Republic of Ireland



We are a small nation. Our military strength in proportion to the mighty armaments of modern nations can never be considerable. Our strength as a nation will depend upon our economic freedom, and upon our moral and intellectual force. In these we can become a shining light in the world. Ireland (Irish: Éire), also known as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann), is a country in north-western Europe located on the island of Ireland. It was founded as a self-governing dominion associated with the United Kingdom in 1922 after a guerilla war against the Crown. By 1948, through the use of colonial law, the country was a fully-fledged republic. It is one of the richest countries in the world, having a GDP PC PPP greater than the U.K. The parliament has two houses, the Dáil (lower house) and the Seanad (the fact it has been relocated to the Irish National History museum says it all); everybody else in Dublin lives in apartments (if they can afford the skyrocketing rent). The country is led by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister).

History with Great Britain and partition
The Kingdom of Ireland - which comprised the entire island of Ireland - was joined with the Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) on 1 January 1801 to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Before this, the King of England was also the King of Ireland, and the parliament in Dublin was presided over by the Protestant ascendancy - a class of Anglican landowners who had a monopoly of political power on the island. Although nationalist historians refer to the period 1782-1801 as that of 'Grattan's Parliament' (named after the Liberal Henry Grattan, who led a campaign to bring greater autonomy to the Dublin institution), the idea that this institution had sole political authority on the island is a nationalist myth. In 1921, Ireland was parted into Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland, both of which were constituent countries of the United Kingdom, under the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Many members of the Irish Republican Army accepted this change, but others- referring to the IRA's oath at the time of swearing to fight for a sovereign, 32-county republic- accused Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, and other prominent "Free Staters" of selling out. They took up arms and started causing enough trouble that the British government- particularly Secretary for War Winston Churchill- began pressuring the Free State to act. They did, blasting away at the IRA-occupied Four Courts in Dublin with artillery and using greater numbers, armoured cars, and British logistical support to quickly gain the upper hand. The Anti-Treaty IRA fought tenaciously but had no real plan, goals or strategy beyond blowing things up and shooting at anybody wearing Free State green. The Free State ultimately triumphed, but Ireland's two largest political parties are directly descended from the civil war's opposing sides, and the failure to achieve a 32-county republic has been a major point of contention in Irish politics ever since.

The Irish Free State was officially established in December 1922 while the Civil War was still far from over, retaining links to the United Kingdom as a dominion within the British Commonwealth. Free State proponents like Michael Collins had advocated that full sovereignty could eventually be achieved by taking what the British were willing to give for the moment, and they were vindicated in 1949 when the Republic of Ireland was created, setting most of Ireland entirely outside British rule for the first time in 700 years. Northern Ireland had a devolved parliament dominated by the all-powerful Ulster Unionist party - this dominance was exacerbated by gerrymandering, which maximised the political representation of Protestant areas at the expense of Catholic areas. The northern statelet, which was a constituent 'home nation' of the United Kingdom, had, in fact, a great deal of devolved political power. Over various Unionist-Protestant administrations, the Belfast government instituted discriminatory laws against Northern Ireland's large Catholic minority, specifically concerning the provision of social housing and public jobs. The 'Special Powers Act 1922' was used almost exclusively on the Catholic/Nationalist community. The police force was almost unanimously Protestant. Tensions had been on high alert for decades, the Battle of the Bogside in 1969 (Derry) kicked off the Troubles. This conflict (Between various Republican groups - primarily the Provisional IRA and various Loyalist groups/The British State) was a running sore throughout the island, shaping community relations to this day. Although most young people on either side of the Catholic/Protestant divide are de facto atheists/agnostics, the tensions remain. Historians will probably determine the end date of the troubles as 1998, the year of the Good Friday Agreement. This eventually led to a power-sharing government between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party. The only way to properly understand the significance is to imagine Joseph McCarthy being co-President with Mikhail Gorbachev at the height of the Cold War in the United States of America/Soviet Union.

Government
The Republic of Ireland is a democracy and republic which elects Members of Parliament (Teachtaí Dála aka TDs) to sit in a parliament (Dáil, "doyle") situated on Kildare Street in Dublin City centre. These TDs then elect the Prime Minister (Taoiseach, "teeshukh") and ensure they perform their duties and scrutinise the government's actions.

