Ireland

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{{Infobox Islands|name = Ireland
Éire
Airlann|image name = LocationIslandIreland.png|image caption = Northwest of continental Europe with Great Britain to the east.]|coordinates =|archipelago = British Isles|area = 84,412 km² (32,591 sq mi)|highest mount = Carrauntoohil|country 2 = United Kingdom|country 2 admin divisions title = Constituent part|country 2 admin divisions = [Northern Ireland|population = Approximately 6 million|population as of = 2007|density =|ethnic groups = [Irish people, Ulster-Scots, Irish Traveller-->Ireland (; Ulster Scots language: Airlann) is the List of islands by area island in Europe behind Great Britain and Iceland.Great Britain being the largest and Iceland being the second largest. It is also the twentieth largest in the world.See List of islands by area. It lies to the northwest of Continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain. Politically, the Republic of Ireland (also known simply as Ireland) covers five sixths of the island, with Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, covering the remainder in the northeast. The name 'Ireland' derives from the Irish language word Éire, with the addition of the Germanic languages word 'land'. The derivation of Éire in turn is from Eueriio and Ériu. This word, from Proto-Celtic *Īwerjū, which also gave Middle Welsh Iwerd "Irish Sea", originally meant "fatness", in the sense of fertile.Mallory, J.P. and D.Q. Adams, ed. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Pub., 1997, p. 194

The population of the island is slightly under six million (2006/7), with almost 4.25 million in the Republic of Ireland "Census 2006 Preliminary Report" www.cso.ie (1.7 million in Greater Dublin" Population of the Greater Dublin Area to reach 2 million by 2021" www.cso.ie) and an estimated 1.75 million in Northern Ireland BreakingNews.ie - 'Migration pushes population in the North up to 1.75 million' Demography and Methodology Branch, NISRA - Excel file (0.6 million in Greater Belfast " Background Information on Northern Ireland Society: Population and Vital Statistics" from CAIN Web Service. Combined population of Belfast, Castlereagh, Carrickfergus and Lisburn. Accessed 6 February 2007). This is a significant increase from a modern historical low in the 1960's.

Political geography and Northern Ireland.

The island of Ireland has two distinct jurisdictions:

Republic of Ireland (legal name Ireland, legal description

Article 2, The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948, Government of Ireland the Republic of Ireland), a Sovereignty state, covers five sixths of the island. Its capital is Dublin.

Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, covers the remaining sixth. Its capital is Belfast.

For the political history of the island, see History of Ireland.

{]|-| || 2,292,939 || 19,774 || Dublin|-| || 1,993,918Indicates that the population for Ulster is the sum of the 2006 census results for counties of Ulster in Republic of Ireland and the 2006 Northern Ireland estimated population for Northern Ireland. Population for other provinces is all 2006 census results. || 24,481 || [Belfast: [Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; and, in a system developed between the 13th and 17th centuries, Counties of Ireland. Twenty-six of the counties are in the Republic of Ireland, and the remaining six (all in Ulster) are in Northern Ireland. Notably, Ulster and Northern Ireland are neither synonymous nor coextensive, as three counties of Ulster; County Cavan, County Donegal and County Monaghan; are part of the Republic. Counties Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Tipperary have been broken up into smaller administrative areas, but are still considered by Ordnance Survey Ireland to be official counties.The counties in Northern Ireland are no longer used for local government, although their traditional boundaries are still used in sports and in some other cultural areas.

All-island institutions Despite the constitutional division of the island, in a number of areas it operates officially as a single entity. In particular, with some notable exceptions, the island operates as a single country in terms of sporting, religious and commercial life. There are also all-island dimensions to governance on the island.

