Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland (Irish language: ''Poblacht na h�ireann'') is the official "description" of an independent state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of north-west Europe. It is the westernmost state of the European Union, and has a developed country and an approximate population of slightly more than four million. The remaining sixth of the island of Ireland is known as Northern Ireland and is still part of the United Kingdom. Under the Constitution of Ireland the state's official name is simply Ireland (Irish: ''�ire''). ==Name== ''Main article: Names of the Irish state'' The constitution provides that the name of the state is "�ire, 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 ''�ire'' and the ''Twenty-six Counties''. 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 facto'' independence in 1922 it became known as the "Irish Free State", 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. 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 finally 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 Edward Carson and the northerner 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 World War I. (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 Irish (UK) general election, 1918, 73 of Ireland's 106 Member of Parliament elected were Sinn Feiners who refused to take their seats in the British House of Commons. Instead they set up an extra-legal Irish parliament called D�il �ireann. This D�il 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 �ireacht (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 Anglo-Irish War, 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 Gaelic ''Saorst�t �ireann'') with dominion status was created. The D�il 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 monarchy in the Irish Free State). It had a Governor-General of the Irish Free State, a bicameral parliament, a cabinet called the "Executive Council" and a prime minister called the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. 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 TD (parliament)s would have to swear an oath of fidelity to George V of the United Kingdom and his successors. Pro-Treaty forces, led by Michael Collins (Irish leader), 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. However, through the lack of an effective command structure by its opponents, the anti-treaty IRA, and IRA units' defensive stand through out the war, Michael Collins (Irish leader) and his commanders were able to build up an army which was able to overwhelm them on the battlefield. British supplies of artillery, aircraft, machine-guns and ammunition were much help to Pro-Treaty forces, and the threat of a return of Crown forces to the Free State removed any doubts of the necessity of enforcing the treaty. The lack of public support for the Irregulars and the determination of the government to defeat them contributed greatly 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. [[Image:Irishpopulation.png|400px|left|Irish population through the 20th century.]] 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 remained a member of the then British Commonwealth until the declaration of a republic in April 1949. Under Commonwealth rules declaration of a republic automatically terminated membership of the association. Only in 1950 were the rules changed to allow India as a republic to remain in the Commonwealth. Although the Irish state ceased to be a member and chose not to re-apply for membership, it retained many of the privileges of Commonwealth membership. To this day, for example, Irish citizens resident in the United Kingdom enjoy all the rights of citizenship, including the right to stand for office in local and parliamentary elections and to serve in the British forces. British subjects also enjoy these rights in Ireland. The Republic of Ireland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the European Economic 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 their violent conflict with the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland known as the "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 �ireann, and a lower house, D�il �ireann. 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 D�il has 166 members, ''TD (parliament)'', 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. 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, ''T�naiste'' (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Finance ''must'' be members of the D�il. The current government is made up of a coalition of two parties; Fianna F�il under Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Progressive Democrats under T�naiste Mary Harney. The main opposition in the current D�il is made up of Fine Gael and Irish Labour Party. Smaller parties such as the Progressive Democrats, Green Party/Comhaontas Glas, Sinn F�in and the Socialist Party of Ireland also have representation in the D�il. == Counties == ''Main article: Counties of Ireland'' The Republic of Ireland has 26 county, and these are used in political, cultural and sporting contexts. D�il �ireann 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 ** Cork * County Donegal * County Dublin ** Dublin ** Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown ** Fingal ** South Dublin * County Galway ** Galway * County Kerry * County Kildare * County Kilkenny ** Kilkenny (Borough) * County Laois * County Leitrim * County Limerick ** 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 ** Waterford * County Westmeath * County Wexford ** Wexford (Borough) * County Wicklow

