Ireland, Republic of (Gaelic Éire), republic comprising about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The country consists of the provinces of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught (Connacht) and part of the province of Ulster. The rest of Ulster, which occupies the northeastern part of the island, constitutes Northern Ireland, a constituent part of Great Britain. The republic has a total area of 70,283 sq km (27,136 sq mi).
Land and Resources
The eastern coast of Ireland is fairly regular with few deep indentations; the western coast is fringed by drowned or submerged valleys, steep cliffs, and hundreds of small islands torn from the mainland mass by the powerful forces of the Atlantic. The chief physiographic features are a region of lowlands, occupying the central and east central sections, and a complex system of low mountain ranges, lying between the lowlands and the periphery of the island. Among the principal ranges are the Nephin Beg Range in the west, containing Mount Nephin, about 719 m (about 2359 ft); the Caha Mountains in the southwest, containing Mount Knockboy, about 707 m (about 2321 ft); the Boggeragh Mountains in the south, rising to more than 640 m (more than 2100 ft); and the Wicklow Mountains in the east, rising to more than 915 m (more than 3000 ft). Carrantuohill, located in the southwestern section of the island, is the highest point in Ireland (1041 m/3414 ft above sea level). Numerous bogs and lakes are found in the lowlands region. The principal rivers of Ireland are the Erne and the Shannon, which are actually chains of lakes joined by stretches of river. The middle section of the central plain is drained by the Shannon, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean through a wide, lengthy estuary. Nearly half of the Shannon, above the estuary, comprises the Allen, Ree, and Derg lakes. All of Ireland's principal rivers flow from the plain, and an interior canal system facilitates transportation.
Climate
The climate of Ireland is like that of other islands. Because of the moderating influence of prevailing warm, moist winds from the Atlantic Ocean, the mean winter temperature ranges from 4.4° to 7.2° C (40° to 45° F), approximately 14° C (25° F) higher than that of any other places in the same latitude in the interior of Europe or on the eastern coast of North America. The oceanic influence is also pronounced in the summer; the mean summer temperature of Ireland ranges from 15° to 16.7° C (59° to 62° F), about 4° C (7° F) lower than that of other places in the same latitudes. Rainfall averages 1016 mm (40 in) annually.
Plants and Animals
Ireland's fauna does not differ markedly from that of England or France. The great Irish deer and the great auk, or garefowl, were exterminated in prehistoric times. Since the island became developed, species such as the bear, wolf, wildcat, beaver, and native cattle have disappeared. Small rodents living in the woods and fields remain, as do small shore birds and field birds. No serpents are found in Ireland, and the only reptile is the lizard. Sedges, rushes, ferns, and grass are the principal flora.
Population
The population of Ireland is predominantly of Celtic origin (see Celtic Languages; Celts). No significant ethnic minorities exist.
Population Characteristics
The population of the Irish Republic (1991 preliminary) was 3,523,401. The population is estimated in 1995 at 3,469,000, giving the country an overall population density of about 49 persons per sq km (about 127 per sq mi). The population decreased from the 1840s, when about 6.5 million people lived in the area included in the republic, until about 1970, largely because of a high emigration rate. During the 1980s the population increased at an annual rate of only about 0.5 percent, and by 1993 the rate had dropped to .26 percent. About 57 percent of the population lived in urban areas in the early 1990s.
Political Divisions and Principal Cities
For administrative purposes, the Irish Republic is divided into 26 counties and 5 county boroughs, which are coextensive with the cities of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford. The counties are: Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois (Laoighis), Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow, in Leinster Province; Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford, in Munster Province; Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Sligo, in Connaught (Connacht) Province; and Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan, in Ulster Province. The county of Tipperary is divided and administered as two subsections, Tipperary North Riding and Tipperary South Riding.
The capital and largest city is Dublin, with a population (1991, greater city) of 915,516. Cork is the second largest city and a major port, with a population of 127,024. Other cities and towns include Limerick (75,436), Galway (50,853), and Waterford (41,853).