For example, most of the most popular sports on the island operate on an all-Ireland basis, such as Gaelic Games, Rugby union and Golf. The notable exception to this is soccer, although an all-Ireland cup competition, the Setanta Cup, was created in 2005. The creation of an all-island league and a single international team has been publicly touted by various prominent figures on the island in recent years, such as Irish government minister Dermot AhernBBC News, " Call for all-Ireland soccer team", 19 January 2007 and Northern Ireland national football team legend George Best.BBC News, " Best calls for 'combined Ireland'", 23 March 2005 However, the international governing body, FIFA, has ruled it out as impossible under its rules, and the respective local bodies have expressed no interest.Jim Gracey " Daft Dermot", Sunday Life, January 21, 2007

All major religious bodies, the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland/Anglican and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, are organised on an all-island basis. Some trade unions are also organised on an all-island basis and associated with the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU) in Dublin, while others in Northern Ireland are affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the United Kingdom, and some affiliate to both — although such unions may organise in both parts of the island as well as in Britain. The Union of Students in Ireland (U.S.I.) and the Union of Secondary Students (USS) operate in both jurisdictions, but the former organises jointly in Northern Ireland with the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (N.U.S.), under the name NUS-USI.

An increasingly large amount of commercial activity operates on an all-Ireland basis, Northern Ireland Assembly minutes, December 2002 particularly in the context of the European Union. There have been calls for the creation of an "all-island economy" from members of the business community and policy-makers on both sides of the border, so as to benefit from economies of scale and boost competitiveness in both jurisdictions. Forfás report This is a stated aim of the Irish government and Irish nationalism political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Agreement Reached in the Multi-party Negotiations - Northern Ireland Assembly One commercial area in which the island already operates largely as a single entity is the energy market. Report on the Energy Inquiry – Volume 2 - Northern Ireland Assembly

The Belfast Agreement provides for all-Ireland governance in various guises. For example, a North-South Ministerial Council was established as a forum in which ministers from the Irish government and the Northern Ireland Assembly can discuss matters of mutual concern and formulate all-Ireland policies in twelve "areas of cooperation", such as agriculture, the environment and transport. Six of these policy areas have been provided with implementation bodies, an example of which is the Food Safety Promotion Board. Tourism policy is also managed on an all-Ireland basis, by Tourism Ireland.

17 March is celebrated throughout the island of Ireland as St. Patrick's Day.

Physical geography satellite on 4 January 2003, with the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Irish Sea to the east..

A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil () in County Kerry, which is 1,038 m (3,406 ft). The River Shannon, at 386 km (240 miles) is the longest river in Ireland. River Shannon - Shannon Development Website www.shannonregiontourism.ie The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall, earns it the sobriquet "Emerald Isle". The island's area is 84,412 square kilometre Land and People www.irlgov.ie (32,591 square miles).

Ireland's least arable land lies in the south-western and western counties. These areas are largely mountainous and rocky, with dramatic green Panoramas, hence the attributive name "the Emerald Isle".

Climate Overall, Ireland has a mild, but changeable, Oceanic climate with few extremes. The warmest recorded air temperature was 33.3 °C (91.94 °F) at Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny on 26 June 1887, whereas the lowest recorded temperature was -19.1 °C (-2.38 °F) at Markree Castle, County Sligo on 16 January 1881. Website of Met Éireann - Temperature in Ireland www.met.ie

Other statistics show that the greatest recorded annual rainfall was 3964.9 mm in the Ballaghbeena Gap in 1960. The driest year on record was 1887, with only 356.6 mm of rain recorded at Glasnevin, while the longest period of absolute drought was in Limerick where there was no recorded rainfall over 38 days during April and May of 1938. Met Éireann (Irish National Meteorological Service) Historical rainfall statistics

The climate is typically insular, and as a result of the moderating moist winds which ordinarily prevail from the Atlantic, it is of a temperate nature, avoiding the extremes in temperature of many other global areas sharing similar latitudes.

Precipitation falls throughout the year, but is light overall, particularly in the east. The west, however, tends to be wetter on average and prone to the full force of Atlantic storms, more especially in the late autumn and winter months, which occasionally bring destructive winds and high rainfall totals to these areas, as well as snow and hail. The regions of North Galway and East Mayo have the highest incidents of recorded lightning annually (5 to 10 days per year). Website of Met Éireann - Rainfall in Ireland www.met.ie Munster in the south records the least snow with Ulster in the north more prone to snow. Some areas along the south and southwest coasts have not had any lying snow since February 1991.

Inland areas are warmer in summer, and colder in winter - there are usually around 40 days of below freezing temperatures (0 °C) at inland weather stations, but only 10 days at coastal stations. Ireland is sometimes affected by heat waves, most recently 1995, 2003 European heat wave, 2006 European heat wave#Ireland.