== Geography == ''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 (Great Britain). 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 (meteorology) 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 (city) in the south, Galway and Limerick City on the west coast, and Waterford City on the south east coast (see Cities in Ireland). == Economy == ''Main article: Economy of the Republic of Ireland'' The Republic of Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy with growth averaging a robust 10% in 1995–2000. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 38% of Gross Domestic Product, about 80% of exports, and employs 28% of the labour force. Although exports remain the primary engine for the state's robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. On paper, the Republic 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 Republic to avail of the state's non-taxing of royalties from copyrighted goods. Over the past decade, the Irish government has implemented a series of national economic programmes designed to curb inflation, ease tax burdens, reduce government spending as a percentage of gross domestic product, increase labour force skills, and promote foreign investment. The state joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999 (leaving behind the Irish pound) along with ten other EU nations. This period of high economic growth led many to call the Republic 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 — but this was expected to fall to around 2% in 2003. Since 2001, GNP growth has been much worse, with an almost three-fold decrease in 2001 from the previous year. After a near stagnant year in 2002, growth picked up in 2003. Growth for 2004 was over 4% and it is expected to be 5% or higher for 2005. It has the fourth-highest GDP per capita in the world after Luxembourg, Norway, and the United States thus, making it an incredibly wealthy nation.[http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/publications/other/bes_04.pdf] == Demographics == ''Main article: Demographics of the Republic of Ireland'' The official languages are Irish language (Gaeilge), the native Celtic language, and English language, which is constitutionally described as a secondary official language. Learning Irish is compulsory in education, but English is by far the predominant language. Public signs are usually bilingual and national media in Irish also exist. 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. The Republic of Ireland is 92% nominally Roman Catholic, but there has been a massive decline in full adherence among Irish Catholics. In 1972 the "special position" of the Catholic Church in Ireland was deleted from the Irish constitution. Between 1996 and 2001, regular Roman Catholic 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 Catholic Church was also hit in the 1990s by a series of sexual scandals and cover-up charges against its hierarchy. In 1995, after a seventy-year ban (70 years in law, 58 years in the constitution) a constitutional amendment allowed divorce in the Republic. In 1983 the Irish constitution was amended to recognise what it called "the right to life of the Foetus" subject to qualifications concerning the rights of the mother. In the 1990s the Supreme Court interpreted the qualifications in the amendment as allowing Abortion in Ireland in limited circumstances. However the Oireachtas controversially still 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. 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. However, the very small Judaism community in the state has continued to decline in numbers. == Culture == ''Main article: Culture of Ireland'' The island of Ireland has produced the Book of Kells, Irish traditional music, and writers such as George Berkeley, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, S�amus Heaney, and others. Shaw, Yeats, Beckett and Heaney are Nobel Prize in Literature laureates. Ernest Walton of Trinity College Dublin shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics for "splitting the atom". Cultural figures of the late twentieth century include Christy Moore, Pat Ingoldsby, Shane MacGowan, and Sin�ad O'Connor. Successful entertainment exports in the late twentieth century include the rock group U2 (band) (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen), Sin�ad O'Connor, Bob Geldof, The Corrs, The Frames, and the dance show Riverdance. ==References== * ''Bunreacht na h�ireann'' (the 1937 constitution) * ''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'' ==See also== *List of Ireland-related topics ==External links== * [http://www.browseireland.com/ Browse Ireland] - Directory of Irish Websites * [http://www.irlgov.ie/ Information on the Irish State] - Governmental portal * [http://www.gov.ie/aras �ras an Uachtar�in] - Official presidential site * [http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/frame.htm Tithe an Oireachtais] - Houses of Parliament, official parliamentary site * [http://taoiseach.gov.ie/ Taoiseach] - Official prime ministerial site * [http://www.irelandstory.com/ Ireland Story] - History, geography and current affairs * [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.irishtourist.com Tourist Information] * [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of Ireland and the UK * [http://www.walkingtree.com/ Mercator Atlas of Europe] Map of Ireland ("Irlandia") circa 1564 Republic of Ireland Republics European Union member states Island nations fo:�rland ga:Poblacht na h�ireann gd:Poblachd na h-Eireann kw:Repoblek Iwerdhon la:Irlandia li:Ierland lv:Īrija ms:Ireland simple:Republic of Ireland zh-min-nan:�ire

Republic of Ireland