Religion and Language
About 94 percent of the people of Ireland are Roman Catholics, and less than 4 percent are Protestants. Protestant groups include the Church of Ireland (Anglican) and the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the constitution.
Almost all the people speak English, and about one-fourth also speak Irish, a Gaelic language that is the traditional tongue of Ireland. Irish is spoken as the vernacular by a relatively small number of people, however, mostly in areas of the west. The constitution provides for both Irish and English as official languages.
Education
Irish influence on Western education began 14 centuries ago. From the 6th to the 8th century, when western Europe was largely illiterate, nearly 1000 Irish missionaries traveled to England and the Continent to teach Christianity. During the early Middle Ages, Irish missionaries founded monasteries that achieved extensive cultural influence; the monastery at Sankt Gallen (Saint Gall), Switzerland, is especially well known for its contributions to education and literature.
Classical studies flowered in ancient Ireland. Distinctive also at the time were the bardic schools of writers and other learned men who traveled from town to town, teaching their arts to students. The bardic schools, an important part of Irish education, were suppressed in the 16th century by Henry VIII, king of England.
University education in Ireland began with the founding of the University of Dublin, or Trinity College, in 1592. The National University of Ireland, established in 1908 in Dublin, has constituent university colleges in Cork, Dublin, and Galway. Other leading colleges are Saint Patrick's College (1795), in Maynooth, affiliated with the National University; Dublin City University, founded in 1975; and the University of Limerick, founded in 1970.
The Irish language has been taught in all government-subsidized schools since 1922, but fewer than 10,000 pupils speak it as their first language.
Ireland has a free public school system, with attendance compulsory for all children between 6 and 15 years of age. In the early 1990s some 533,000 pupils were enrolled annually in about 3440 elementary schools. Secondary schools, primarily operated by religious orders and largely subsidized by the state, numbered more than 450, with an annual enrollment of approximately 221,000. Yearly enrollment at universities and colleges totaled about 59,500. Ireland also has several state-subsidized training colleges, various technical colleges in the larger communities, and a network of winter classes that provide agricultural instruction for rural inhabitants.
Culture
Ireland was probably first occupied by Neolithic people, who used flint tools, and then by people from the Mediterranean, known in legend as the Firbolgs, who used bronze implements. Later came the Picts, also an immigrant people of the Bronze Age. Extensive traces of the culture of this early period survive in the form of stone monuments (menhirs, dolmens, and cromlechs) and stone forts, dating from 2000 to 1000 BC. During the Iron Age, the Celtic invasion (about 350 BC) introduced a new cultural strain into Ireland, one that was to predominate. The oldest relics of the Celtic (Gaelic) language can be seen in the 5th-century Ogham stone inscriptions in county Kerry. Ireland was Christianized by Saint Patrick in the 5th century. The churches and monasteries founded by him and his successors became the fountainhead from which Christian art and refinement permeated the crude and warlike Celtic way of life.
Ireland is famous for its contributions to world literature (see Gaelic Literature; Irish Literature). Two great mythological cycles in Gaelic—the Ulster (Red Branch) and the Fenian (Ossianic)—tell the stories of such legendary heroes as Cú Chulainn (Cuchulain), Maeve (Medb), Finn mac Cumhail (Finn MacCool), and Deirdre. After a long and bitter colonization by England, Ireland gave the world some of the greatest writers in the English language, including Jonathan Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, and George Bernard Shaw. Associated with the struggle for independence in this century is the Irish literary revival, which produced the works of William Butler Yeats and Sean O'Casey. James Joyce was a formative influence on much of later 20th-century European literature.
Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, is the most important national holiday in Ireland. The national sports are hurling, a strenuous game similar to field hockey, and Gaelic football, which resembles soccer. Horse racing is a highly popular spectator sport throughout the republic.