Geology Geologically the island consists of a number of provinces - in the far west around Galway and Donegal is a medium to high grade metamorphic and igneous complex of Caledonides (Scottish Highland) affinity. Across southeast Ulster and extending southwest to Longford and south to Navan is a province of Ordovician and Silurian rocks with more affinities with the Southern Uplands province of Scotland. Further south, there is an area along the Wexford coast of granite intrusives into more Ordovician and Silurian rocks with a more Welsh affinity.

In the southwest, around Bantry Bay and the mountains of Macgillicuddy's Reeks, is an area of substantially deformed but only lightly Metamorphic rock Devonian-aged rocks.

This partial ring of "hard rock" geology is covered by a blanket of Carboniferous limestones over the centre of the country, giving rise to the comparatively fertile and famously "lush" landscape of the country. The west coast district of The Burren around Lisdoonvarna has well developed karst features. Elsewhere, significant stratiform lead-zinc mineralisation is found in the limestones (around Silvermines and Tynagh).

Hydrocarbon exploration is continuing. The first major find was the Kinsale Head gas field off Cork (city)/Cobh by Marathon Oil in the mid-1970s. More recently, in 1999, Enterprise Oil announced the discovery of the Corrib Gas Field. This has increased activity off the west coast in parallel with the "North Sea oil#West of Shetland" step-out development from the North Sea oil. Exploration continues, with a frontier well planned north of Donegal for August 2006 and continuing drilling of prospects in the Irish Sea and St Georges Channel.

Wildlife Ireland has fewer animal and plant species than either Great Britain or mainland Europe because it became an island shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, about 8,000 years ago. Many different habitat (ecology) types are found in Ireland, including farmland, open woodland, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, conifer plantations, peat bogs, and various coastal habitats.

Fauna Only 26 land mammal species are native to Ireland, because it was isolated from Europe by rising sea levels after the Ice Age. Some species, such as the red fox, hedgehog, and badger are very common, whereas others, like the Mountain Hare, red deer and pine marten are less so. Aquatic wild-life - such as species of turtle, shark, whale, dolphin, and others - are common off the coast. About 400 species of birds have been recorded in Ireland. Many of these are migratory, including the Barn Swallow. Most of Ireland's bird species come from Iceland, Greenland, Africa among other territories. There are no snakes in Ireland and only one reptile (the Viviparous lizard) is native to the country. Extinct species include the Irish Elk, the wolf, the great auk, and others. Some previously extinct birds - such as the Golden Eagle - have recently been reintroduced after decades of extirpation.

Agriculture drives current land use patterns in Ireland, leaving limited land to preserve natural habitats, cover and land use", Environmental Protection Agency', 2000. Accessed July 30 2007 in particular for larger wild mammals with greater territorial requirements. With no top predator in Ireland, populations of animals that cannot be controlled by smaller predators (such as the fox) are controlled by annual culling, i.e. semi-wild populations of deer.

Flora See also :Category:Flora of Ireland. Until medieval times Ireland was heavily forested with oak, pine, beech and birch. Forests now cover about 9% (445,000 hectares or 1 million acres), of the land. National forestation statistics, Jan 2007 - Coillte Teoranta Because of its temperate climate, many species, (including subtropics ones like the Palm Tree (Arecaceae)) will grow in Ireland. Much of the land is now covered with pasture, and there are many species of wild-flower. Gorse (Ulex europaeus), a wild furze, is commonly found growing in the uplands, and ferns are plentiful in the more moist regions, especially in the western parts of Ireland. It is home to hundreds of plant species, some of them unique to the island.The country has been invaded by: Spartina × townsendii H. & J. Groves.