''Previous discussions: Talk:Ireland (archive), Talk:Republic of Ireland (archive1).'' Republic of Ireland/temp - temporary article moved out of main namespace ==Republic of Ireland is United Ireland== Being trying to get a proper discussion up and going on this subject for some time without any success, so I'm giving it a go here. My question is this: Since 1998 (as part of the Good Friday Aggreement) Ireland/the Republic of Ireland by referendum given up any and all claim to Northern Ireland as part of its national territory. So - does this mean that the Republic is in fact a United Ireland? All thoughts welcome. User:Fergananim eh . . . no! A united Ireland would be . . . well, a ''united'' Ireland, made up of NI and the ROI. The ROI correctly removed its ludicrous Articles 2 & 3. It is however perfectly entitled to hope that one day there is a united Ireland. It just doesn't have to rely on loopy articles in the constitution that were more of a hindrance than a help. Fear''�IREANN''">User:Jtdirl 18:26, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC) As much of a Irish Republicanism hater as I am, Fear''�IREANN''">User:Jtdirl has a point. It is just a united Republic of Ireland, not a United Ireland. RCD_Espanyol">User:saluedo ==Demographics== ''Most Irish people are of Celtic ethnicity, though there is a sizable English minority.'' Folks, the above is bollocks. We have a culture ''based'' on that of the Celts, but we are not genetic or ethnic Celts. See http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/03/23/state0101EST0331.DTL&type=science and look for related articles to breck it down. It can be boiled down to this: Most Irish people have a descent seperate from those of the known Celtic nations. We have some related culture and a related language, but our descent is different. Think of it like this - just because someone in India or Kenya specks English it does not mean that he is of ethnic English background. I also disagree with the wording in the second part of the sentence. Would'nt it be better to state something along the lines of ''along with a sizable section of the population descended from the various Viking, Norman, Welsh, Scots and English populations.'' ? However, I would prefer to wait a few days to see if anyone has any comments contrary to this before I change the wording. Cheers. User:Fergananim 10th Feb 2005. ==Various topics== Well, I've edited the article to make it fit once more into the agreed upon Wikipedia:WikiProject Countries template. I know, JTDirl is not going to like it one bit (see Talk:Republic of Ireland/temp). Jeronimo was right though on the points he raised and I've edited the sections accordingly, though Politics and Counties still need to done. The excellent and detailed information that was here is not lost, but has been moved to more appropriate pages. Before we start Round Two of JTDirl vs. the Template, I'd like to point out that this is not the page for any in-depth information on Ireland, excellent though it is, but rather a summary of the more important facts and a repository of links to articles that go deeper into a particular matter. Now I'm off to bed. User:Scipius 00:11 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) Oh great. Scipius is back. What is his pre-occupation with trying to force in here a version littered with inaccuracies and simplistic nonsense onto this page? He ignored everyone else the last time, now he wants to do it again. For the record, Scipius, the temp version here was worked on by people, was agreed with a consensus behind it and hence installed here. You tried to bulldoze your version through last time and failed. You tried to get this article put in under the wrong name and failed. This version has been agreed after a discussion. User:Jtdirl 02:48 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) :''Well, it's a pity that it looks like we're not going to have a more constructive discussion. My "pre-occupation" is simply that we have agreed to apply a certain template to all the main country articles. This template is meant, as said, as a collection of the most vital information on a country, embellished by links to articles that delve deeper into a subject matter. Ireland is of course no exception and I think my version offers a reasonably good overview of the Republic, without being overly specific on certain subjects. Certainly, there's always room for corrections or improvement and feel free to edit the page further, though keep in mind that for ''this'' page, (relative) brevity is desired.'' :''As for things being decided, that's not exactly true. The /temp talk page consists of Jeronimo pointing out what is needed for the template and your rebuttal, but no agreement on the part of Jeronimo at all. The template was agreed upon in July/August 2002 and has since been applied to a great many countries. The version that was on the temp page unfortunately does not comply with it, in particular the history section is far too long and I think we can all agree on that it had to shortened.'' User:Scipius 21:13 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) ::Just read the first part of this talk page that included arguments by Larry Sanger and also many mailing list posts made at about the same time. This horse has already been beaten to death. --User:Maveric149 21:55 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) ::The earlier discussion was about the name of the article, which is not now the issue. There was no objection then to the history section. The issue at stake here is the template itself. User:Scipius 22:26 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) :::No. The whole point was about which entity the article should be about (Ireland or the RoI). The name was just the most obvious issue. --mav : I do find Scipius' version odd; the text, esp in the history area, seems to be about Ireland and Irish culture instead about the far more recent political entity known as the "Republic of Ireland" (although that is not the official name). In this case we cannot associate Ireland with its thousands of years of history with the RoI in the same way as we cannot associate Korea and its thousands of years of history just with S. Korea. --User:Maveric149 ::''This is the way we've been doing it for all countries up till now, mav. We do indeed refer to the more extensive history of Korea in the article for South Korea, but when I added the two templates, I added the same text regarding the combined history to the article for North Korea. All country articles refer to events that were prior to the current incarnation of the