Art
From the 5th to the 9th century the Irish monasteries produced artworks of world renown, primarily in the form of illuminated manuscripts. The greatest such work is the Book of Kells, which has some of the most beautiful calligraphy of the Middle Ages (see Celts: Art). Native art seems to have disappeared during the period of English domination, but after the 17th century a number of Irish painters and sculptors achieved fame. The Irish painters George Barret, James Barry, and Nathaniel Hone were cofounders, with Sir Joshua Reynolds, of the Royal Academy in 1768. James Arthur O'Connor was a noted landscape artist of his period, and Daniel Maclise painted the magnificent frescoes in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. Notable among Irish painters of the 19th century were Nathaniel Hone, Jr., and Walter F. Osborne. More recently, the expressionist painter Jack B. Yeats, the cubist painter Mainie Jellett, and the stained-glass artist Evie Hone have achieved widespread recognition and acclaim for their work.
Music
Irish harpers were known throughout Europe as early as the 12th century. The most celebrated of these was the blind harper Torlogh O'Carolan, or Carolan, who composed about 200 songs on varied themes, many of which were published in Dublin in 1720. About the same time, an annual folk festival called the feis was instituted, devoted to the preservation and encouragement of harping. Irish folk music ranges from lullabies to drinking songs, and many variations and nuances of tempo, rhythm, and tonality are used. At the Belfast Harpers' Festival in 1792, Edward Bunting made a collection of traditional Irish songs and melodies, which he published in 1796. Thomas Moore, the great Irish poet, made extensive use of Bunting's work in his well-known Irish Melodies, first published in 1807. Classical forms of music were not widely known in Ireland until the 18th century. Pianist John Field was the first Irish composer to win international renown, with his nocturnes. Michael William Balfe is well known for his opera The Bohemian Girl. Among the most prominent of Irish performing artists was the concert and operatic tenor John McCormack.
Cultural Institutions
The most important Irish libraries and museums are in Dublin. The National Library of Ireland, with more than 500,000 volumes, is the largest public library in the country. Trinity College Library, founded in 1601, contains about 2.8 million volumes, including the Book of Kells. Together with exhibits in the fields of art, industry, and natural history, and representative collections of Irish silver, glass, textiles and lace, the National Museum houses outstanding specimens of the remarkable metal craftsmanship of the early Christian period in Ireland, including the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice, and the Moylough Bell Shrine (all dating from the 8th century), as well as the Lismore Crozier and the Cross of Cong (both 12th century). The National Gallery in Dublin has an admirable collection of paintings of all schools. Most cities have public libraries and small museums.
Interest in the theater is strong in Ireland. The famed Abbey Theatre and the Gale Theatre, both in Dublin, receive government grants. The Arts Council, a body appointed by the prime minister, gives grants to arts organizations and publishers; the Gael-Linn promotes the Irish language and culture.
Economy
The economy of Ireland has been traditionally agricultural. Since the mid-1950s, however, the country's industrial base has expanded, and now mining, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities account for approximately 36 percent of the gross domestic product, while agriculture accounts for only about 10 percent. Private enterprise operates in most sectors of the economy. The gross domestic product in 1993 was $47.6 billion.
Agriculture
Almost 81 percent of the total area of Ireland is devoted to pasture and cropland. The agricultural enterprise producing the most income is animal husbandry. In the early 1990s livestock included some 6.1 million cattle, 6.2 million sheep, 1.1 million hogs, and 65,000 horses. Poultry production is also important. The principal field crops are wheat, barley, oats, and potatoes. Among other important crops are hay, turnips, and sugar beets. The best farmlands are found in the east and southeast.
Forestry and Fishing
The government of Ireland has undertaken extensive schemes of reforestation in an effort to reduce the country's dependence on timber imports and to provide raw material for new paper mills and related industries. In the late 1980s forestland occupied nearly 5 percent of Ireland's total area; the annual output of roundwood was 1.5 million cu m (52.9 million cu ft).
The fishing industry, which has traditionally been underdeveloped, is expanding; the annual catch in the early 1990s was some 254,000 metric tons. Deep-sea catches include herring, cod, mackerel, whiting, and plaice. Crustaceans, particularly lobsters, crawfish, and prawns, and such mollusks as oysters and periwinkles, are plentiful in coastal waters and form the bulk of the country's seafood exports. The inland rivers and lakes provide excellent fishing for salmon, trout, eel, and several varieties of coarse fish.