Ireland has a bicameral system, having a Lower House (The Dáil) and an Upper House (An Seanad, which means "the Senate")

An Seanad is not elected by the public at large. The election procedure consists of nominations from the Taoiseach, University graduates and special interest groups. An Seanad has very few political powers, although it does fulfil a function in that legislation is often revised before being signed into law by the President. A recent (October 2013) attempt to abolish the Seanad as a supposed "cost saving" measure was narrowly defeated in a referendum.

The head of state is a President (Uachtarán). All presidential candidates must be nominated by 20 members of the Oireachtas or receive backing from four County or City Councils but are elected by direct vote. The presidential term lasts seven years, and all presidents have a limit of two terms. The president is mostly a figurehead, like the Queen of England and unlike the American president, and real power rests with the Taoiseach.

The country has a written Constitution that can only be modified through a majority vote in a referendum, more than thirty referenda have been held since 1939 on various amendments, and up to eleven amendments may be voted on in 2014, including same-sex marriage and a modified family court system.

Since the 2011 general election, Ireland has had four big political parties: Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Fein; there are also several smaller ones and many Independents. FF and FG occupy similar positions on the political spectrum, and the original differences result from disagreement over a treaty with Britain rather than left-right issues. Labour and Sinn Fein are largely considered centre-left and left-wing, respectively.

TDs are elected by a fairly elaborate system combining proportional representation with a which has the interesting effect that minor parties, and even independent candidates, have a decent shot at getting elected and influencing policy. The result is that coalition governments are not only common; they are pretty much expected. Elections in Ireland are a spectator sport with multiple "counts" under the PR system leading to tense moments for candidates.

Ireland joined the European Union's predecessor organisation in 1973. They are a full member state, and they use the Euro.

Main parties

 * Fine Gael (Irish Family, "feenuh gayl" or "gwail"): Centre right, conservative. Currently the largest party after the 2011 election. Descended from the pro-treaty forces (Cumann na nGaedheal) from the Irish Civil War. Generally centre-right though its members range from social democrats (Garret Fitzgerald, Frances Fitzgerald (it's not nepotism if it's in-laws), Declan Costello ( The founder of the social democrats within Fine Gael with his book Towards a Just Society)), neo-Thatcherites (Leo "Vlad" Varadker) to twee social conservatives (Michelle "fornication causes pregnancy" Mulherin),
 * Labour: Centre left, though many of the party leadership (including former leaders Eamon Gilmore and Pat Rabbite) were once leading lights in the Marxist Sinn Féin the Worker's Party (one of the numerous off-shoots of Sinn Féin over the years). In 2011 they entered a coalition with Fine Gael as the minor member, but like many left-wing parties that compromise on too many principles to stay in power (see Lib Dems), they were annihilated in the next election, dropping from 37 seats to 7.
 * Fianna Fáil (Warriors of Destiny, "feeanna foyle"): Traditionally the biggest party and the only one ever to have so far obtained enough of a majority of the vote to form a non-coalition government. Classic big tent party, led by donkey since Sean Lemass. Presided over a severe buggering of the economy in the mid-2000s, which led to them being voted out of office in the 2011 general election.
 * Sinn Féin (We Ourselves, or Ourselves Alone,"shin fayn"): A party with the stated mandate of returning the six counties of Northern Ireland from the UK to Ireland and that also operates in the North of Ireland. Many consider them to be the political wing of the IRA, which they deny. Throw in some left-wing luggage, and you have yourself a party. They gain votes for their left-wing and socially liberal policies despite their links to illegal paramilitary groups (e.g. only accepting the average industrial wage as pay instead of the standard €90k to €100k, were pro-gay-marriage and repealing the 8th amendment ). Leading lights in "the 26", as they sometimes refer to the Republic of Ireland, include Pearse "I'm from Donegal and I'm pissed off" Doherty and Mary Toomuchtan MacDonald.
 * Socialist Party: Actual socialists who have trouble persuading people to vote for them, mainly because they're the most crusty political party around. Further to the left than Leon Trotsky.
 * Green Party: Centre left. A party that claims to be primarily concerned with environmental issues, but the one time they actually got into power (by going into a coalition with Fianna Fáil), they promptly ignored their ideals to focus on having power. Though, of course, they had to contend with the greatest economic crisis in the state's history shortly after taking office, so only the most blinkered and narrow-minded person would expect them to harp on about windfarms and compost heaps in this context. Thankfully they performed their national duty, undertook to make spending cuts (Anathema to their political ideology) and eventually brought down the top-heavy Fianna Fáil-led coalition government. To suggest that their only interest was in preserving political power is absurd, as they could have forced an election in early 2008 when Fianna Fáil originally became so unpopular but instead decided to keep a steady ship at a time of acute national crisis. Luckily such absurd criticisms are only articulated by people with no real understanding of Irish politics or politics as a science.