country and I would say that a historic background is helpful to someone wanting to know more about a country.'' ::''I'm entirely open to suggestions that we limit country articles to only the current form of the state and create a general meta article for the greater entity (such as here) or for past forms. This should probably be discussed at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Countries though, where I raised the issue before, and until then I'd say the template as is stands. Consider this: the /temp article contained a wealth of excellent detailed information on the history of Ireland 1919-1949, but did not mention Saint Patrick, the arrival of English and Scottish settlers, the Famine, or the Easter Rising. Even if those issues can be seen as pre-Republic, there was also no mention of the Troubles or the Good Friday Agreement. The template version mentions all of these and more, at the expense of detail on a certain period, however crucial it was. Which would you rather have?'' User:Scipius 21:13 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) :::"All country articles refer to events that were prior to the current incarnation" Only when there is a one-to-one relationship between the current nation and its past history. The pre-history of the United States, for example, only starts with the colonial period - not with the Native Americans. Also the pre-history of Mexico starts with the Spanish conquest, not with the Aztec Empire. Lumping all that together is confusing and especially wrong in cases like Korea and Ireland. It is also bad database design to have the same information copied in two different places (the history of North Korea and the history of South Korea). It is best to simply start the split histories when the countries split and have everything prior to that at History of Korea. Then both the North and South articles would link to History of Korea. That way there is only one place for us to maintain text on the history before the split. This is good design and it makes things clear and easy to follow for our readers. --User:Maveric149 ::::And how do we deal with relationships that are supposedly not one-on-one, but still help to give the background to why a country is what it is? Both our articles on Mexico and the US do mention the situation prior to statehood. Do you suggest we do not mention any of the background history for any country article? User:Scipius 22:26 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) :::::Please read what I said again about "pre-history". What you propose would be the same as having the history of the Milky Way galaxy in an article about the earth. --mav ::::::''But you would still like to mention just who the Spanish conquered, right? It doesn't need to go into detail, but some links to a substantial part of a territory's history would seem useful. Your analogy is not entirely apt, I get the point, but that would be like describing the history of Asia in an article on Korea, which no-one is suggesting. Local territorial history does seem somewhat relevant to me.''User:Scipius 22:11 14 Jun 2003 (UTC) : After reading it over, I have to concur with mav and JTD. The text in Scipius' version is a bit too focused on the culture and identity of Ireland as a whole, as opposed to the newer Republic of Ireland. And if according to a person formally educated in such matters there are many inaccuracies in Scipius' article, why is this even an issue? -- User:Goatasaur ::''As said, we do not yet limit the history of a country to only the current state. For the RoI this necessarily means we then talk about Ireland in general in certain cases, but as the Republic came forth from and consists of most of the island of Ireland, some overlap is only natural. As for supposed inaccuracies, JTD is more than welcome to correct them (he is after all likely to be far more knowledgeable) and I've paid attention to correcting some myself. However, I would like everyone to compare the two versions to see which you would deem more informative in general. Wiki-articles are never quite finished, but I would suggest we use the template version as a basis for further improvements.'' User:Scipius 21:13 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) An article titled "Republic of Ireland" should not try to discuss the history of Ireland from the early Middle Ages. It is, among other things, offensive to the people of Northern Ireland, and needless - the article History of Ireland can cover that easily enough. User:Jlk7e 21:19 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) :I agree and so do several others so. Only one person disagrees so IMO the case is closed. --User:Maveric149 ::Well, what I would like to know is how this effects other countries. I may have to make a lot of changes if we make this policy. As for the history I added, as I said, it is a basis. I personally think it could be shortened in itself, but I would say JTD is more suited for it. Given the desire for more on the creation of the Irish state, why not expand that and cut back on the first two paragraphs? I maintain that the history section as it is now is not suitable for the template. User:Scipius 22:26 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) It makes sense in a case as complex as Ireland, where an article is called Republic of Ireland to focus on the history of that republic. If instead it focuses on the history and culture of the entire island it risks not only offending people but also unnecessary replication in Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, �ire, Irish Free State, and Ireland. I have also from time to time encountered a degree of ignorance and misunderstanding as to the status of Ireland with regard to Britain, and the current version makes it very clear how the current state evolved. In reference to the lack of mentioning Saint Patrick, the arrival of English and Scottish settlers, the Famine. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Northern Ireland as well as the republic. The settlements mainly happened in the north, and all of these including the famine pre-date the republic. The Easter Rising was a failed declaration of independence, which affected the whole Ireland and pre-dates the republic. The troubles (of Northern Ireland) and the Good Friday agreement (for Northern Ireland) do require some mention perhaps in that particularly the latter has affected the constitution of the republic. User:Mintguy 22:07 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) :Is there any reason why Northern Ireland could not also include parts of the shared history of Ireland? Why does linking some cultural and political history of the entire island to one of its resulting parts necessarily constitute an offence to the other, which after all shares it and should mention it as well? We certainly shouldn't claim the Republic is all of Ireland, but it does have a history that goes beyond 1919. User:Scipius 22:26 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) If you have to ask that question, Scipius, you are simply showing how little you understand the topic. The majority of people in Northern Ireland do not see themselves as Irish but as British, and believe their history should be on a page on the United Kingdom. The minority see themselves as Irish and would want their history put on an Irish page. Doing either on wiki would be taking sides, offensive to one side or the other, and so POV. ''That is why this page is on the Republic and why there is a separate page on Northern Ireland''. It is to ensure that wiki is not perceived as talking sides in the debate over whether Northern Ireland is British or Irish. As a nationalist, I would perceive it as Irish, but wiki cannot make such a POV judgement. This point was explained to you ''in depth'' MONTHS ago when you last tried to do this. How many times does it have to be repeated before you get the message? You wouldn't listen to anyone last time. Please listen to people ''this'' time. User:Jtdirl 23:38 10 Jun 2003 (UTC) :''Obviously it would be best to have a separate page like History of Northern Ireland, which mentions in more detail and correctness the past history of that territory. We do not yet categorise pages, so pages do not have nationality. My point is that it would not necessairly prohibit us from mentioning some relevant information from prior to the formation of the Irish state. Such as when English involvement in Ireland began, which is after all why an Irish state had to be created in the first place, just like the NI page mentions the arrival of the settlers. And again, the issue of having separate pages for Ireland and the Republic is long over, so there's no need to imply this is what this is about. The only relation is that the separation need not be this strict and in my view can overlap to a small extent, increasing the usefulness of an article, provided we avoid potential confusion and inaccuracy of course. Consider also the Culture section you apparently had no objection to, is it uncontroversial to mention pre-Republic Irish writers there?'' :''As for there being a consensus, that's not entirely accurate. Certainly, it's always good to ask other people for their opinion, but obviously a consensus is not something where those holding the opposing view to your own (such as Jeronimo and myself) are mostly ignored. This is supposed to be a country template page and thus this view is entirely relevant no matter at what point it is brought up. Issues with the template can be discussed at any time as far as I'm concerned.'' :''Let's explore two issues you mentioned elsewhere: the status of the languages and the name on the table. You accused me of ignorance and what not because I deleted your text that described English as a secondary language, thereby wanting to imply they are equal. That's not exactly the case. If brevity is desired in the article, it is absolutely essential in the table, so I limited it to a simple enumeration of both official languages. The primary reason I deleted the note however was because it unnecessarily lengthened the table and created ugly whitespace. Some preference was already given in that Irish was mentioned first and we usually can explain the linguistic situation more extensively in the Demographics section, but I've now edited that part to an extent that should be unambiguous, yet still neat and tidy. If you would still like a more explicit mention that we can add it as a note similar to that to the euro, but we shouldn't do it in that cell.'' :''As for the name on top of the table, that is reserved for the local official long name of a country. The local official name, given the preference for Irish, would be �ire, as is explained in Republic of Ireland Act. Combined with its constitutional superiority, this is probably what should come first, being the most promiment >local< name (and there being no real "long" form AFAIK). Now, the above article also mentions that the constitution also gives "Ireland" as its name in English and that is where it gets messy of course. Normally we would use "Ireland" as the second name, being constitutionally the English and other local name, rather than the description of "Republic of Ireland", which is at any rate already used as the article title and is mentioned in the first paragraph, which is normally reserved for the official long English (local or not) name. But given that this too appears to be undesirable I've replaced it with "Republic of Ireland", cutting out "Ireland" all together, but I'm open to suggestions.'' :''One other thing remains and that is the naming of the subarticles. I've restored the links to the normal subarticles "of Ireland" as this is where most of them remain at the moment. They usually contain only Factbook and State Dep. info on the Republic though and so most could be moved to "of the Republic of Ireland", but I thought I'd first