to the Belfast Agreement, which was signed in 1998 and ratified by plebiscites held simultanously in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. However, many unionist leaders equivocate when asked if they would peacefully accept a reunited Ireland if a majority in Northern Ireland sought it. A plebiscite within Northern Ireland on whether it should remain in the United Kingdom, or join the Republic, was held in 1973. The vote went heavily in favour of maintaining the status quo with approximately 57% of the total electorate voting in support, but most nationalists boycotted the poll. Though legal provision remains for holding another plebiscite, and former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble some years ago advocated the holding of such a vote, no plans for such a vote have been adopted as of 2005.

Culture

:See Culture of Northern Ireland, Culture of Ulster, Culture of Ireland, Culture of the United Kingdom With its improved international reputation, Northern Ireland has recently witnessed rising numbers of tourists who come to appreciate the area's unique heritage. Attractions include cultural festivals, musical and artistic traditions, countryside and geographical sites of interest, pubs, welcoming hospitality and sports (especially golf and fishing). In 1987, pubs were allowed to open on Sundays, despite vocal opposition.

Languages

The Mid Ulster dialect of English spoken in Northern Ireland shows influence from both the West Midlands and Scotland, thereby giving it a distinct accent compared to Hiberno-English, along with the use of such Scots words as wee for 'little' and aye for 'yes'. Some jocularly call this dialect phonetically by the name Norn Iron. There are supposedly some minute differences in pronunciation between Protestants and Catholics, the best known of which is the name of the letter h, which Protestants tend to pronounce as "aitch", as in British English, and Catholics tend to pronounce as "haitch", as in Hiberno-English. However, geography is a much more important determinant of dialect than ethnic background. English is by far the most widely spoken language in Northern Ireland. Under the Good Friday Agreement, Irish and Scots have official recognition on a par with that of English. Often the use of the Irish language in Northern Ireland has met with the considerable suspicion of Unionists, who have associated it with the largely Catholic Republic of Ireland, and more recently, with the republican movement in Northern Ireland itself. Ulster Scots comprises varieties of the Scots language spoken in Northern Ireland. Mac Póilin (1999: 116) states that "While most argue that Ulster-Scots is a dialect or variant of Scots, some have argued or implied that Ulster-Scots is a separate language from Scots. The case for Ulster-Scots being a distinct language, made at a time when the status of Scots itself was insecure, is so bizarre that it is unlikely to have been a linguistic argument." Chinese and Urdu are also spoken by Northern Ireland's Asian communities. According to the most recent census returns, Chinese is now the second most widely spoken language, though the 8000-strong Chinese community — while often referred to as the "third largest" community in Northern Ireland — is tiny by international standards.

See also


- List of Ireland-related topics
- List of United Kingdom-related topics

Further reading


- Jonathan Bardon, A History of Ulster (Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1996)
- Robert Kee, The Green Flag: A History of Irish Nationalism (Penguin, 1972–2000), ISBN 0140291652

External links


- [http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/ Discover Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Tourist Board]
- [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ University of Ulster: Northern Ireland Conflict Archive]
- [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections Elections in Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.onlineni.net Online NI]
- [http://www.whiteimage.com Art gallery featuring artists and scenes from Northern Ireland]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of Ireland
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of Ireland and the UK
- [http://www.psa.ac.uk/cps/1996/payt.pdf Inconvenient Peripheries Ethnic Identity and the United Kingdom Estate] The cases of “Protestant Ulster” and Cornwall’ by prof Philip Payton
- [http://www.walkingtree.com/ Mercator Atlas of Europe] Map of Ireland ("Irlandia") circa 1564
- [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/ Sutton Index of Deaths]
- [http://www.geographyinaction.co.uk/Geology%20files/Geol_index.html Geography in Action] The geology of Northern Ireland
- [http://www.victorsloan.co.uk/ Victor Sloan-Northern Ireland visual artist's works commenting on political, social and cultural concerns] Category:Disputed territories Ireland, Northern Category:History of Ireland Category:NUTS 1 Statistical Regions of Europe Category:NUTS 2 Statistical Regions of Europe ko:북아일랜드 ja:北アイルランド simple:Northern Ireland

Ulster

:For other places and things named Ulster, see Ulster (disambiguation). :For an explanation of often confusing terms like Ulster, (Republic of) Ireland, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology) . Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland.