Defunct parties

 * Progressive Democrats (PDs): Neoconservative laissez-faire capitalists who worship at the feet of Ronald Reagan and think giving tax money to private schools and hospitals is a jolly good idea. Defunct as of 2009 following a disastrous (for them) coalition with Fianna Fáil. They played a disproportionately important role in Irish political life in the 1990s and 2000s. Also blamed for the current economic mess the country is in by almost every economist with brains.


 * Libertas: A transnational party that began in Ireland and whose platform is opposing whatever EU directives get the most criticism in the country, with the result that while the Irish branch was campaigning for a tightening of border restrictions to reduce immigration, the Polish branch was simultaneously calling for more open borders to allow easier emigration. It seems to now be defunct.

Former Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton has announced plans to form a new party that will contest every constituency in the country in the upcoming general election. This news was welcomed by many due to broad dissatisfaction with the current political climate in Ireland, although Creighton has thus far only made vague statements regarding what her new party's policies will actually be.

Reactionary parties

 * Rénua: Presumably meaning "new reign", formed in 2013 by Lucinda Creighton after she was booted from Fine Gael for refusing to vote for the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act which would clearly define in law when abortion was legal due to a range of health risks (risk of suicide wasn't genuine enough for her). Does not hold any seats as of 2019
 * Aontú: "to agree, to unite, to fit, to cohabit", despite the generally nice meanings of the name, it was formed by Peadar Tóibín, who "wants to have a discussion about immigration", oh dear. Peadar Tóibín resigned from Sinn Féin due to his opposition to abortion in 2018 when it was passed in a referendum.

Cad a dhéanfadh mac an chait ach luch a mharú?
One peculiar feature of Irish politics is the number of political dynasties that inhabit the Oireachtas, many of which go as far back as the 19th century. Where you get one or two families in other countries like the Kennedys (Robert, Ted, Bob & Arnie), Pauls (Ron & Rand) and the Bushes (George H & Dubya) in the US, Milibands (David & Ed) in the UK and the Downers ( et ) in Australia. It is so extensive in Ireland that an entire Wikipedia page is devoted to "". Another feature of these Irish political dynasties is that, while in other countries, they spread themselves around, in Ireland, it is common to hold to certain constituencies for years, like the Healy-Raes in Kerry. Pundits have compared these dynasties to modern-day kingdoms of old Gaelic Ireland, where the country was a series of mini-kingdoms.

For example, the current President, Michael Higgins, has a daughter Alice May, an independent Senator. Another case is Dublin City councillor and former TD Joe Costello, who is married to Emer Costello, a former Lord Mayor, senator and MEP. Emer Costello's sister is Mary Moran, a current sitting senator.

Religion
The rapid growth of its economy in recent years has facilitated the decline of the Catholic Church's influence in the country, and consequently, religious involvement in Irish life has decreased dramatically. However, the Church still maintains some temporal power, despite many high-profile child sex abuse claims  brought against Catholic Priests. This power includes a near monopoly over the education system, especially the primary school system. The dominance is so inherently unfair that Catholic schools are almost entirely funded by the state. Atheist parents in most areas have little choice but to baptise their child as a Catholic. Otherwise, it is extremely difficult to get the child into their local school. Some urban areas, such as Dublin, have religion-neutral schools, but these are few and far between.

