Republic of Ireland
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Constitution
The 1937 Constitution of Ireland gave the Catholic Church a "special position" as the church of the majority, but also recognised other Christian denominations and Judaism. As with other predominantly Catholic European states (e.g., Italy), the Irish state underwent a period of legal secularisation in the late twentieth century. In 1972, the article of the Constitution naming specific religious groups, including the Catholic Church, was deleted by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.
Article 44 remains in the Constitution. It begins:
- The State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honour religion.
The article also establishes freedom of religion (for belief, practice, and organisation without undue interference from the state), prohibits endowment of any particular religion, prohibits the state from religious discrimination, and requires the state to treat religious and non-religious schools in a non-prejudicial manner.
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Abortion and Divorce
Catholic doctrine prohibits abortion in all circumstances, putting it in conflict with the pro-choice movement. In 1983, the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland recognised "the right to life of the unborn", subject to qualifications concerning the "equal right to life" of the mother. The case of Attorney General v. X prompted passage of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, guaranteeing the right to travel abroad to have an abortion performed, and the right of citizens to learn about "services" that are illegal in Ireland but legal outside the country (see Abortion in Ireland).
Catholic and Protestant attitudes in 1937 also disapproved of divorce, which was prohibited by the original Constitution. It was not until 1995 that the Fifteenth Amendment repealed this ban.
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Sex Abuse Scandals
The Catholic Church was hit in the 1990s by a series of sexual abuse scandals and cover-up charges against its hierarchy. In 2005, a major inquiry was made into child sexual abuse allegations. The Ferns report, published on 25 October 2005, revealed that more than 100 cases of child sexual abuse, between 1962 and 2002, by 21 priests, had taken place in the Diocese of Ferns alone. The report criticised the Gardaí and the health authorities, who failed to protect the children to the best of their abilities; and in the case of the Garda before 1988, no file was ever recorded on sexual abuse complaints (see Roman Catholic sex abuse cases).
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Education
Despite a large number of schools in Ireland being run by religious organisations, a general trend of secularism is occurring within the Irish population, particularly in the younger generations.[51] Many efforts have been made by secular groups, to eliminate the rigorous study in the second and sixth classes, to prepare for the sacraments of Holy Communion and confirmation in Catholic schools - parents can ask for their children to be excluded from religious study if they wish. However, religious studies as a subject was introduced into the state administered Junior Certificate in 2001, although it is not compulsory and deals with aspects of different religions, not focusing on one particular religion.
Schools run by religious organisations, but receive public money and recognition, are not allowed to discriminate pupils based upon religion (or lack of).
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Contraception and Gay Rights
In the past, Ireland has historically favoured conservative legislation regarding sexuality. For example, contraception was illegal in Ireland until 1979.[52] Another example is the legislation which outlawed homosexual acts was not repealed until 1993 although it was generally only enforced when dealing with underage sex.[53][54] However, Ireland has taken steps to change its policies in regards to these issues; for instance, discrimination based on sexual preference is illegal. The Irish government is set to bring in same-sex civil partnerships legislation in 2008. A poll carried out in 2008, showed that 84% of Irish people supported civil marriage or civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples, with 58% supporting full marriage rights in registry offices.[55]
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Culture
The island of Ireland has produced the Book of Kells, and writers such as George Berkeley, Sheridan le Fanu, Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, Samuel Beckett, Brian O'Nolan, who published as Flann O'Brien, John Millington Synge, Seán O'Casey, Seamus Heaney, Bram Stoker, Elizabeth Bowen, Kate O'Brien, Seán Ó Faoláin, Frank O'Connor, William Trevor and others. Shaw, Yeats, Beckett and Heaney are Nobel Literature laureates. Other prominent writers include John Banville, Roddy Doyle, Pádraic Ó Conaire, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Séamus Ó Grianna, Dermot Bolger, Maeve Binchy, Frank McCourt, Edna O'Brien, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Paul Muldoon, Thomas McCarthy, Joseph O'Connor, Eoin Colfer, John McGahern and Colm Tóibín.
Prominent Irish artists include Nathaniel Hone, James Arthur O'Connor, Roderick O'Conor, Jack Yeats, William Orpen, Mainie Jellett, Louis le Brocquy, Anne Madden, Robert Ballagh, James Coleman, Dorothy Cross and John Gerrard.