Algae: The seaweed flora is that of the cold-temperate. The total number of species is:- Rhodophyta: 264; Heterokontophyta: 152; Green algae: 114; Cyanophyta: 31 giving a total of 574. The rare species include: Itonoa marginifera (J.Ag.) Masuda and Guiry; Schmitzia hiscockiana Maggs and Guiry; Gelidiella calcicola Maggs and Guiry; Gelidium maggsiae Rico and Guiry and Halymenia latifolia P.Crouan and H.Crouan ex Kützing.Guiry, M.D. and Dhonncha, E.N. 2001. The marine macroalgae of Ireland : biodiversity and distribution. in Marine Biodiversity in Ireland and Adjacent Waters. Proceedings of a Conference 26 - 27 April 2001. Ulster Museum publication no.8 The country has been invaded by some algae, some of which are now well established: Asparagopsis armara Harvey first recorded by de Valera in 1939; Colpomenia peregrina now locally abundant it was first recorded in the 1930s; Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt now well established in Strangford Lough; Codium fragile ssp. atlanticum and Codium fragile ssp. tomentosum both of these subspecies are now well established.Minchin, D. 2001. Biodiversity and Marine Invaders.(Appendix) in Maine Biodiversity in Ireland and Adjacent Waters. Proceedings of a Conference 26 - 27 April 2001. Ulster Museum publication no.8

The impact of agriculture The long history of agricultural production coupled with modern intensive agricultural methods (such as pesticide and fertiliser use) has placed pressure on biodiversity in Ireland. "Runoff" of contaminants into streams, rivers and lakes impact the natural fresh-water ecosystems. A land of green fields for crop cultivation and cattle rearing limits the space available for the establishment of native wild species. Hedgerows however, traditionally used for maintaining and demarcating land boundaries, act as a refuge for native wild flora. Their ecosystems stretch across the countryside and act as a network of connections to preserve remnants of the ecosystem that once covered the island. Subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy which supported these agricultural practices are undergoing reforms.{{Citation | title = CAP reform - a long-term perspective for sustainable agriculture | publisher = European Commission | url=http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/index_en.htm | accessdate = 2007-07-30--> The CAP still subsidises some potentially destructive agricultural practices, however, the recent reforms have gradually decoupled subsidies from production levels and introduced environmental and other requirements.

Forest covers about 10% of the country, with most designated for commercial production. "Land cover and land use", Environmental Protection Agency', 2000. Accessed July 30 2007 Forested areas typically consist of monoculture plantations of non-native species which may result in habitats that are not suitable for supporting a broad range of native species of invertebrates. Remnants of native forest can be found scattered around the country, in particular in the Killarney National Park. Natural areas require fencing to prevent over-grazing by deer and sheep that roam over uncultivated areas. This is one of the main factors preventing the natural regeneration of forests across many regions of the country.{{Citation | first = Dick | last = Roche | title = National Parks | publisher = Seanad Éireann | url=http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0185/S.0185.200611080008.html | volume = 185 | date = 2006-11-08 | accessdate = 2007-07-30--> Seanad Éireann Debate involving Former Minister for Environment Heritage and Local Government

Further reading Nunn, J.D. (ed.) 2002. Marine Biodiversity in Ireland and Adjacent Waters. Proceedings of a Conference 26 - 27 April 2001. Ulster Museum publication no. 8.

Hackney, P. Ed. 1992. Stewart and Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University, Belfast. ISBN 0 85 389 4469.

Haigh, A. and Lawton, C. 2007. Wild mammals of an Irish urban forest. Ir Nat. J. 28: 395 - 403.

Chara curta in Ireland

History , County Sligo

A long cold climatic spell prevailed until about 9,000 years ago, and most of Ireland was covered with ice. This era was known as the Ice Age. Sea-levels were lower then, and Ireland, as with its neighbour Britain, instead of being islands, were part of a greater continental Europe. Mesolithic stone age inhabitants arrived some time after 8000 BC. Agriculture arrived with the Neolithic circa 4000 to 4500 BC where sheep, goats, cattle and cereals were imported from southwest continental Europe. At the Céide Fields in County Mayo, an extensive Neolithic field system - arguably the oldest in the world - has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat. Consisting of small fields separated from one another by dry-stone walls, the Céide Fields were farmed for several centuries between 3500 and 3000 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops cultivated. The Neolithic, or New Stone Age: Farming

