Ireland (country)

Ireland is a European country that about 80 percent of the eponymous island covers. The other twenty percent of this island contains the state Northern Ireland, to which the United Kingdom belongs.

To land that distinguish the island is often referred to as the Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann ). This designation has since 1949, the status of an official description of the country. However, official, official name is, since 1937, shortly Ireland.

The country has 4,832,765  (2014)  inhabitants in an area of 69 825 km². In the northeast borders the republic of Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom , on the west by the Atlantic Ocean , on the east by the Irish Sea and in the south and southeast of the Celtic Sea and St George's Channel .

The national symbol of Ireland is a Celtic harp, which is also on the Irish euro coins depicted. But often the clover ( shamrock used) as a national symbol, including through the national rugby team.

Contents

 * 1 History
 * 2 Geography
 * 3 Demographics
 * 4 Politics
 * 4.1 Political System
 * 4.2 Administrative divisions
 * 5 Economics
 * 6 Traffic and transport
 * 7 Culture
 * 7.1 Sights
 * 7.2 Media
 * 8 Famous Irish

History
The Great Famine ravaged Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century

After the suppression of the Easter Rising (April 1916) started Irish volunteers grouped in the Irish Republican Army (Irish Republican Army, IRA) guerrilla warfare against the British. The occupation of Ireland by Britain became untenable after the peak of the violence withThe Burning of Cork in the night of 11 on December 12, 1920: After a company of the Auxiliaries (division of English ex-army officers) in an ambush Irish freedom fighters had fallen, the occupation forces burned much of the city Cork flat shots and the Black and Tans(British auxiliary forces) people without trial death. After years of war followed a truce between the IRA and the British army, with negotiations due. The southern part of Ireland gained practical independence as the Irish Free State by the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921. Northern Ireland, where many Protestant immigrants lived originally came from Scotland and who remained loyal to Britain, remained British. This was not only because so lived here more Protestants. Here were and still are the main ports of the island, Northern Ireland was also economically the strongest part of the country. The British thus retained most of the economic 'wealth' of the island.

The extremist wing of the IRA under Eamon de Valera refused to accept the "division" of Ireland in a Free State and the British Ulster.The result was a civil war between supporters and opponents of the Free State. Eventually, Eamon de Valera arranged in and he lay down in the division. Talks between the Free State and Northern Ireland in 1925 on a revision of the border came to nothing.

De Valera's party Fianna Fáil in 1927 became a member of the government of Prime Minister William Cosgrave . In 1932, de Valera himself prime minister and in 1937 he declared Ireland independent, but he did not call out the republic. During the Second World War,Ireland remained neutral, but behind the scenes the allies were helped. Around 70,000 men enrolled voluntarily in order to fight with the British army in Europe. In Ireland itself, at the beginning of World War II the state of emergency declared. In 1948, De Valera was defeated in elections in 1949 and the Republic of Ireland was proclaimed. In 1951 de Valera was again prime minister and in 1959 president of the republic. In 1972, the special role of the was Roman Catholic Church abolished by referendum. On May 30, 1973, the Protestant was Erskine Childers president, followed by Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (1974-1976) and Patrick Hillery(1976-1990).

Was supported by the Social Democrats Mary Robinson - an independent candidate - elected in 1990 president. In 1997, Mary McAleese president, and in 2004 was extended her tenure with 7 years. There were no opposing candidates reported for the elections. On 28 October 2011, Michael Higgins elected the new Irish president. [5]

Ireland has since 1973 member of the European Union but is not a member of NATO .

Geography
The Cliffs of Moher

The Republic of Ireland has a surface area of 69 825 square kilometers and covers over 80 percent of the island of Ireland, which it shares with Northern Ireland . The border with the United Kingdom ( Northern Ireland ) has a length of 360 km. The island of Ireland is situated in northwest Europe in the North Atlantic .

Ireland's west coast consists largely of rock shores, hills and low mountains. The highest point is Mount Carrauntoohil (1038 m) in the southwest of the country. The interior is relatively flat and is crossed by rivers such as the Shannon, with 386 km the longest river in the country, and lakes.