ask if there are some that need to be kept at "of Ireland" (I'm mostly thinking of Counties of Ireland here).''User:Scipius 22:11 14 Jun 2003 (UTC) ---- The history of Ireland on this page needs to be shortened. It is the same as the page History of the Republic of Ireland. User:LittleDan 17:32 12 Jun 2003 (UTC) :I agree. This page should give a broad overview and the detail should be at the daughter article. If the ~230 history and ~150 year pre-history of the United States can be introduced a longish paragraph, then the history of this far younger republic can also be cut to the basics for this article. Think of the intro material in each section of this article as a hook to get people interested in reading the far more complete material presented in each daughter article. --User:Maveric149 19:35 12 Jun 2003 (UTC) ::I concur, as I had said before. Given his feelings on this subject, I'd say JTD is eminently the best man for the job. Would you please consider writing a, say, three paragraphs long appetiser on RoI's history? User:Scipius 22:11 14 Jun 2003 (UTC) I'd be happy to. It will be difficult to do it in three paragraphs without producing paragraphs so dense and complex that people without the basic facts may not be able to follow them, given that it is highly complicated subject.(Even trying to explain the difference between ''Ireland'', ''�ire'' and the ''Republic of Ireland'' is complex: one is an constitutionally inferior term often used but only by some, not all international states. Another is a constitutionally superior term whose usage in some cases offends Irish people, and the third name isn't a name but is used as a name to avoid using a name that in certain usage causes offence. Follow that? It is all thanks to the warped twisted mind of Eamon de Valera, a mathematician who thought he could apply mathematical formul� to the creation of the names (I kid you not) and in one occasion so confused everyone that even his Attorney-General gave up in frustration and quit to become Chief Justice (he had been AG for only 1 month!), the Governor-General deV had 'sacked' wasn't sure if he had been sacked (deV's advice to him was in effect 'we think you are sacked, but just in case you haven't been sacked, act as though you have been sacked and hide from the public! The GG ended up sueing deV!), the state's main civil servants and law officers held meeting after meeting to try to make head or tail of it all, and fifty years later deV himself admitted that he himself couldn't work out what he had done! What I've been doing here is trying to get the facts right (which by the way is a first in any encyclop�dia: everyone else gets them wrong, to the fury of Irish people, who know they are wrong but don't know do you actually get them ''right''!!) while not making it too confusing to follow. I can understand that it looks too long and I will start chopping but it may require a number of daughter articles that could turn the page into a jigsaw. But just be thankful de Valera only worked on the Irish constitution. Image the chaos wiki could have if he had done the same to other world constitutions!!! :-) User:Jtdirl 01:54 15 Jun 2003 (UTC) :I'm sure it'll work out. If you're worried about length, you could, if possible, try to keep the paragraphs in roughly the same order of length as those of the current politics section. The problem is that the History section is necessarily a little narrower due to the table next to it, so paragraphs will appear differently in the edit window than on the final page. I suspect we both work at fairly high resolutions, but a longish paragraph at 1280x1024 can become a dense slab of text at 800x600, so you may want to narrow your browser window to see the layout at lower resolutions. As for deV, it sounds like you could add yet more to either the article on the Constitution or on the man himself or perhaps a separate article of its own...;) User:Scipius 19:10 18 Jun 2003 (UTC). ---- Added one wee little sentence in the intro so it now reads: ''The country's official constitutional name is �ire or, in the English language, Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is the official description of the state.'' Think it needs to be clear from the outset why "Republic of Ireland" (with a capital R) is the title and is being used throughout the article. Broke it up so its clearer. user:will231 (4 Mar, 2004). Association of Irish Humanists http://www.irish-humanists.org Representing the interests of the largest ethical minority in the Irish Republic, 138,000 non-religious community. Distinguished Irish Humanists include Conor Cruise O'Brien and Owen Sheehy Skeffington. ==Names== The country box had been changed, and ended up a mixture of the state name and its description. Rather than merely revert I added both the name and the description. Cumbersome, but the italics make comparison between languages easier, and the naming problem is the first section of the main article. I changed head of government back to Prime Minister because this is the English term and is used in other countries' pages, unless the English term is translated (as in Germany, which uses Chancellor). Bunreacht 28.5.1 also uses the term "Prime Minister", although only to say that the term "Taoiseach" will be used instead, and is not otherwise used in Ireland. --User:Garryq 07:24, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC) :I removed "Poblacht na h�ireann" from the table - I believe it is merely a translation of the official English description – i.e. it's not an official term itself. It's not common, and is at any rate, in the first sentence in the article as a translation of the Republic of Ireland. User:Zoney 11:35, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC) :: The national and first official language is not used to produce mere translations of the "official English description". Both terms are official, and if both official languages are too cumbersome to be used