The Bronze Age, which began around 2500 Anno Domini, saw the production of elaborate gold as well as bronze ornaments, weapons and tools. The Iron Age in Ireland was supposedly associated with people known as Celts. They are traditionally thought to have colonised Ireland in a series of waves between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, with the Gaels, the last wave of Celts, conquering the island and dividing it into five or more kingdoms. Many scientists and academic scholars now favour a view that emphasises cultural diffusion from overseas over significant colonisation such as what Clonycavan Man was reported to be. Breakingnews.ie - Report on gene origins Prospect-magazine.co.uk - Genetic heritage Royal Society - GenesThe Romans referred to Ireland as Hibernia Hibernia unrv.com and/or Scotia.http://www.bartleby.com/65/sc/Scotia.html The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05 Ptolemy in Anno Domini 100 records Ireland's geography and tribes. The Geography of Ptolemy www.Roman-Britain.org Native accounts are confined to Irish poetry, myth, and archaeology. The exact relationship between Rome and the tribes of Hibernia is unclear; the only references are a few Roman writings.

In medieval times, a monarch (also known as the High King of Ireland) presided over the (then five) provinces of Ireland. These provinces too had their own kings, who were at least nominally subject to the monarch, who resided at Kings of Tara. The written judicial system was the Brehon Laws, and it was administered by professional learned jurists who were known as the Brehons.

According to The Chronicle of Ireland, in 431, Bishop Palladius arrived in Ireland on a mission from Pope Celestine I to minister to the Irish "already believing in Christ." The same chronicles record that Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, arrived in 432. There is continued debate over the missions of Palladius and Patrick, but the general consensus is that they both existed and that 7th century annalists may have mis-attributed some of their activities to each other. Palladius most likely went to Leinster, while Patrick is believed to have gone to Ulster, where he probably spent time in captivity as a young man.

The druid tradition collapsed in the face of the spread of the new religion. Irish Christian scholars excelled in the study of Latin and Greek learning and Christian theology in the monasteries that flourished, preserving Latin and Greek learning during the Middle Ages. The arts of manuscript illumination, metalworking, and sculpture flourished and produced such treasures as the Book of Kells, ornate jewellery, and the many carved stone crosses that dot the island. From the 9th century, waves of Viking raiders plundered monasteries and towns, adding to a pattern of endemic raiding and warfare. Eventually Vikings settled in Ireland, and established many towns, including the modern day cities of Dublin, Cork (city), Limerick and Waterford City.

From 1169, Ireland was entered by Cambro-Norman warlords, led by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (Strongbow), on an invitation from the then King of Leinster. In 1171, King Henry II of England came to Ireland, using the 1155 Laudabiliter issued to him by then Pope Pope Adrian IV, an Englishman, to claim sovereignty over the island, and forced the Cambro-Norman warlords and some of the Gaelic Irish kings to accept him as their overlord. From the 13th century, English law began to be introduced. By the late thirteenth century the Hiberno-Norman had established the feudal system throughout most of lowland Ireland. Their settlement was characterised by the establishment of baronies, manors, towns and large land-owning monastic communities, and the county system. The towns of Dublin, Cork (city), Wexford, Waterford, Limerick, Galway, New Ross, Kilkenny, Carlingford, County Louth, Drogheda, Sligo, Athenry, Arklow, Buttevant, Carlow, Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, County Tipperary, Clonmel, Dundalk, Enniscorthy, Kildare, Kinsale, Mullingar, Naas, Navan, Nenagh, Thurles, Wicklow, Trim, County Meath and Youghal were all under Hiberno-Norman control.