Geography & demographics

Ulster has a population of just under 2 million people and an area of 24,481 square kilometres (8,952 square miles). Its biggest city is Belfast (Béal Feirste). Six of Ulster's nine counties, Antrim (Aontroim), Armagh (Ard Mhacha), Down (An Dún), Fermanagh (Fear Manach), Londonderry (Doire) and Tyrone (Tír Eoghain), form Northern Ireland, one of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Unionists sometimes refer to Northern Ireland as "Ulster", but that usage is controversial and disputed by many, especially geographers and historians who use the term exclusively to apply to the nine-county province of Ulster. Three counties in the province of Ulster, Cavan (An Cabhán), Donegal (Dún na nGall) and Monaghan (Muineachán) are part of the Republic of Ireland. About half of Ulster's population live in Antrim and Down. English is spoken by virtually everyone in Ulster, with the exception of the Donegal Gaeltacht community who speak Irish as their native lanuguage (though all can also speak English from primary school age onwards), and immigrants living in the province. Irish is the second most widely-spoken language. Cantonese is the third most common mostly due to the considerable Chinese community of Belfast, the province's largest city. Belfast has more Chinese restaurants per capita than any other European city. The biggest lake in Ireland (and the British Isles), Lough Neagh, is in eastern Ulster. The province's highest point is Slieve Donard, in Down (848 metres). The most northerly point of Ireland, Malin Head, and the second highest sea cliffs in Europe, at Slieve League, are also in Donegal. The longest river in the British Isles, the Shannon, rises in Cavan. Volcanic activity in eastern Ulster led to the formation of the Antrim Plateau and the Giant's Causeway, one of the island of Ireland's three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The geographical centre of Ulster is near the village of Pomeroy, in Tyrone.

History & politics

Early History

Ulster (Cúige Uladh) is one of the four historic Irish provinces. Its early history extends further back than written records and is known only by legends such as the Ulster Cycle. In early medieval Ireland, Ulster was dominated by the Uí Néill dynasty who were based in Tír Eoghan (Eoghan's Country) - modern Tyrone. After the Norman invasion of the twelfth century, the east of the province was conquered by Norman barons, first De Courcy, then De Lacy, who founded the Earldom of Ulster - based around the modern counties of Antrim and Down. However, by the end of the 15th century, the Earldom had collapsed and Ulster was the only Irish province to be completely outside of English control. In the 1600s Ulster functioned as the last redoubt of the traditional Gaelic way of life, and following the defeat of the Irish forces in the Nine Years War at the battle of Kinsale (1601), Elizabeth I succeeded in subjugating Ulster and all of Ireland. The Gaelic leaders of Ulster, the O'Neills, and O'Donnells decamped en masse in 1607 to Catholic Europe, finding their power under English suzerainty limited. This allowed the Crown to settle Ulster with more loyal English and Scottish planters, which began in earnest in 1610.

Plantations and Civil Wars

The Plantation of Ulster, which was government run, settled only the counties confiscated from those Irish clans that were involved in the Nine Years War. This involved dispossessing thousands of the native Irish, who were forced by the Crown to take up poorer land. Counties Donegal, Tyrone, Armagh, Cavan, Londonderry and Fermanagh were included in the official plantation. However, the most extensive settlement in Ulster of English and Scots occurred in Antrim and Down, which were not officially planted, but had been de-populated during the war and were attractive to settlers from nearby Scotland. This unofficial settlement continued well into the 18th century, interrupted only by the Catholic uprising of 1641. This rebellion, initially led by Phelim O'Neill, was intended to be a quick siezure of power, but quickly degenerated into attacks on Protestant settlers. Thousands of Protestants were slaughtered by dispossessed Catholics, an event which remains strong in Ulster Protestant folk memory. In the ensuing wars (fought against the background of civil war in England, Scotland and Ireland), Ulster became a battleground between the Protestant settlers and the native Irish Catholics. In 1646, the Irish Catholic army under Owen Roe O'Neill inflicted a bloody defeat on a Scottish Covenanter army at Benburb in county Tyrone, but failed to follow up their victory and the war lapsed into stalemate. The war in Ulster ended with the defeat of the Irish Catholic army at the battle of Scarrifholis in 1650 and the occupation of the province by the Cromwellian New Model Army. The atrocities committed by all sides in the war poisoned the relationship between Ulster's ethno-religious communities for generations afterwards. Forty years later, in 1689, the conflict was re-fought in the Williamite war in Ireland, when Irish Catholics supported James II in the Glorious Revolution and Ulster Protestants backed William of Orange. The war provided Protestant loyalists with the iconic victories of the Siege of Derry, the Battle of the Boyne and the Battle of Aughrim, which are still commemorated today. The Williamite's victory in this war ensured British and Protestant supremecy in Ireland for over 100 years. Under the subsequent Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, most of Ulster's population was excluded from power on religious grounds. Roman Catholics, descended from the indigenous Irish, and Presbyterians, mainly descended from Scottish planters, were both discriminated against by the Penal Laws, which gave full political rights only to Anglican Protestants, who were mostly descended from English settlers. Also in the 1690s, Scottish Presbyterians became a majority in Ulster, tens of thousands of them haveing emigrated there to escape a famine in Scotland.