Mining
Although mining plays a relatively minor role in the Irish economy, discoveries of new deposits in recent decades have led to a considerable expansion of mineral production. Annual mineral output in the early 1990s included about 35,000 metric tons of coal, 187,000 metric tons of zinc, and 39,000 metric tons of lead. Ireland is one of the leading exporters of lead and zinc in Europe. Natural gas is extracted off the southwestern coast; yearly output in the mid-1980s was 1.6 billion cu m (56.5 billion cu ft). Peat is dug in large quantities for domestic and industrial fuel and also for horticultural purposes; annual output in the the early 1990s was 5.6 million tons.
Manufacturing
Ireland has diversified manufacturing, most of it developed since 1930. Among the food-processing industries, the most important are meat packing, brewing and distilling, grain milling, sugar refining, and the manufacture of dairy products, margarine, confections, and jam. Other important manufactured articles include office machinery and data-processing equipment; electrical machinery; tobacco products; woolen and worsted goods; clothing; cement; furniture; soap; candles; building materials; footwear; cotton, rayon, and linen textiles; hosiery; paper; leather; machinery; refined petroleum; and chemicals.
Currency and Banking
The Irish pound (0.6432 pounds equal U.S.$1; 1996) is the basic unit of currency. Before March 1979, the Irish pound was exchangeable at a par with the British pound sterling. The Central Bank of Ireland, established in 1942, is the bank of issue. Associated with the Central Bank are the leading commercial (or associated) banks with their networks of local branches. Mergers have reduced the number of these associated banks. On the other hand, the number of merchant banking houses has increased, and leading North American and continental European banks now have offices in Dublin. Trustee banks and the Post Office Savings Bank mainly serve small individual accounts.
Commerce and Trade
Dublin and Cork are the manufacturing, financial, and commercial centers of Ireland. Dublin is the most important seaport; Cork is the main port for transatlantic passenger travel. Other significant ports include Dún Laoghaire, Waterford, Rosslare, and Limerick. Ireland became a member of the European Community (now called the European Union) in 1973, thus expanding the market for the country's important agricultural exports. Imports in the late 1980s totaled about $14.6 billion annually, and exports, including reexports, about $18.4 billion. The major trading partners of Ireland include Great Britain, Germany, the United States, France, and Japan. The most important exports include electrical and electronic equipment, livestock, meat, dairy products, chemicals, and textiles and clothing; about two-thirds of all exports are to the countries of the European Union. Imports are primarily machinery, transport equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, cereals and foodstuffs, textiles, and iron and steel.
Tourism has been effectively promoted and has increased steadily in importance. By the early 1990s, some 3.7 million tourists from overseas generated approximately $1 billion annually for the economy of Ireland.
Transportation and Communications
Ireland has 2700 km (1680 mi) of railway track, all operated by the state-owned Irish Transport Company and linking all important points on the island. The highway system totals about 92,300 km (about 57,350 mi), of which about 94 percent was paved. Navigable inland waterways total about 435 km (about 270 mi). International airports are located at Shannon, Dublin, and Cork, and several international air-transport systems provide regular service between Ireland and major cities throughout the world.
All postal, telegraph, telephone, and broadcasting services are operated by government agencies or statutory bodies. In the early 1990s more than 1 million telephones were in use. Radio Telefís Éireann, the public broadcasting authority, operated three radio channels and two television channels. In the early 1990s radios in use numbered about 2.2 million and television sets, approximately 1 million.
Labor
In the early 1990s the total labor force was about 1.3 million, of which approximately eight percent was engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Some 667,000 workers in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland are members of unions affiliated with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Government
Under the constitution of 1937, Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state. It became a republic in 1949 when Commonwealth ties with Great Britain were severed.