then neither should be, as the table is for official names and not descriptions. The first section of the main article adequately describes the reasons for the nomenclature. --User:Garryq 18:17, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC) Three points. First, the ''Republic of Ireland'' is one name of the Irish state and is used as such by most Irish people as well as throughout wikipedia. The whole naming issue and the unusual status of the phrase "Republic of Ireland" is explained in the second paragraph of the intro as well as elsewhere in the article so a reader will understand that it is not the official constitutional name. Second this is the English wikipedia so Irish (including the phrase "Poblacht na hEireann") should be translated. Words like ''Eire'', ''Taoiseach'' and ''Oireachtas'' are exceptions to this because it is the intention of the constitution that they should be used even when we are speaking english. For example the preamble reads "we the people of Eire". No-one ever uses ''Poblacht na hEireann'' when speaking English. The other thing is that "prime minister" is being used in the table as a generic term so should not be capitalised. There's also the fact that many people think "Irish Prime Minister" is an official term and we dont want to perpetuate this. -User:Iota 00:02, 16 Jun 2004 (UTC) == New Europe footer == Hi there, Due to the duplication of countries in both EU and Europe footers, I created a new Template:European_countries_not_in_EU for those European countries not in the EU. This need only be put on pages which have the EU footer - other european countries should probably stick with Europe footer. Before I change all other EU country pages (I've only changed UK and Ireland), I'm just looking to see if there's any major objections? User:Zoney 21:28, 5 Jul 2004 (UTC) :Discussion at Template talk:EU countries User:Zoney 23:35, 5 Jul 2004 (UTC) I've added a bit about the Civil War since it was quite a glaring absence from bit about the history of the Republic. Kinda like doing France without mentioning the Revolution. == GDP? == Why does it say '3rd place' for GDP. Even if this is correct in some context, both lists of GDP maintained on wiki, the list of countries by GDP (nominal) and the list of countries by GDP (PPP) place it at 32 and 47 respectively. --User:Paraphelion 10:35, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC) Please refer to "GDP per capita." == Infobox == Apparently their has been a number of inbox changes on the page, i believe that we should keep it as the template, it will free up some room for more info, and keep the page code looking a bit cleaner. Nay comments? --User:Boothy443 04:23, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC) ==Opening sentence== From User:LaurelBush 16:11, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC): :I suggest the article's opening sentence should read: :"The Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na h�ireann) is a state and sovereign power centred on Dublin in the island of Ireland, off the coast of northwest Europe. It covers about five sixths of the island, and it is the western-most state of the European Union." :The expression "sovereign power" places the state on a map of sovereign powers, including the UK (centred on London or Westminster), France (Paris) and the US (Washington DC). ::The phrase "Sovereign power" is not used in the articles United Kingdom, France, and United States, and is, so far as I am aware, not in common use in English generally. If you want to change "state" to "sovereign state", I wouldn't object. I don't understand "centred on Dublin" either. User:John Kenney User_talk:John Kenney 05:44, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC) == Ireland (republic) == I've moved this page to ''Ireland (republic)'' because this independent state's official name is not ''Republic of Ireland'' but simply ''Ireland''. I'm aware that this has been discussed before, but unfortunately a wrong decision was made when this page was renamed ''Republic of Ireland''. When you name this page ''Republic of Ireland'', start the intro with '' Republic of Ireland'', and name every subpage as ''... of the Republic of...'' you're sending the wrong message that the country's name is ''Republic of Ireland'' which is not. I believe naming this article ''Ireland (republic)'' is the most NPOV, clear and correct way of handling this particular naming "issue". If this change is accepted by the community, I will begin renaming the subpages to ''... of Ireland (republic)''. �User:Cantus…User talk:Cantus 07:14, Mar 11, 2005 (UTC) :I for one would prefer Ireland (state). Yes we are a Republic, but the more basic description is country (ambiguous) or state (unambiguous). :This is a whopping HUGE change. I am moving back until we get discussion. :User:Zoney ♣ User talk:Zoney 09:56, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) ::Republic of Ireland actually saves a lot of hassle and argument - but I'm willing to see out a discussion and move it elsewhere if people are happy with that. User:Zoney ♣ User talk:Zoney 10:04, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) :The state has officially resolved this matter with the Republic of Ireland Act, intended to clarify the sometimes ambiguous use of "Ireland". That's been around since 1948 so it seems very well established at this point. The naming section adds further detail to clarify the difference between the current official description and the name used at founding. User:Jamesday 10:16, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) ::Cantus is wrong. The country's name, both official and commonly used, is ''Republic of Ireland'' User:Seabhcan 17:15, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) :::Actually he is right. "Republic of Ireland" is an "official description" as per the Republic of Ireland act. The state's official name remains �ire (in Irish) or "Ireland" in the English