Ireland is predominantly Catholic, although Irish adherence to the doctrines of Catholicism consists of popping along to church every now and then to apologise for not going enough and then not going again for a few years. Religious moderation is the norm, with it being quite rare (and embarrassing to others) to see extremist beliefs expressed. The Irish Constitution does not hold any one religion above others, but it contains many references to God (e.g. ending statement contains "Dochum Glóire Dé", to the Glory of God). There are long-established Protestant and Jewish minorities.

The Church of Ireland was never really anything of the sort. It was an Anglican/Church of England outgrowth imposed on Ireland until disestablishment. The vast majority of Irish outside Dublin never joined it. Doctrinally it is somewhat more liberal than the CoE but pretty much the same to outsiders.

Although moderate in many ways, Ireland has an unfortunate history of obedience to mother Rome. The constitution had initially prohibited divorce (not repealed until 1996) and, until September 2018, forbid abortion except for cases where the mother's life is at risk. Currently, abortion is limited to pregnancies of less than 12 weeks or where the mother's life is at risk.

81% of the population as a whole consider themselves Catholic. Among young college students, only 58% consider themselves Catholic, and 37% say they believe in God, so those identifying as Catholic are sometimes culturally Catholic without believing.

Women
Ireland's historical attitude towards women can be very contradicting. The first woman to be elected to the British House of Commons wasn't Nancy Astor in 1921, but Sinn Féin representative Constance Markiewicz who was elected as the MP for Dublin St Patricks in 1918. However, as with all of Sinn Féin's MPs, she was an abstentionist in that she didn't take up her seat in the London parliament. She later became the first woman to become a government minister as she was chosen to be the Minister of Labour in the second ministry of First Dáil in 1919.

Nevertheless, Irish attitudes to women were heavily influenced by the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera, the paternalism of the Catholic Church and the desire by some for women to embrace motherhood. This was further enacted by the Bunreacht na hÉireann (Constitution of Ireland), which was written and approved in 1937. This document is listed in several articles, such as Article 41.2, which supposedly gave protection to mothers in the home and 41.3.2, which prohibited divorce, which the latter was overturned in 1995. Later amendments to the constitution included the eighth amendment banning abortion in 1983.

Women were also restricted in other ways, including a ban on married women being members of the civil service or working for state-owned companies such as RTÉ until 1973. Also, apart from a short while assisting the Dublin Metropolitan Police between 1917 and 1922, unmarried women were only allowed to be gardaí [police officers] from 1959.

Ireland is also the home of two noted beauty contests. The first one is the Miss World-style, which was started in 1957, awarding the prize of the Rose to those who are, as quoted in the 19th-century ballad, "lovely and fair". The other one is the, which started in 1968, awarded for their housewifery skills and civic spirit (seriously!). Winners of the contest would get a prize of a full-size gas cooker or a gas central heating system together with a year's supply of gas! The contest was put out of its misery in 1995!

No blasphemy here
In 2009 Ireland decided it'd be a rather good idea to make blasphemy a criminal offence. The constitution requires blasphemy to be illegal, leading Dermot Ahern, Justice Minister, to fix this with some additions to the Defamation Act.

Ahern claimed these blasphemy provisions exist because the Irish Constitution requires such a law to be in place. This would make one assume that such a law would be a mere formality for constitutional reasons since a blasphemy law is a bit odd in 21st century Europe. A glance at some of the proposals in the original draft would suggest that Ahern approached this with an unusual level of enthusiasm:
 * Fine of up to €100,000 (approximately $145,000)
 * Garda Síochána (the police) has the right to enter premises to confiscate offending materials (reminiscent of the movie Fahrenheit 451)
 * Guilt is largely based on how angry religious people get

The introduction of this draft led to many "WTF" reactions, so a later version reduced the fine to a mere €25,000. All the other proposals remain, so citizens may wish to hide any material that may be offensive to the religious (basically everything, including wrong versions of the Bible).

The law has been widely criticised in Ireland and overseas. The law doesn't only affect Ireland since member states can request extradition from a fellow EU state with a similar law on their books under the European Arrest Warrant. Were Turkey to join the EU, anybody in Ireland could be extradited for making rude comments about Muhammad. This is sure to do wonders for tourism.