Executive
Executive power under the Irish constitution is vested in a cabinet, which forms a government of some 15 members. The government is responsible to the lower house of the national legislature. A prime minister serves as head of government and is appointed by the president after nomination by the lower house. Members of the government head the administrative departments, or ministries. They are selected by the prime minister, approved by the lower house, and appointed by the president. The president of Ireland is the head of state and is elected by direct popular vote for a seven-year term.
Legislature
Ireland has a bicameral legislature known as the Oireachtas. The lower house, or Dáil Éireann, is directly elected and now has 166 members. The upper house, or Seanad Éireann, has 60 members—11 appointed by the prime minister, 6 elected by university graduates, and 43 chosen by an electoral college of some 900 representatives from local governments and the national legislature. The slate of candidates represents labor, agriculture and fisheries, public administration and social services, commerce and industry, and national culture. The upper house is limited in authority, while the lower house has the power to support or bring down governments in the parliamentary tradition.
Judiciary
Judicial authority in Ireland is vested in a supreme court, a high court, a court of criminal appeal, a central criminal court, circuit courts, and district courts. The supreme court is the court of final appeal and plays a key role in constitutionality determinations. Judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the government.
Local Government
County councils, county borough corporations, borough corporations, urban district councils, and town commissioners administer local services, including health and sanitation, housing, water supply, and libraries. Local officials are popularly elected, usually for five-year terms. The local executives, who function as managers of local authorities, are selected by the central ministry after examinations.
Political Parties
The system of proportional representation by which members are elected to the Dáil complicates elections. Ireland has a history of party mergers, splinter groups, and coalitions. Among the most powerful parties in recent years have been Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democratic Party, and Labour. Over the years, the prime minister has formed a number of governments without a clear-cut working majority.
Health and Welfare
Most health services are provided free of charge for low-income groups and at moderate charges for others, through local and national agencies, under the supervision of the department of health. A nonprofit, contributory voluntary health insurance scheme is administered by an independent statutory agency. Public insurance and assistance programs are administered by the department of social welfare and include pensions for the aged, widows, and orphans; children's allowances; unemployment benefits; and other social security items.
Defense
The active military forces of Ireland—army, navy, and air force—total 13,000 members. Reserve forces now number 16,100. The forces are all volunteers.
History
For the history of Ireland prior to 1926, See Ireland: History.
Irish liberation from British rule was achieved as the result of a struggle extending over several centuries and marked by numerous rebellions. That "England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity" was the oldest principle of Ireland's long resistance to the British.
The Irish Revolution (1919-1922)
The Easter Rebellion, an uprising of Irish nationalists in Dublin on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, was doomed to fail, in part because of limited support from the Irish people. Britain's overreaction, however, including the execution of 15 Irish nationalist leaders, set the stage for the nationalist group Sinn Fein to replace Home Rule as the dominant political party. Founded in 1902 by Arthur Griffith, a Dublin journalist, Sinn Fein now called for Ireland to become a republic independent of Great Britain and for an end to the partition movement of the Protestant north. In the 1918 election, Sinn Fein candidates won 73 of the 106 seats allotted to Ireland in the British Parliament.
In January 1919 the Sinn Fein members of Parliament met in Dublin as the Dáil Éireann, or national assembly. They proclaimed Ireland's independence, and formed a government with Eamon De Valera as president. There followed guerrilla attacks by Irish insurgents, later called the Irish Republican Army (IRA), on British forces, particularly the Black and Tans, an auxiliary British police force. These attacks and British reprisals became an ugly war in which hundreds of people were killed.
In December 1920 the British Parliament enacted the Government of Ireland Bill, providing one parliament for the 6 counties of the Protestant north (Northern Ireland) and another for the remaining 26 counties. The people of Northern Ireland accepted this limited home rule, and elected a separate parliament in May 1921. Efforts to implement the new government in the other 26 counties served only to solidify Sinn Fein's position. The guerrilla war ended with a truce on July 11. Negotiations between representatives of the Dáil and the British government of Prime Minister David Lloyd George produced a treaty signed on December 6, 1921, whereby the 26 counties would become the Irish Free State within the Commonwealth of Nations, with a status equal to that of Canada and a modified oath of allegiance to the British monarch. The Dáil ratified the treaty on January 15, 1922, by a vote of 64 to 57. De Valera, who opposed the treaty, resigned as president of the Dáil and was replaced by Griffith. Michael Collins, another Sinn Fein leader, became chairman of the provisional government.
