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| Official name: Eire (Ireland) Head of State: President Mary McAleese (elected 30 October 1997; re-elected, unopposed, to a second seven-year term 1 Oct 2004) Head of government: Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (leader of Fianna Fáil) (since 1997; re-appointed 6 Jun 2002) Ruling party: Coalition government led by Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny) (since Jun 2002) Area: 70,283 square km Population: 4.02 million (2004) Capital: Dublin Official language: Irish (Gaelic) and English Currency: Euro (eur) = 100 cents (from 1 Jan 2002; previous currency, punt, locked at IR£0.79 per euro) Exchange rate: eur0.77 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$39,030 (2003) GDP real growth: 1.80% (2003) Labour force: 1.78 million (2003) Unemployment: 4.80% (2003) Inflation: 4.10% (2003) Balance of trade: US$39.91 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$11.00 billion (2003) |
Historical profile
In the twelfth century, the Norman invasion began a long period of foreign domination.
Over the centuries, Irish Catholic hostility increased along with English control,
following the seizure of land, the Protestant Reformation and the loss of religious
and political freedoms.
1801 Ireland was united with Great Britain through the Act of Union.
1840s The potato crop was blighted over several years, leading to severe famine. Combined with emigration, this reduced the population by one-third. The decade also saw the beginnings of a republican movement.
1916 The British army suppressed the republican Easter Rising, provoking the formation of Sinn Féin (Ourselves alone).
1919–21 The Anglo-Irish War was fought against British troops and police by the military arm of Sinn Féin, the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
1921 Partition saw 26 southern counties form the Irish Free State under the British crown, while the six north-eastern counties remained part of the UK.
1922 The Dáil Eireann (Irish parliament) ratified the treaty establishing the Free State, sparking a civil war with nationalists, who advocated full independence, led by Eamonn De Valera.
1927 De Valera entered parliament as the head of the newly-created Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny).
1932 Fianna Fáil won the elections. De Valera began to work towards full independence from Britain.
1937 The constitution was promulgated, abolishing the Free State and declaring Ireland as an independent state.
1938 Douglas Hyde became the country's first president, with De Valera as prime minister.
1939–45 Ireland remained neutral during the Second World War, but many Irishmen fought in the British Army acting on behalf of the Irish state.
1948 Fianna Fáil lost the election and De Valera was replaced by John Costello.
1949 A republic was proclaimed and Ireland left the Commonwealth. Partition remained contentious and the IRA mounted a terrorist campaign for reunification with the six northern counties.
1955 Ireland joined the UN.
1957 De Valera was voted back into office as prime minister; he said that the union of Northern Ireland with the Republic could not be achieved through violence.
1959 De Valera became president.
1973 Ireland joined the forerunner of the EU, the European Economic Community (EEC). Fianna Fáil, the traditional party of government, lost power in the general election and Jack Lynch resigned. Liam Cosgrave formed a coalition between his party, Fine Gael, and the Labour Party. The IRA became active again after a long period of decline as fighting intensified in the North due to oppression of Catholics under the Unionist-run regime and later, direct rule from London.
1977 Fianna Fáil won the general election and Jack Lynch again became prime minister.
1980s None of a succession of elections produced a single-party majority government.
1985 The Ango-Irish Agreement established regular participation by the Irish government in political, legal, security and cross-border matters in Northern Ireland.
1990 The first left-winger and the first woman, Mary Robinson, was elected to the presidency.
1992 In a referendum, Irish voters agreed to loosen the abortion laws, enabling women to travel abroad to have an abortion.
1993 The Downing Street Declaration by the Irish and British governments offered talks to all parties in Northern Ireland if they renounced political violence.
1995 A referendum to change the 1937 constitution narrowly approved the lifting of the ban on divorce.
1997 Mary McAleese, who lives in Northern Ireland, became the first British subject to be elected president of the Irish Republic.
1998 In a referendum, nearly 95 per cent of voters approved the Good Friday Agreement, which entailed Ireland giving up its constitutional claim to Northern Ireland.
2001 In a referendum, Ireland voted against the Treaty of Nice, which proposed enlargement of the EU to include up to 13 new member states.
2002 The euro replaced the punt. After parliamentary elections, Bertie Ahern was confirmed as prime minister and formed a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil. At the second attempt, Ireland voted 63 per cent in favour of the EU's Nice Treaty on a turnout of 48 per cent.
2003 Significant cuts in public spending were included in the budget.
2004 1 May, Ireland, as holder of the EU presidency, hosted ceremonies to welcome the EU's 10 new member states. 1 October, President Mary McAleese was re-elected, unopposed, for a second term.
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