Republicanism, Rebellion and communal Strife

Most of the eighteenth century saw a calming of sectarian tensions in Ulster. The economy of the province improved, as small producers exported linen and other goods. Belfast developed from a village into a bustling provincial town. However, this did not stop many thousands of Ulster people from emigrating to America in this period, where they became known as the "Scotch Irish." Political tensions resurfaced, albeit in a new form, towards the end of the century. In the 1790s, many Catholics and Presbyterians, in opposition to Anglican domination and inspired by the American and French revolutions joined together in the United Irishmen movement. This group (which was founded in Belfast) was dedicated to found a non-sectarian independent Irish republic. The United Irishmen were particularly strong in Belfast, Antrim and Down. However, paradixically, this period also saw much sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants (principally members of the Church of Ireland (or Anglicans, who practised the state religion and had rights denied to both Presbyterians and Catholics), notably the "battle of the Diamond" in 1795, a faction fight between the rival "Defenders" (Catholic) and "Peep of Day Boys" (Anglican), which led to over 100 deaths and to the founding of the Orange Order. This event, and many others like it, came about as the Penal Laws were relaxed and Catholics began to purchase land and involve themselves in the linen trade, activities which previously had involved many onerous restrictions. Protestants, including Presbyterians, who in some parts of the province had come to identify with the Catholic community, used violence to intimidate Catholics who tried to enter the linen trade. It has been estimated that up to 7000 Catholics were expelled from Ulster during this violence. Many of them settled in northern Connacht. These refugees' influence can still be heard in the dialects of Irish spoken in Mayo, which have many similarities to Ulster Irish not found elsewhere in Connacht. Loyalist militias, primarily Anglicans, also used violence against the United Irishmen and Catholic and Protestant republicans throughout the province. In 1798, the United Irishmen led by Henry Joy McCracken launched a rebellion in Ulster, mostly supported by Presbyterians, but were swiftly put down by the British authorities, who employed severe repression after the fighting had ended. In the wake of the failure of this rebellion, and the gradual abolition of official religious discrimination after the Act of Union in 1800, Presbyterians came to identify more with the state and their Anglican neighbours, who perceived them as the lesser of two evils.