In addition to the eponymous island state Ireland also includes several other islands and archipelagos. The largest is Achill Island . Others include the Aran Islands, theBlasket Islands , Clear Island , Inishbofin , the Skellig Islands and Valentia .

Five Irish places have city status, these are also the largest areas of Ireland. The capital Dublin (Irish: Baile Atha Cliath pronounced something like bay ah-ha kliea) is also by far the largest city in the country . The other places with city status are Cork (119 418 inhabitants in 2006), Galway (72 414), Limerick (52 539) and Waterford (45 748).

Demographics
Between 1850 and 1950 the Irish population declined from seven million to less than three million, [6] including the aftermath of the "Great Famine" in which millions of Irish died of starvation or emigrated. Meanwhile, there are again 4.8 million Irish (2014).

Political system
Michael D. Higgins is President of Ireland since 2011

Ireland is a republic and a parliamentary democracy . The president of Ireland is the head of state, but fulfills a mainly ceremonial role, is elected directly, which, unlike in the elections to the Dail, only residents of the Republic may vote of Irish nationality. A president has a term of seven years and may be re-elected more than once. One of the tasks of the President is the designation of the Prime Minister, the Taoiseach .

The parliament Oireachtas consists of the Dáil and the Seanad . Dáil, similar to the Chamber of Deputies in Belgium and the Netherlands Lower House, directly elected by all the inhabitants of the Republic who have Irish or British nationality. (The United Kingdom and Ireland have an agreement allowing citizens of both countries to vote.) The Dáil is composed of 166 members, called Dala Teachtaí or TDs.

Ireland has an electoral system in which the country is divided into multiple constituencies ( list ). In each district to be chosen more candidates. Voters can cast their votes in the state which candidate has their choice, what their second and so on, until indicated a preference for all candidates. The voter has a single transferable vote .

The Seanad is composed of 60 members, called senators. They are not directly elected. Eleven of these members are nominated by the Taoiseach (in practice he appoints them), six members are elected by the graduates of universities. 43 members are chosen by special panels composed by profession.

The last elections to the Dáil took place in 2011. The current government is a two-party coalition of the Christian Democratic Fine Gael and the Social Democratic Irish Labour Party, led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny . The opposition in the current Dáil formed by Fianna Fáil (conservative-liberal), Sinn Fein (social democratic, republican),United Left Alliance (Socialist) and New Vision .

Ireland is a member of several major international organizations like the United Nations and the OECD . However, it is to maintain the neutrality not a member of the NATO .Ireland is connected at European level in the European Union and the euro zone, but it does not belong to the Schengen countries .

Administrative divisions
Historically, Ireland was divided into four provinces ( Ulster , Munster , Leinster and Connacht ), which together comprise 32 counties (counties). Part of the province of Ulster is now Northern Ireland . Theseprovinces have no meaning for the administration. The historic counties (counties) still have meaning. Of the 26 counties that are in the Republic are Dublin and Tipperary been divided into several "administrative" counties.

The cities of Dublin , Cork , Limerick , Galway and Waterford have its own administration, separate from the board of the county in which lie the cities. Other places are just a number of issues its own board.

Economy
For a long time Ireland was the poorest country in Western Europe, the emigration, where Ireland was known, was a symbol. In the 90s of the twentieth century Ireland was however a period of high economic growth through (in the period 1995 - 2000, an average annual economic growth of 9.9 percent was achieved), leaving Ireland in 2006 is the second richest country the EU (after Luxembourg ) and the fourth richest country in the world (after Luxembourg, Norway and the United States ). Ireland was in the 90s known as the Celtic Tiger, a term that refers to the Asian Tigers , which previously had a similar spectacular growth experienced.

The Irish economy has changed in the 90 years of an economy that was oriented to agriculture in a dynamic export economy of high-tech products and services. Especiallycomputers are an important export product and many American companies, including Dell and Intel, have established their European operations in Ireland. These companies were the basis for high economic growth that began in the 90s. Between 2005 and 2007 the economy grew by more than 5 percent on average per year. Services constitute 49 percent of the gross domestic product, industry 46 percent and agriculture 5 percent.