Ireland is known for its Irish traditional music, but has produced many other internationally influential artists in other musical genres, such as U2, Thin Lizzy, The Pogues, the alternative rock group The Cranberries, Blues guitarist Rory Gallagher, folk singer Christy Moore, Celtic Woman, The Chieftains and singer Sinéad O'Connor.
In classical music, the island of Ireland was also the birthplace of the notable composers Turlough O'Carolan, John Field (inventor of the Nocturne), Gerald Barry, Michael William Balfe, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Charles Wood.
Robert Boyle was a seventeenth-century physicist and discovered Boyle's Law. Ernest Walton of Trinity College Dublin shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics for "splitting the atom". William Rowan Hamilton was a significant mathematician. The Irish philosopher and theologian Eriugena, was considered one of the leading intellectuals of his era.
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Architecture
The architecture of Ireland is one of the most visible features in the Irish countryside - with remains from all eras since the stone age abounding. Ireland is famous for its ruined and intact Norman and Anglo-Irish castles, small whitewashed thatched cottages and Georgian urban buildings. What are unaccountably somewhat less famous are the great, still complete palladian and rococo country houses which can be favourably compared to anything similar in northern Europe, and the country's many mighty Gothic and neo-Gothic cathedrals and buildings. Despite the ofttimes significant British and European influence, the fashion and trends of architecture have been adapted to suit the peculiarities of the particular location. In the late 20th century a new economic climate resulted in a renaissance of Irish culture and design, placing some of Ireland's cities, once again, at the cutting edge of modern architecture.
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Entertainment
Successful entertainment exports in the late twentieth century include acts such as U2, Thin Lizzy, The Pogues, My Bloody Valentine, Rory Gallagher, Sinéad O'Connor, Boomtown Rats, The Corrs, Horslips, Boyzone, Ronan Keating, The Cranberries, Clannad, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Westlife and Enya, and the internationally acclaimed dance shows Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.
In the early twenty-first century, Damien Rice and The Thrills rose to international fame. The Frames are a popular band in Ireland who are on the rise world-wide, although their status as possibly the best-liked live band in Ireland is under threat from newer bands like Bell X1.
Notable Hollywood actors from the Republic of Ireland include Gerard Butler, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, George Brent, Arthur Shields, Maureen O'Sullivan, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson, Daniel Day Lewis (by citizenship), Colm Meaney, Colin Farrell, Brenda Fricker, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Stuart Townsend and Cillian Murphy.
The flourishing Irish film industry, state-supported by Bord Scannán na hÉireann, helped launched the careers of directors Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan, and supported Irish films such as John Crowley's Intermission, Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto, and others. A policy of tax breaks and other incentives has also attracted international film to Ireland, including Mel Gibson's Braveheart and Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan.
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Sport
The national sports, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, are Gaelic football and hurling, arguably the world's fastest field team sport in terms of game play. Handball is also administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Notable former Gaelic Athletic Association players include the now retired pair of DJ Carey and Peter Canavan. The former Taoiseach Jack Lynch was a noted hurler and All-Ireland winner before entering politics. Well-known current players include Henry Shefflin, Sean Cavanagh and Colm Cooper.
Ireland has produced a number of talented sportsmen and women. In association football, former players include Roy Keane, Johnny Giles, Liam Brady, Denis Irwin, Packie Bonner, Niall Quinn and Paul McGrath, while players whose careers are ongoing include Lee Carsley, Steve Finnan, Shay Given, Damien Duff, and Robbie Keane. In rugby, Ireland has produced Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Paul O'Connell, David Wallace and Keith Wood.
In athletics, Sonia O'Sullivan, Eamonn Coghlan, Catherina McKiernan, Ronnie Delaney, John Treacy, David Gillick, and Derval O'Rourke have won medals at international events.
Ken Doherty is a former World Champion (1997) snooker player.
John L. Sullivan, born 1858 in the United States to Irish immigrant parents, was the first modern world heavyweight champion. Barry McGuigan and Steve Collins were also world champion boxers, while Bernard Dunne was a European super bantamweight champion and Michael Carruth an Olympic gold medallist. Current prospects in the middleweight division are the undefeated John Duddy, and Andy Lee who has one defeat. Both fighters are aiming for world championship fights.
In motorsport, during the 1990s Jordan Grand Prix became the only independent team to win multiple Formula One races. Rallying also has a measure of popularity as a spectator sport, and in 2007 the Rally of Ireland (which was held in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) became a qualifying round of the FIA World Rally Championship and attracted an estimated attendance of some 200,000 spectators.[56]
In cycling, Ireland produced Stephen Roche, the first and only Irishman to win the Tour de France in 1987, and the prolific Seán Kelly.