Industrialisation, Home Rule and Partition

In the 19th century, Ulster became the most prosperous province in Ireland, with the only large-scale industrialisation in the country. In the latter part of the century, Belfast overtook Dublin as the largest city on the island. Belfast became famous in this period for its huge dockyards and shipbuilding - notably of the RMS Titanic. In the 19th century sectarian divisions in Ulster became hardened into the policial categories of unionist (supporters of the Union with Britain, mostly Protestant) and nationalist (advocates of Irish independence, usually, though not only, Catholic). The origins of Northern Ireland's current politics lie in these late 19th century disputes over Home Rule for Ireland, which Ulster Protestants usually opposed - fearing for their status in an autonomous Catholic-dominated Ireland and also not trusting politicians from the agrarian south and west with supporting the more industrial economy of Ulster. To resist Home Rule, thousands of unionists, led by Edward Carson and James Craig signed the "Ulster Covenant" of 1912 pledging to resist Irish independence. This movement also saw the creation of the Ulster Volunteer Force, the first Irish paramilitary group, in order to resist British attempts to enforce Home Rule. In response, Irish nationalists created the Irish Volunteers - forerunners of the IRA to ensure the passing of the Home Rule Act 1914. This armed stand-off was interupted by the outbreak of World War I, in which thousands of Ulstermen of all religions were killed. In particlar, the heavy casualties of the 36th Ulster Division - largely composed of Volunteers from the UVF became both a source of mourning and pride for the loyalist community, down to the present day. In the aftermath of the War, Ireland saw several years of political violence, with Irish nationalists launching a guerrilla campaign against British rule (see Anglo-Irish War). In Ulster, the fighting generally took the form of street battles between Protestants and Catholics in the city of Belfast.It has been estimated that 2-3000 civilians were killed in this communal violence, the majority of victims being Catholics. The IRA was relatively quiet in Ulster, with the exception of the south Armagh area, where it was led by Frank Aiken. The formal end to hostilities were ended by the enactment of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 followed by the Anglo-Irish Treaty which ended in the partition of Ireland between the Irish Free State (now Republic of Ireland) and Northern Ireland. However, low-level violence, often involving the B-Specials, continued in Ulster, causing Michael Collins to order a boycott on northern produce, in protest at the attacks on the Catholic/Nationalist community. In 1922 six out of Ulster's nine counties became Northern Ireland and remained in the United Kingdom, whilst the rest became part of the Irish Free State. For the subsequent history of Ulster see History of Northern Ireland and History of the Republic of Ireland.

Current Politics

Although many of the Catholics of Northern Ireland have long opposed its existence, the Ulster Protestants of the three Republic of Ireland counties have assimilated well (although there was a good deal of migration into the other six counties following partition). Few sectarian tensions remain. The Orange Order freely organises in Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, with a large 12 July march taking place in Donegal annually with the full co-operation of the Garda Siochána and the local Catholic population. Electorally, while many of the Unionist parties were organised on religious lines, (the Democratic Unionist Party has no Catholics in elected office, while the Ulster Unionist Party has a relatively small number) no such religious demarcation exists in the three Ulster counties in the Republic of Ireland. All parties are open to all persuasions, with one Church of Ireland TD who had represented Monaghan, Erskine Hamilton Childers, being elected President of Ireland, having served as a longterm minister under Fianna Fáil Taoisigh Éamon de Valera, Sean Lemass and Jack Lynch. Eight of the eighteen MPs elected from the six counties of Northern Ireland are Catholics, reflecting the block voting of nationalists (who are mainly but not exclusively Catholic) in many cases. One of the ten TDs elected from the three counties in the Republic is a Protestant. The southern parties have long ceased to base their selection of candidates purely on any religious criteria. For most of the twentieth century they chose at least one candidate from a Protestant background to attract the protestant vote but the disappearance of a block Protestant vote voting exclusively for a candidate on the basis of religion, with Protestant voters instead voting primarily for local candidates irrespective of religion, means that selection is now based largely on considerations of geography when electing TDs to Dáil Éireann. There remains one occasional exception. Where the parties find that two candidates from a local area are seeking a nomination, and one is Protestant in an area of with a large Protestant electorate, the national party sometimes gives preference to that candidate, with sometimes the Protestant candidate being added to the ticket by the national headquarters. But it not automatic and is only used in those circumstances where a party can gain no competitive advantage from geography alone and where a candidate's ability to pick up one or two per cent extra in a part of a constituency because of their religion, could prove decisive in winning a seat. Unlike in Northern Ireland, there is no evidence of the corrollary being the case, namely that a Protestant candidate, because of their Protestantism, might lose the support of some Catholic voters. Indeed some of the most successful Protestant candidates won seats in situations where the majority of their votes can from Catholics. Though few Protestants have of late sought party nominations to run for Dáil Éireann, a larger number continues to seek nominations, and get elected, to local councils in the Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan areas. A nationwide prohibition introduced in the early 2000s that banned TDs from also being councillors, so as to separate local and national government more clearly, may discourage councillors who wish to remain on the council from seeking Dáil seats. It is unclear as of 2005 whether this may have an impact in discouraging the disproporionately high number of Protesant councillors, many of whom have long-held council seats passed on through the generations, which they may wish to hold but which they would have to give up if elected, from seeking to run from the Dáil. The flag of Ulster was the basis for the official flag of Northern Ireland until the Stormont parliament was prorogued in 1973.