The law is, in practice, difficult to enforce since it (rather ironically) contradicts other provisions of the Irish Constitution and European human rights legislation. The act specifies some exceptions, such as works of artistic merit, but it depends on how offended people get or how offended a judge thinks that people may get (or may be themselves). The law would encourage Ireland's small but noisy band of Christian and Islamic fundamentalists to yell when they think their peculiar beliefs aren't getting the respect they deserve.

A long-overdue debate during the constitutional convention in October 2013 will likely rectify the constitution, so the ridiculous law will no longer be necessary. Though the progress is welcome, one must wonder why it takes a hundred people a weekend of debating to come to a conclusion on whether or not the law is bullshit.

Thankfully blasphemy is no longer a crime as of October 2018.

Flag symbolism
The green, white and orange flag of the Republic of Ireland is called the Tricolour. It was first flown publicly in 1848. Green was intended to represent predominantly Roman Catholic supporters of Irish republicanism. Orange was intended to represent Ireland's Protestant minority, whose ancestors had been supporters of William of Orange. White was intended to represent the aspiration for peace between them. Cynical observers may conclude that the white represents the divide between those factions.

Languages
The first official language of Ireland is Irish (Gaeilge), spoken regularly by about 260,000 people (out of over 6.3 million). It is a mandatory subject in schools, so most people under 30 despise it and may suffer involuntary twitching when the name Peig is mentioned. It suffers from a severe image problem and is linked with shite folk music and sean nós singing (solo accompanied garbage). The official attitude towards it is inconsistent and bizarre. Irish-speaking areas have been turned into reservations called Gaeltachtaí. Secondary students are periodically exiled to these internal gulags to improve their language skills. Irish versions of the Constitution and legislation take precedence over the English versions, which can cause problems when civil servants drawing up legislation don't speak the language well.

English (Béarla) is constitutionally considered the second official language, but it is the language most people speak and the language in which government and the courts are conducted. The majority of schools teach through English, except the all-Irish Gaelscoileanna.

After Ireland got rich, many Poles emigrated to it in search of a decent living, with the result that Polish (An Pholainnis) is now one of the most spoken languages in the country. Statistics are hard to come by; however, many government buildings and places of business have notices and rules written in Polish, English, and Irish. It's generally held that more inhabitants speak Polish regularly than Irish. Thankfully this hasn't led to Peig being translated. Yet.

Sprinkling the teanga in the Béarla
One noticeable thing in Ireland is that various legal and official terms and organisations are known by their Irish names, even in English. Much of this was to support the Irish language over English in the hope that the country would be fully bilingual. Examples include Taoiseach (prime minister), Dáil (lower chamber), Garda (police, policeman), Bunreacht (constitution), An Post (post office) & Bord Bia (Food Agency).

Éire or Eire or Ireland
One way to aggravate any Irishman is by referring to the country in English as Eire, which comes from a confusion of the Constitution. Article 4 says that "the name of the state is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland". Usually, when you are talking about the country in English, you say Ireland, and when you talk about Ireland in Irish, you say Éire, although a lot of simplification means that the Irish term is used frequently in English. Because accents or, more academically diacritics, are rarely used in English, many write Eire instead of Éire, which is a problem, as "eire" in Irish means a load or a burden.

Abortion
Abortion was illegal in the Irish Republic, and women who needed an abortion had to travel to the UK (assuming they had the money) or get an illegal backstreet abortion. Illegal abortions risked a prison sentence of up to 14 years. The United Nations human rights committee saw the Irish position on abortion as cruel, inhuman and degrading. A referendum on the 25 May 2018 passed, allowing the constitution to be modified, permitting abortion. This was then reflected in law on 18 September 2018, allowing abortion in most cases before 12 weeks. As of 2019, abortion services are available but have suffered some growing pains.

Same-sex marriage
On the 22nd May 2015, the people of Ireland made grá the law by voting in a referendum to legalise same-sex marriage. The referendum passed with flying (rainbow) colours - 62.1% Yes versus 37.9% No. This makes Ireland the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote, and they did so in style. Éire Aerach go brách!