language. :::But I don't agree with the move, and this is the sort of situation that the official description was created for. User:Zoney ♣ User talk:Zoney 19:09, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) : "Ireland" is the official name, in English of the state; please consult and endless list of treaties, documents (eg passports) and such. "Republic of Ireland" is an official discription. I believe however, ''and it is a pov'', that "Republic of Ireland" is a better alternative to weasel titles like "Ireland (republic)", "Ireland (state)" and such other terms as we could endlessly propose to condem to the brackets, not to mention the mother of weasel words recently introduced to articles titles "southern Irish state". I propose leave it as it is their is enough difficulty with various names past used, viz Irish Republic. Is anyone proposing that the official title is policy and a must? Should "United Kindom" be moved to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", "France" to "French Republic" - shall i continue... Keep it simple and explain it properly. User:Djegan 20:11, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC) == Boroughs == Under a reform of local government initiated by Noel Dempsey the only name for city or incorporated towns' governments, ''Corporations'' was replaced. Many Irish incoporated towns now describe themselves as ''boroughs''. Personally I think Dempsey's renaming was a bit of pointless historical vandalism - the needless wiping out of ancient city government names. But then the Fianna F�il-PD government's contempt for Irish heritage is no secret, as evidenced by the decision to run a motorway through the unique and internationally renouned Tara-Skyrne valley when the road could have been built around it. (Curious how some FF-leaning property developers ''just happen'' to own property on the chosen route. 5000 years of history can be sacrified to make money from developers who are household names in the tribunals and are big money doners to Fianna F�il!) As evidence of the change in name from Corporation to Borough Council, see * [http://www.droghedaboro.ie/droghedaboro/drogindx.shtml|Drogheda Borough Council] * [http://www.kilkennycoco.ie/ar2002/20.html|Kilkenny Borough Council] * [http://www.wexfordcorp.ie/Wexford Borough Council] * [http://www.sligoborough.ie/ Sligo Borough Council] Under the ''Local Government Act, 2001'' Section: ''Establishment, titles and administrative areas of local authorities and consequential provisions.'' 11.�(1) On and from the establishment day and for the purposes of local government, the areas referred to in section 10 shall each have a local authority as provided for in this section. (b) The local authority for each of the towns set out in Schedule 6 shall be known by the name of the town followed by the words� (i) in the case of a town set out in Chapter 1 of Part 1 of that Schedule, "Borough Council" Fear''�IREANN''">User:Jtdirl 19:13, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) == Demographics - constitutional amendment re Catholicism == i've changed back the change by Cantus where he replaced the word 'deleted' by 'eliminated'. Articles removed from constitutions are described as ''deleted'' not ''eliminated''. I also reworded the lines on the absence of abortion in Ireland to give it the accurate context. The previous wording was inaccurate and not exactly NPOV. I've used exact terms and also qualified the quote of a line from the relevant article to make it clear that the paragraph takes neither a pro-choice or pro-life stance but just explains what happened - ie, a constitutional amendment, judicial interpretation of the constitutional amendment, failure of the Oireachtas to legislate for that judicial ruling, and subsequent amendments. Fear''�IREANN''">User:Jtdirl 23:20, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) == List of writers in culture section == I removed Herminie T. Kavanagh and Lord Dunsany from the list of writers in the culture section. No offence to these writers, but if we're to add names to this summary list of Irish writers there are at least a dozen others that would have a stronger claim, e.g. Bram Stoker, Flann O'Brien, William Trevor, John Banville, Colm T�ib�n, Louis McNeice to name just a few off the top of my head. It's only a summary list, and seems to cover what most people would consider the "giants", so I don't think any additions are necessary. --User:Ryano 14:58, 2 May 2005 (UTC) == irish gdp == i looked at the world gdp/cap list and the irish are right behind the yanks in gdp/cap. i never knew the irish were so rich. does anyone know what method irish use to make so much money? i always thought the japanese were richer than irish. :While stereotypically seen as slightly backward and rural, the truth is that the Irish economy has grown enormously in the last 10-15 years. Net emigration has been replaced by net immigration. Richness is relative though, as the cost of living, the cost of land/houses, commuting times, etc have all soared too. Due to the recent and rapid growth, the national communications and transport infrastructure are not as developed as the position in richness league tables would lead one to expect. There are arguments over whether GDP or GNP is a better way of measuring this, and one (can never remember which) is skewed by the amount of US corporations that have invested here and report their profits here before repatriating the actual profit. I suppose you could see Economy of the Republic of Ireland for more info. User:Jlang 23:35, 22 May 2005 (UTC)

Republic of Ireland

This category is for pages specifically referring to the Republic of Ireland. See also :Category:Ireland for articles which are not specific to the Republic. European Union member states European countries Ireland British IslesIsland nations ka:კატეგორია:ირლანდია

Republic of ireland

#redirect Republic of Ireland

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R