Sport

In Rugby union, the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union plays as a professional club in the Celtic League, along with clubs from Wales, Scotland and the professional clubs from the other Irish Provinces (Leinster, Munster and Connacht). Association football (soccer) is divided by the border since 1921: there is a Northern Ireland (international) team, but not an Ulster team; there are separate football championships (Irish League in Northern Ireland, League of Ireland in the rest of Ulster). Anomalously, Derry City F.C. has played in the League of Ireland since 1985. In Gaelic games, Ulster counties compete with the other Irish counties in the All-Ireland Championships and National Leagues, as well as the All-Ireland inter-club championships. The whole province fields a team to play the other provinces in the Railway Cup. Gaelic football is by far the most popular of the Gaelic games in Ulster, with counties Derry, Antrim, and Down existing as 'isolated' Hurling counties.

See also


- Kings of Ulster
- Provinces of Ireland
- Ulster-Scots (people)
- Ulster Scots language
- Mid Ulster English
- Plantations of Ireland
- Culture of Ulster
- Ulster GAA

External links


- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of Ireland
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of Ireland and the UK
- [http://www.psa.ac.uk/cps/1996/payt.pdf Inconvenient Peripheries Ethnic Identity and the United Kingdom Estate] The cases of “Protestant Ulster” and Cornwall’ by prof Philip Payton
- [http://www.walkingtree.com/mapsireland.html Mercator Atlas of Europe] Map of Ireland ("Irlandia") circa 1564 Category:Provinces of Ireland
-

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 five cities — Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford — are administered separately from the remainder of their respective counties. Five boroughs — Clonmel, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Sligo and Wexford — have a level of autonomy within the county:

- County Carlow
- County Cavan
- County Clare
- County Cork
  - City of Cork
- County Donegal
- County Dublin
  - City of Dublin
  - Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
  - Fingal
  - South Dublin
- County Galway
  - City of Galway
- County Kerry
- County Kildare
- County Kilkenny
  - City of Kilkenny (Borough)
- County Laois
- County Leitrim
- County Limerick
  - City of Limerick
- County Longford
- County Louth
  - Drogheda (Borough)
- County Mayo
- County Meath
- County Monaghan
- County Offaly
- County Roscommon
- County Sligo
  - Sligo (Borough)
- County Tipperary
  - North Tipperary
  - South Tipperary
    - Clonmel (Borough)
- County Waterford
  - City of Waterford
- County Westmeath
- County Wexford
  - Wexford (Borough)
- County Wicklow

Geography

County Wicklow Main article: Geography of Ireland The island of Ireland extends over 84,421 km² of which five-sixths belong to the Republic, with the remainder constituting Northern Ireland. It is bound to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the northeast by the North Channel. To the east is found the Irish Sea which reconnects to the ocean via the southwest with St. George's Channel and the Celtic Sea. The west-coast of Ireland mostly consists of cliffs, hills and low mountains (the highest point being Carrauntoohil at 1,041 m). In from the perimeter of the country is mostly relatively flat farmland, traversed by rivers such as the River Shannon and several large lakes or loughs. The center of the country is part of the River Shannon watershed, containing large areas of bogland, used for peat production. The local temperate climate is modified by the North Atlantic Current and is relatively mild. Summers are rarely very hot, but it freezes only occasionally in winter. Precipitation is very common, with up to 275 days with rain in some parts of the country. Chief cities are the capital Dublin on the east coast, Cork in the south, Galway and Limerick on the west coast, and Waterford on the south east coast (see Cities in Ireland).