The Irish Free State (1922-37)
Under the leadership of De Valera, the dissident Sinn Fein group, known as the Republicans, called for a resumption of the struggle against Britain and instituted a campaign, which amounted to civil war, against the provisional government. With the question of the treaty the chief issue, an election for a provisional Dáil was held in June 1922. Candidates supporting the treaty won a majority of the seats. The Republicans, refusing to recognize the authority of the new Dáil, proclaimed a rival government and intensified their attacks on the Irish Free State. In the ensuing struggle, hundreds were killed on both sides, including prominent Republican leaders such as Collins. Meanwhile, the Dáil, headed now by William Thomas Cosgrave, drafted a constitution providing for a bicameral legislature (Dáil and Seanad, or senate), which was adopted on October 11, 1922. Following approval by the British Parliament, it became operative on December 6. The official government of the Irish Free State was instituted at once, with Cosgrave assuming office as president of the executive council. In April 1923 the Republicans ended their guerrilla campaign in time to participate in the national elections, and public order was gradually restored. Neither party secured a majority in the August elections. Cosgrave retained power, however, and De Valera led the Republicans in a boycott of the Dáil. Cosgrave put together a viable government, which reached an agreement with Britain on some mutual problems and strengthened the economy by a series of measures, including a hydroelectric project on the Shannon River. The boundary between the Free State and Northern Ireland was confirmed in December 1925.
The Irish Free State had joined the League of Nations in 1923, and the following year it set a precedent for members of the Commonwealth of Nations by sending its own ambassador to Washington, D.C. At the Imperial Conference of 1926, the Free State joined with other dominions to obtain the Balfour Report, which stated that the British government would not legislate for the dominions or nullify acts passed by their own legislatures. Once this was confirmed by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Ireland had the power to legislate away its relationship with Great Britain.
De Valera and the Republicans ended their boycott following the elections in August 1927 and entered the Dáil as the Fianna Fáil Party. In part as a result of the government's failure to cope with domestic difficulties brought on by the world economic crisis of the early 1930s, Cosgrave's party lost several seats to the Republicans in the elections of February 1932. De Valera thereupon became head of the government, beginning a stay in office that would last 16 years. Legislation that he sponsored in April included provisions for revoking the oath of allegiance to the British crown. This bill, which also would have virtually ended the political ties between Great Britain and the Free State, was approved by the Dáil, but was rejected, in effect, by the Seanad. Next, De Valera withheld payment of certain land purchase annuities that the British claimed were legally due them. This led to a protracted tariff war between the two countries, with serious damage to the economy of the Free State. In another significant move, De Valera secured repeal of a law restricting the activities of the IRA. The electorate registered approval of his program in the January 1933 elections, in which a majority of Republicans were returned to the Dáil.
With this mandate from the people, De Valera systematically developed his program for the gradual elimination of British influence in Irish affairs, obtaining abrogation of the oath of allegiance, restrictions on the role of the governor-general who represented the British crown, and other measures. Simultaneously, the government initiated measures designed to give the country a self-sufficient economy. Steps taken included high income taxes on the rich, high protective tariffs, and control of foreign capital invested in Irish industry. In June 1935, De Valera severed his political ties with the IRA, which had been extremely critical of many of his policies, and imprisoned some of its leaders. Meanwhile, a draft of a new constitution was in progress. In 1936 the Republicans, in coalition with other groups in the Dáil, finally secured passage of legislation abolishing the Seanad, long inimical to De Valera's policies. The Dáil functioned as a unicameral legislature for the remainder of its term. In connection with the events surrounding the abdication of Edward VIII, king of Great Britain, the Dáil enacted in 1936 a bill that deleted all references to the king from the constitution of the Free State and abolished the office of governor-general. The External Relations Act of 1936, passed at the same time, restricted the association of the Free State with the Commonwealth of Nations to joint action on certain questions involving external policy, specifically the approval of its trade treaties of the Free State and the appointment of its foreign envoys.