In the 14th century the Norman Ireland went into a period of decline and large areas, for example Sligo, were re-occupied by Gaelic sept (social). The medieval English presence in Ireland was deeply shaken by Black Death, which arrived in Ireland in 1348. From the late 15th century English rule was once again expanded, first through the efforts of the Earls of Kildare and Ormond then through the activities of the Tudor dynasty under Henry VIII and Mary and Elizabeth I of England. This resulted in the complete conquest of Ireland by 1603 and the final collapse of the Gaelic social and political superstructure at the end of the 17th century, as a result of English and Scottish Protestant colonisation in the Plantations of Ireland, and the disastrous Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the Williamite War in Ireland. Approximately 600,000 people, nearly half the Irish population, died during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland#Guerrilla warfare, famine and plague. BBC The curse of Cromwell.After the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Catholics were barred from voting or attending the Parliament of Ireland. The new English Protestant ruling class was known as the Protestant Ascendancy. Towards the end of the 18th century the entirely Protestant Irish Parliament attained a greater degree of independence from the British Parliament than it had previously held. Under the Penal Laws (Ireland) no Irish Catholic could sit in the Parliament of Ireland, even though some 90% of Ireland's population was native Irish Catholic when the first of these bans was introduced in 1691. This ban was followed by others in 1703 and 1709 as part of a comprehensive system disadvantaging the Catholic community, and to a lesser extent Protestant dissenters. Laws in Ireland for the Suppression of Popery at University of Minnesota Law School In 1798, many members of this dissenter tradition made common cause with Catholics in a rebellion inspired and led by the Society of United Irishmen. It was staged with the aim of creating a fully independent Ireland as a state with a republican constitution. Despite assistance from France the Irish Rebellion of 1798 was put down by British forces.

In 1800, the British and subsequently the unrepresentative Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union which, in 1801, merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The passage of the Act in the Irish Parliament was achieved with substantial majorities, in part (according to contemporary documents) through bribery, namely the awarding of peerages and honours to critics to get their votes.Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition p.28. Thus, Ireland became part of an extended United Kingdom, ruled directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in London. The 19th century saw the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, during which one million Irish people died and over a million emigrated. By the 1840s as a result of the famine fully half of all Immigration to the United States to the United States originated from Ireland. A total of 35 million American ancestry (12% of total population) reported Irish diaspora in the 2005 American Community Survey. Irish-American Heritage Month (March) and St. Patrick's Day (March 17) 2007, US government census Mass emigration became entrenched as a result of the famine and the population continued to decline until late in the 20th century. The pre-famine peak was over 8 million recorded in the 1841 census. The population has never returned to this level. Ireland Learns to Adapt to a Population Growth Spurt New York Times

The 19th and early 20th century saw the rise of Irish Nationalism especially among the Catholic population. Daniel O'Connell led a successful unarmed campaign for Catholic Emancipation. A subsequent campaign for Repeal of the Act of Union failed. Later in the century Charles Stewart Parnell and others campaigned for self government within the Union or "Home Rule". An armed rebellion took place with the Easter Rising of 1916, and the subsequent Irish War of Independence. In 1921, a treaty was concluded between the British Government and the leaders of the Irish Republic. The Treaty recognised the two-state solution created in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Northern Ireland was presumed to form a home rule state within the new Irish Free State unless it opted out. Northern Ireland had a majority Protestant population and opted out as expected, its in-built majority choosing to remain part of the United Kingdom, incorporating within its border a significant Catholic/Nationalist minority. A Boundary Commission was set up to decide on the boundaries between the two Irish states, though it was subsequently abandoned after it recommended only minor adjustments to the border. Disagreements over some provisions of the treaty led to a split in the Nationalist movement and subsequently to the Irish Civil War. The civil war ended in 1923 with the defeat of the Anti-treaty forces.

History since partition Irish Independence: The Irish Free State, Éire, Ireland flag.The Anglo-Irish Treaty was ratified by the Dáil in December 1921 by a vote of 64 - 57. The minority refused to accept the result and this resulted in the beginning of the Irish Civil War, which lasted until 1923. In 1922, in the middle of this civil war, the Irish Free State came into being. During its early years the new state was governed by the victors of the Civil War. However, in the 1930s Fianna Fáil, the party of the opponents of the treaty, were elected into government. The party proposed and the electorate accepted in a referendum in 1937 a new constitution which renamed the state "Éire or in the English language, Ireland" (article 4 of the Constitution).

Irish neutrality during World War II, which was known internally as The Emergency. It offered some assistance to the Allies, especially in Northern Ireland. It is estimated BBC History of Northern Ireland that around 50,000 volunteers from Éire/Ireland joined the British armed forces during the second World War. In 1949, Ireland declared itself to be a republic and that henceforth it should be described additionally as the Republic of Ireland.

The Republic experienced large-scale emigration in the 1950s and again in the 1980s.