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Republic of Ireland The economy of the Republic of Ireland has transformed in recent years from an agricultural focus to one dependent on trade, industry and investment. While still small compared to its European neighbours, its growth is averaging a robust 10% in 1995–2000, and 7% in 1995-2004. Industry, which accounts for 46% of GDP, about 80% of exports, and 29% of the labor force, now takes the place of agriculture as the country's leading sector. Exports play a fundamental role in the state's rampant growth, but the economy also benefits from the accompanying rise in consumer spending, construction, and business investment. On paper, the country is the largest exporter of software-related goods and services in the world. In fact, a lot of foreign software, and sometimes music, is filtered through the country to avail of the state's non-taxing of royalties from copyrighted goods. One key reason for the country's economic surge might be her government's role in the past ten years. A number of programs to address the problems of high inflation (with poor results in recent years), large tax burdens, government spending, lack-luster foreign investment and low job skills have been introduced. A key part of economic policy, since 1987, has been Social Partnership which is a neo-corporatist set of voluntary 'pay pacts' between the Government, employers and trades unions. These usually set agreed pay rises for three-year periods. The state joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999 (leaving behind the Irish pound) along with ten other EU nations. The 1995 to 2000 period of high economic growth led many to call the country the Celtic Tiger. The economy felt the impact of the global economic slowdown in 2001, particularly in the high-tech export sector — the growth rate in that area was cut by nearly half. GDP growth continued to be relatively robust, with a rate of about 6% in 2001 and 2002. Growth for 2004 was over 4% and it is expected to be 5% or higher for 2005. With high growth came high levels of inflation, particularly in the capital city. Prices in Dublin, where nearly 30% of Ireland's population lives, are considerably higher than elsewhere in the country [http://www.finfacts.com/Private/bestprice/irishconsumerprices.pdf], especially in the booming property market. Ireland has the fourth-highest GDP (based on PPP) per capita in the world after Luxembourg, Norway, and the United States [http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/publications/other/bes_04.pdf], but lies 8th in the 2005 UN Human Development Index, which counts GDP per capita as a factor. This indicates that life expectancy (77.36 in 2004) and literacy (98% in 1981), which both place Ireland at about 40th in the world, currently trail behind economic growth. Poverty figures show that 10% of Ireland's population live below the poverty line (1997 [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ie.html]). UNICEF figures show Ireland has the 6th highest child poverty rate in the developed world at 16.8% ([http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/eco_chi_pov]).

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the Republic of Ireland The Irish people are mainly of indigenous origin, with the country's only significant minorities having descended from the Vikings and Anglo-Normans. Some of them are also of English, Scottish, and Welsh descent. Demographics of the Republic of Ireland The official languages are Irish (Gaeilge), the native language, and English. Although learning Irish is not compulsory in education, most schools teach it to all of their pupils who are not exempt from needing it to qualify for National University of Ireland universities. English is by far the predominant language spoken throughout the country. People living in predominantly Irish-speaking communities (the Gaeltacht) are limited to the low tens of thousands in isolated pockets largely on the western seaboard. Roads signs are usually bilingual, except in the Gaeltachts, where they are in Irish only. The legal status of placenames has recently been the subject of controversy, with an order made in 2005 under the Official Languages Act (2003) changing the official name of certain locations from English to Irish (e.g. Dingle is now officially named An Daingean). Most public notices are only in English, as is most of the print media. National media in Irish exists on TV and radio. The Republic of Ireland is 92% nominally Roman Catholic, but there has been a massive decline in full adherence among Irish Catholics. Between 1996 and 2001, regular Mass attendance, already previously in decline, declined from 60% to 48% (it had been 90%+ in 1973), and all but two of its seminaries have closed. The second largest Christian denomination, the Church of Ireland (Anglicanism), having been in decline for most of the twentieth century, has now experienced an increase in membership, according to the 2002 census, as have other small Christian denominations, and Islam. The largest other Protestant denominations are the Presbyterian Church in Ireland , followed by the Methodist Church in Ireland. The very small Jewish community in the state has continued to decline in numbers. Ireland is also home to a variety of small immigrant populations. According to the 2002 census, conducted by the Central Statistics Office, the largest EU groups are from: the UK, Germany and France; the largest non-EU groups are from: the USA, Nigeria and Romania.

Culture

Jewish Main article: Culture of Ireland The island of Ireland has produced the Book of Kells, Irish traditional music, and writers such as George Berkeley, Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, John Millington Synge, Seán O'Casey, Séamus Heaney, Bram Stoker and others. Shaw, Yeats, Beckett and Heaney are Nobel Literature laureates. Other prominent writers include Roddy Doyle, Dermot Bolger, Frank McCourt, Edna O'Brien, Joseph O'Connor, John McGahern and Colm Tóibín. Ernest Walton of Trinity College Dublin shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics for "splitting the atom". William Rowan Hamilton was a significant mathematician. William Rowan Hamilton Figures influential in music included Blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, folk singer Christy Moore, Shane MacGowan with his band The Pogues and singer Sinéad O'Connor. Successful entertainment exports in the late twentieth century include the rock group U2, Thin Lizzy, Bob Geldof, The Corrs, The Cranberries and the internationally acclaimed stage dance show Riverdance.