Éire (1937-1948)
The five-year term of office of the Dáil expired in June 1937. In the subsequent election De Valera and the Fianna Fáil were returned to power and, in a simultaneous plebiscite, the voters approved the new constitution. This document abolished the Irish Free State and established Éire as a "sovereign independent democratic state." The constitution provided for an elected president as head of state; a prime minister as head of government; and a two-house legislature, with a new 60-member senate. Although it presumed to apply to all Ireland, its application in Northern Ireland was not to take effect prior to unification. It made no reference to the British monarch or to the Commonwealth of Nations, but De Valera indicated that Éire's relations with Great Britain would be governed by the External Relations Act of 1936. In 1938 the Irish writer and patriot Douglas Hyde became the first president of Éire, and De Valera became prime minister.
In 1938 a treaty ended the tariff war between Éire and Great Britain. It provided for the withdrawal of British forces from naval bases in Éire in exchange for a lump-sum payment to settle the annuities owed to Britain. The slight improvement in relations between the two nations was marred by a violent terrorist campaign in Great Britain conducted by the IRA.
Though Éire remained neutral in World War II (1939-1945), thereby demonstrating its independence, many of its citizens joined the Allied forces or worked in British war industries. In the immediate post-war era, the economic dislocations in Great Britain and Europe subjected the economy of Éire to severe strains, resulting in a period of rapid inflation and, indirectly, in the defeat of Fianna Fáil and De Valera in the elections of February 1948. John Aloysius Costello became prime minister, leading a coalition of six parties, the chief of which was Fine Gael. He called for lower prices and taxes, the expansion of industrial production, and closer commercial relations with Great Britain. In November 1948 Costello led the Dáil in passing the Republic of Ireland Bill.
Republic of Ireland
On Easter Monday, April 18, 1949, the anniversary of the Easter Rebellion, Éire became the Republic of Ireland, formally free of allegiance to the British crown and no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. In the following month, the British Parliament confirmed the status of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom until its own parliament chose otherwise. It allowed Ireland to retain the economic benefits of Commonwealth membership, and it extended to Irish citizens resident in the United Kingdom the same rights as British citizens. Ireland granted British citizens residing in the republic similar benefits, not including political rights. The republic became a member of the United Nations on December 14, 1955. It declined to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, however, since this would have entailed entering into an alliance with the United Kingdom, which retained possession of Northern Ireland.
Economic Gains
Although inflation and an unfavorable balance of trade continued to trouble the country's economy, Ireland made significant strides toward economic stability through the 1950s and 1960s. In 1964 the government completed a five-year plan of economic development, which exceeded its goals. A feature of the program was the offer of tax incentives to foreign investors.
Partly as a result of such programs, the rate of economic growth increased from about 1 percent per year in the 1950s to more than 4.5 percent in the late 1960s. It was officially reported in 1964 that more than 200 factories had begun production since 1955, most of them with foreign participation. A second plan had a goal of increasing the 1960 gross national product by 50 percent within 10 years. The improving economic circumstances were regarded as the main cause of a decline in emigration, ending a population decline that had continued unabated for more than a century.
Political Developments
With economic recovery came a new measure of political stability and a decline in traditional anti-British feeling. As early as 1957 Prime Minister Costello, who regarded terrorist activities as damaging to relations with Great Britain and tending to prolong the partition of Ireland, had called for forceful action against the IRA. De Valera, who succeeded Costello following the 1957 elections, publicly agreed that unity could not be achieved by force. This plus a decline in active membership led the IRA in February 1962 to announce that it had abandoned violence. Still, Ireland continued to suffer occasional acts of terrorism.