The secret of the economic upturn, besides the low taxes for foreign companies (eg, there is no tax on royalties ), the so-called "pay-pacts" (sort of collective agreement ), and the accessibility of the Irish education. Agreements between government, unions and businesses about the working conditions, including regulatory wage increases for three years. This is strongly reminiscent of the Dutch polder model of cabinets Cook and is a continuation of the corporatist ideology around which the Second World War did rise.Also made the abolition of tuition fees in the early 80s before that Ireland had relatively many highly skilled workers. The poor position of Ireland in the 80s also ensured that the average wages compared to other European countries was very low. Ireland was so attractive to US companies because it is an English-speaking country within the European Economic Area, which is highly skilled and cheap labor know, with also the necessary tax incentives.

In the economic heyday many Irish people bought a house, supported by banks like mortgages and provided tax benefits. House prices soared and the end of 2008 the Irish had outstanding euro 212 billion in debt, which was twice the available household income. However, Ireland was one of the first countries which were severely hit by the European sovereign debt crisis of 2010 and later . The economy showed a decline of 7.6 percent in 2009, partly because of a collapsing housing and building. Many Irishman struggled to pay back loans to banks and banks suffered heavy losses on debts that were irrecoverable. In order to save the banks from collapse provided government guarantees and capital injections made with a total value of 45 billion euros in 2009 and 2010. This led in 2010 to a huge budget deficit of 30.9 percent. The debt also increased significantly. In 2007 Ireland had a debt of 25 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), well below the European standard of 60 percent, but it rose rapidly to 106.4 percent in 2011. The decline in financial strength that entailed the crisis did the Irish grown so fast construction no good, allowing companies were in financial trouble and were many layoffs. Financial markets Ireland no longer trusted, and the government was forced to rely on the emergency fund from the IMF and EU, the EFSF . In November 2010 Ireland received a financial aid package of 85 billion euros. The aid has helped and unemployment has started a downward trend. In December 2013, the government has refrained from further international emergency aid and continues without the aid funds. In 2014, the Irish economy grew again with the highest figures since 2005. [7] Some well-known Irish products and companies Baileys (Liquor), Guinness , Murphy's Stout (beers), Jameson whiskey , Tullamore Dew (whiskeys), Kerry Group (food), Ryanair , Aer Lingus (airlines) and Waterford Crystal (Crystal).

Traffic and transport
Dublin Airport

The three main airports in Ireland Dublin Airport , Cork Airport and Shannon International Airport . Aer Lingus is the national airline, but the budget airline Ryanair is the largest Irish airline.

There are boat connections with the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and some with France .

Train transport is regulated by Iarnród Éireann, Dublin in the Dublin Area Rapid Transit . Irish tram system is rather limited. Only Dublin has a tram network, which by Luasoperated. The network consists of two lines, red and green, which had mainly to the south of the city. Bus transportation is owned by Bus Éireann, the network of city buses in Dublin is run by Dublin Bus .

Officially, Ireland moved in 2004 to the metric system. Traffic signs now indicate the distance in kilometers. There are, especially in rural areas, but many old signs with the mileage. In cities like Dublin who signs rare.

Sights
The mountain Ben Bulben, near Sligo
 * Aran Islands
 * Cliffs of Moher
 * Glendalough (former convent)
 * Kylemore Abbey
 * List of museums in Ireland
 * Newgrange (mound)
 * Monuments on the World Heritage List
 * Brú na Bóinne (archaeological site on the Boyne )
 * Skellig Michael (island)
 * The Hill of Tara (archaeological site)
 * The ornamental pin Tara which was found in this hill

Media
Irish, among other things, the newspapers are Irish television channels include: Irish radio stations include:
 * Irish Daily Mail
 * Irish Daily Star
 * Irish Examiner
 * The Irish Independent
 * The Evening Herald
 * The Irish Times
 * The Sunday Tribune
 * RTÉ One and Two
 * Setanta Sports
 * TG4 (Irish language)
 * TV3
 * 98FM
 * Newstalk
 * Radio Galway
 * RTÉ (Radio 1, 2FM, RnaG (Irish-speaking), LyricFM)