From 1987 the economy recovered and the 1990s saw the beginning of unprecedented economic success, in a phenomenon known as the "Celtic Tiger". By the early 2000s it had become one of the richest countries (in terms of GDP per capita) in the European Union, moving from being a net recipient of the European Union Budget to becoming a net contributor during the next Budget round (2007-13), and from a country of net emigration to one of net immigration. In October 2006, there were talks between Ireland and the U.S. to negotiate a new immigration policy between the two countries, in response to the growth of the Irish economy and desire of many U.S. citizens who sought to move to Ireland for work. Ireland considering immigration deal with U.S., Reuters, October 25, 2006

Northern Ireland , seat of the present Northern Ireland Assembly.

Northern Ireland was created as an administrative division of the United Kingdom by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. From 1921 until 1972, Northern Ireland was granted limited self-government within the United Kingdom, with its own parliament and prime minister.

In the first half of the 20th century, Northern Ireland was largely spared the strife of the Irish Civil War in the south, but there were sporadic episodes of inter-communal violence between Catholics and Protestants during the decades that followed partition. Although the Irish Free State was neutral during World War II, Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom was not, and became deeply involved in the British war effort (albeit without military conscription as it was introduced in Great Britain). Belfast Blitz from the German Luftwaffe in 1941.

In elections to the 1921-1972 regional government, the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland each voted almost entirely along sectarian lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by Plurality electoral system from 1929) was always controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party. Over time, the minority Catholic community felt increasingly alienated by the regional government in Northern Ireland, with further disaffection fuelled by incidents such as gerrymandering of the Londonderry County Borough Council in 1967, and the discrimination of Catholics in housing and employment. Professor John H. Whyte paper on discrimination in Northern Ireland

In the 1960s Irish nationalism grievances at Unionists (Ireland) discrimination within the state eventually led to large civil rights protests, which the government suppressed heavy-handedly, most notably on "Bloody Sunday (1972)". It was during this period of civil unrest that the paramilitary Provisional IRA, who favoured the creation of a united Ireland, began its campaign against what it called the "British occupation of the six counties". Other groups, on both the unionist side and the nationalist side, began to participate in the violence and the period known as the "The Troubles" began, resulting in over 3600 Religion, Identity & Politics – Northern Ireland Conflict & Resolution, 1969-2005 - New York University department of history deaths over the subsequent three decades. Owing to the civil unrest as "The Troubles" erupted, the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed direct rule from Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Attempts were made to end "The Troubles", such as the Sunningdale Agreement of 1974 and Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, but ultimately were failures. More recently in 1998, following a Provisional IRA cease fire and multi-party talks, the Belfast Agreement was concluded and ratified by referendum in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This agreement attempts to restore self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power sharing between the two communities. Violence has greatly decreased since the signing of the accord. The power-sharing assembly was suspended several times but was restored on 8 May 2007.

In 2001 the police force in Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, was replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

On 28 July 2005, the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and on 25 September 2005 Independent International Commission on Decommissioning supervised what they currently regard as the full decommissioning of the Provisional IRA's weapons.http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/decommission/iicd190106.pdf

On midnight, the 2nd of August 2007, Britain officially ended its military support of the police in Northern Ireland, and began withdrawing military troops. In 1972, British troops numbered more than 25,000 in Northern Ireland. After the withdrawal, a peacetime garrison of approximately 5,000 is all that will remain.

Sport

Gaelic football and hurling are the most popular sports in Ireland, with soccer and rugby union also being popular. Irish Government Website Culture and Sport Information http://www.irlgov.ie Many other sports are also played and followed, such as golf, swimming, boxing, show jumping, horse racing, greyhound racing, cricket, tennis and hockey.

Hurling and Gaelic football, along with Camogie, Ladies' Gaelic football, Gaelic handball and rounders, make up the national sports of Ireland, collectively known as Gaelic Games. All Gaelic games are governed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), with the exception of Ladies' Gaelic Football, which is governed by a separate organisation. The GAA is organised on an all-Ireland basis with all 32 counties competing; traditionally, counties first compete within their Provinces of Ireland, in the provincial championships, and the winners then compete in the All-Ireland senior All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship or All-Ireland Senior Football Championship championships. The headquarters of the GAA (and the main stadium) is located at the 82,500 capacity Croke Park in north Dublin. Major GAA games are played there, including the semi-finals and finals of the All-Ireland championships. During the redevelopment of the Lansdowne Road, International Rugby is being played there, with huge success. All GAA players, even at the highest level, are amateurs, receiving no wages.