In June 1959 De Valera, at the age of 77, was elected president, a position he would hold for 14 years, and Seán Francis Lemass became prime minister. Lemass and John Mary Lynch, who succeeded him in 1966, both attempted to build up industry in order to reduce unemployment and increase exports. Ireland was being led away from its ideal of conservative self-sufficiency and into closer ties with Britain and Europe. In 1965 Britain abolished virtually all tariffs on Irish goods, and Ireland undertook to do the same for British goods over a period of 15 years.
An increase of violence between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland was followed by IRA terrorist activity both within and outside of the Irish Republic. In 1971 the Dáil banned the purchase or holding of arms for use outside Ireland. In 1972 the government required the surrender of all firearms.
Also in early 1972 Ireland signed a treaty joining the European Community (now called the European Union), effective January 1, 1973,—a move favored by 83 percent of the voters; and, by referendum, ended the special constitutional status of the Roman Catholic church.
Shifts in Power
A coalition of Fine Gael and Labour parties gained a slim majority in the 1973 elections and Fine Gael leader Liam Cosgrave became prime minister. In 1977 Fianna Fáil returned to power in a government headed by Lynch; in 1979 he was replaced by Charles Haughey.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the Irish government faced difficult problems: increased domestic terrorism by extremist Irish nationalists and a weak economy that produced massive government debt and rising unemployment. In frequent elections, power alternated between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the latter in coalition with several minority parties, which are fostered by Ireland's proportional representation system of voting. Elections were held in 1981, and the coalition government was led briefly by Garret FitzGerald, head of Fine Gael. Inconclusive elections in February 1982 returned Haughey to power, but another election, in late 1982, brought FitzGerald back. In 1985 FitzGerald signed a pact with Great Britain giving the Irish Republic a consultive role in governing Northern Ireland. FitzGerald remained prime minister until 1987, when he was replaced by Haughey with a single-vote majority in the Dáil. After inconclusive elections in June 1989, Haughey formed a new coalition government. In November 1990, without the endorsement of the major parties, Mary Bourke Robinson was elected president. A champion of women's rights and civil liberties, Robinson is the first woman to hold so high an office in the Republic of Ireland.
In December 1991 Ireland signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht, the Netherlands, after securing a special provision which guaranteed that Ireland's abortion laws would not be affected by future European Union policies. The treaty was ratified by a national referendum in June 1992 with a 69 percent vote. Haughey resigned as prime minister and leader of Fianna Fáil in early 1992, amid allegations of scandal; his former finance minister, Albert Reynolds, was chosen to replace him. Reynolds remained prime minister after the elections of November 1992, but inconclusive election results led to the formation of a coalition government between the Fianna Fáil and Labour parties. In the elections, Irish voters also approved measures guaranteeing access to information about abortion and legalizing foreign travel to get an abortion, but rejected a constitutional amendment that would have broadened the availability of abortion within the republic. However, these changes were not supported by a July 1993 Irish Supreme Court decision, which upheld a ban on the distribution of overseas abortion information by a Dublin clinic.
In November 1994 the coalition government collapsed over disagreements regarding the appointment of an attorney to the High Court. Following the resignations of Labour leader Dick Spring and Prime Minister Reynolds, a new coalition government was formed, headed by Prime Minister John Bruton of the Fine Gael Party. The coalition was comprised members of the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party, and the Democratic Left.
In August 1994 the IRA had stated its intentions to suspend military operations in favor of peace negotiations in Northern Ireland. In February 1995 Bruton and British Prime Minister John Major established a framework for negotiating the status of Northern Ireland. The document recognized Northern Ireland's right to self-determination, expanded its autonomy and representation in the British government, and proposed the creation of a cross-border parliament between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However, the two sides failed to agree on disarming the IRA, which resumed its terrorist activities in February 1996. After a week of bombing, Major and Bruton met again, setting May 30 as the date for the election of a cross-border parliament, which would be made up of members from British and Irish parties and which would debate the situation in Northern Ireland. In late April, despite the threat of exclusion from the elections if the cease-fire was not restored, the IRA claimed responsibility for two more bombs that exploded in London.