References


- Bunreacht na hÉireann (the 1937 constitution) ([http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/upload/static/256.pdf PDF version])
- The Irish Free State Constitution Act, 1922
- J. Anthony Foley and Stephen Lalor (ed), Gill & Macmillan Annotated Constitution of Ireland (Gill & Macmillan, 1995) (ISBN 071712276X)
- FSL Lyons, Ireland Since the Famine
- Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782–1992 (Irish Academic Press, 1994) (ISBN 0716525283)
- Some of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
- OECD Information Technology Outlook 2004

External links


- [http://www.gov.ie/aras Áras an Uachtaráin] - Official presidential site
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1038581.stm BBC country profile]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] Irish History
- [http://www.browseireland.com/ Browse Ireland] - Directory of Irish Websites
- [http://www.irlgov.ie/ Information on the Irish State] - Governmental portal
- [http://www.irelandstory.com/ Ireland Story] - History, geography and current affairs
- [http://www.walkingtree.com/ Mercator Atlas of Europe] Map of Ireland ("Irlandia") circa 1564
- [http://taoiseach.gov.ie/ Taoiseach] - Official prime ministerial site
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of Ireland and the UK
- [http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/frame.htm Tithe an Oireachtais] - Houses of Parliament, official parliamentary site Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Republic of ja:アイルランド ko:아일랜드 ms:Ireland simple:Republic of Ireland th:สาธารณรัฐไอร์แลนด์ fiu-vro:Iirimaa zh-min-nan:Éire

Great Britain

:For an explanation of often confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). British Isles (terminology) Great Britain is an island lying off the north-western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom (UK). Great Britain is also used as a political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales, the three countries which together comprise the entire island and include some outlying islands. Great Britain is also widely, but inaccurately, used as a synonym for the sovereign state properly known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Geographical definition

With an area of 218 595km² (84,400 sq.mi) the island of Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles. It is the largest island in Europe, and eighth largest in the world. It is the third most populous island after Java and Honshu. Great Britain stretches over approximately ten degrees of latitude on its longer, north-south axis. Geographically, the island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in the western and northern regions. Before the end of the last ice age, Great Britain was a peninsula of Europe; the rising sea levels caused by glacial melting at the end of the ice age caused the formation of the English Channel, the body of water which now divides Great Britain from the European mainland. The climate of Great Britain is milder than that of other regions of the Northern Hemisphere at the same latitude, because the warm waters of the Gulf Stream pass by the British Isles and exert a moderating influence on the weather. Cool, but not cold, temperatures, clouds more often than sun, and abundant rain are the rule in most years.

Political definition

Politically, Great Britain describes the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales. It includes outlying islands such as the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland but does not include the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. Over the centuries, Great Britain has evolved politically from several independent countries (England, Scotland, and Wales) through two kingdoms with a shared monarch (England and Scotland), a single all-island Kingdom of Great Britain, to the situation following 1801, in which Great Britain together with the island of Ireland constituted the larger United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK). The UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the 1920s following the independence of five-sixths of Ireland as the Republic of Ireland.

History

The Roman geographer Ptolemy called the larger island Megale Brettania (Great Britain), and the smaller island Micra Bretannia (Little Britain). Hence, originally, the term Great Britain referred to the largest island in the British Isles, just as the largest of the Canary Islands is still called Gran Canaria, and the largest of the Comoros is Grande Comore. Nevertheless, it is sometimes supposed that Great Britain is a translation of the French term Grande Bretagne, which is used in France to distinguish Britain from Brittany (in French: Bretagne), which had been settled in late Roman times by Romano-Celtic refugees from Roman Britain, then under attack by the Anglo-Saxons. Since the English court and aristocracy was largely French-speaking for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest of 1066, the French term naturally passed into English usage. The term was revived during the reign of King James VI of Scotland, I of England to describe the island, o