The Irish Football Association (IFA) was originally the governing body for football (soccer) throughout the island. Football has been played in Ireland since the 1860s (Cliftonville F.C. Belfast being the oldest club on the island), but remained a minority sport outside of Ulster until the 1880s. However, some clubs based outside Belfast felt that the IFA largely favoured Ulster-based, Protestant clubs in such matters as selection for the national team. Following an incident in which, despite an earlier promise, the IFA moved an Irish Cup final replay from Dublin to Belfast, the clubs based in the Irish Free State set up a new Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS) - now known as the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) - in 1921.

Despite the new organisation being initially blacklisted by the Home Nations' football associations, the Association was recognised by FIFA in 1923 and organised its first international fixture in 1926 (against Italy national football team in Turin). However, both the IFA and FAI continued to select their teams from the whole of Ireland, with some players earning international caps for matches with both teams. Both also referred to their respective teams as "Ireland". It was not until 1950 that FIFA directed the Associations only to select players from within their respective territories, and in 1953 FIFA further clarified that the FAI's team was to be known only as "Republic of Ireland national football team", and the IFA's team only as "Northern Ireland national football team" (with certain exceptions).

Northern Ireland qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals in 1958 (when they reached the quarter-finals), 1982 and 1986. The Republic of Ireland national football team qualified for the World Cup in 1990 (when they reached the quarter-finals), 1994 and 2002. The IFA still retains All-Ireland cups and trophies at its Belfast HQ.

The Ireland national rugby union team includes players from north and south, and the Irish Rugby Football Union governs the sport on both sides of the border. Consequently in international rugby, the Ireland team represents the whole island. The Irish rugby team have played in every Rugby World Cup, making the quarter-finals at four of them. Ireland also hosted games during the 1991 Rugby World Cup (including a quarter and semi-final) and the 1999 Rugby World Cup (including a quarter-final). There are also four professional provincial sides that contest the Magners League and European Heineken Cup. Irish rugby has become increasingly competitive at both the international and provincial levels since the sport went professional in 1994. During that time, Ulster (1999) and Munster (2006) have both won the European Cup.

As with rugby and Gaelic games, cricket, golf, tennis, Rowing (sport), hockey and most other sports are organised on an all-island basis.

Greyhound racing and horse racing are both popular in Ireland: greyhound stadiums are well attended and there are frequent horse race meetings. The Republic is noted for the breeding and training of race horses and is also a large exporter of racing dogs. The horse racing sector is largely concentrated in the central east of the Republic.

Boxing is also an all-island sport governed by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association.

Irish athletics has seen some development in recent times, with sprint hurdler Derval O'Rourke taking gold at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow in 2006, and silver at the European Championships. Other notable Irish athletes include David Gillick 400 m, Paul Hession 100 m and 200 m, Joanne Cuddihy 100 m, 200 m and 400 m and Alaistar Cragg 1500 m.

Golf is a popular sport in Ireland and golf tourism is a major industry. The 2006 Ryder Cup was held at The Kildare Hotel and Golf Club in County Kildare. 2006 Ryder Cup Official Site http://www.pga.com Padraig Harrington became the first Irishman since Fred Daly in 1947 to win the British Open at Carnoustie in July 2007 British Open Golf Official Site

In 2007, the Irish National Cricket team were among the Associate nations which qualified for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The Irish team defeated Pakistan and finished second in their pool, earning a place in the Super 8 section of the competition.

The west coast of Ireland, Lahinch and Donegal Bay in particular have some superb surfing beaches; being fully exposed to the fury of the Atlantic Ocean, beaches such as, Lahinch, Rossnowlagh and Bundoran catch any swell going. Surfing in Ireland is big business, as it attracts surfers from all over western Europe aiming to catch Europe's largest waves. Donegal Bay is shaped like a funnel (like the Bristol Channel) and the West/South-West winds coming off the Atlantic are funnelled, increasing the speed and size of the incoming rollers, and creating good surf, especially in winter. In recent years, Bundoran has hosted Eur

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