In golf, the current British Open champion is Irishman Pádraig Harrington.
Professional wrestler, Prince Devitt, was born in Dublin, and has made a large impact in the last few years on the independent circuit in Europe, Japan, and the United States.
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Transport
- See also: Transport in Ireland, Rail transport in Ireland, and Roads in Ireland
The Republic of Ireland has three main international airports (Dublin, Shannon, and Cork) that serve a wide variety of European and intercontinental routes with scheduled and chartered flights. The national airline is Aer Lingus, although low cost airline Ryanair is the largest airline. The route between London and Dublin is the busiest international air route in Europe, with 4.5 million people flying between the two cities in 2006.[57][58]
Railways services are provided by Iarnród Éireann. Dublin is the centre of the network, with two main stations (Heuston and Connolly) linking to the main towns and cities. The Enterprise service, run jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, connects Dublin with Belfast. Dublin has a steadily improving public transport network of varying quality including the DART, LUAS, Bus service and an expanding rail network.
The motorways and major trunk roads are managed by the National Roads Authority. The rest of the road network is managed by the local authorities in each of their areas.
Regular ferry services operate between the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain, the Isle of Man and France.
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See also
- Irish people
- List of Ireland-related topics
- List of Irish people
- List of flags of the Republic of Ireland
- Republic of Ireland association football team
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References
- ^ CSO 2006 Census - Volume 5 - Ethnic or Cultural Background (including the Irish Traveller Community)
- ^ CSO Ireland - April 2007 Population Estimates
- ^ Article 4 of the Constitution of Ireland and Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948.
- ^ a b c "EU: Causes of Growth differentials in Europe", WAWFA think tank
- ^ List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
- ^ The wording of Article 4 has been criticised. Most recently, in its report, the Constitution Review Groupin 1996 stated that that Article 4 was unnecessarily complicated and should be amended to read ”The name of the state is Ireland” with an equivalent change in the Irish text.
- ^ Ireland joined the EU (then EEC) in 1973 under a treaty drawn up in several languages including Irish and English. Since then, its two names have been official in the EU. Irish became an official working language of the European Union on 1 January 2007 and consequently both names are now used on nameplates. This did not change the name of Ireland in EU law. For further consideration of the practice applied by the European Union, see Clause 7.1.1 of the Inter Institutional Style Guide.
- ^ Northern Ireland Parliamentary Report, 7 December 1922
- ^ Mokyr, Joel (1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History 1700-1850". Irish Economic and Social History xi: 101–121.
- ^ Department of the Taoiseach - Irish Soldiers in the First World War
- ^ The Governor-General's office was finally abolished under the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937 with effect from December 1936
- ^ a b c d e "How Ireland became the Celtic Tiger", Sean Dorgan, the Chief Executive of IDA. June 23, 2006
- ^ The Myth of the Scandinavian Model | The Brussels Journal
- ^ Article 15.2 of the Constitution of Ireland.
- ^ "Ireland Rejects Lisbon Treaty", RTE News. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
- ^ a b Land cover and land use, Environmental Protection Agency, 2000, <http://www.epa.ie/whatwedo/assessment/land/>. Retrieved on 30 July 2007
- ^ World Factbook - Ireland, CIA, 2007, <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ei.html>. Retrieved on 7 August 2007
- ^ a b CAP reform - a long-term perspective for sustainable agriculture, European Commission, <http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/capreform/index_en.htm>. Retrieved on 30 July 2007
- ^ Roche, Dick (2006-11-08), National Parks, vol. 185, Seanad Éireann, <http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0185/S.0185.200611080008.html>. Retrieved on 30 July 2007 Seanad Debate involving Former Minister for Environment Heritage and Local Government
- ^ http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf
- ^ Consumer Prices Bi-annual Average Price Analysis Dublin and Outside Dublin: 1 May 2006PDF (170 KiB) - CSO
- ^ Forfas National Competitiveness Report, 2006, Fig 2.02 http://www.forfas.ie/ncc/reports/ncc_annual_06/ch02/ch02_01.html#fn2
- ^ The Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality-of-life indexPDF (67.1 KiB) - The Economist
- ^ Economic Survey of Ireland 2006: Keeping public finances on track, OECD, 2006, <http://www.oecd.org/document/50/0,3343,en_33873108_33873500_36173106_1_1_1_1,00.html>. Retrieved on 30 July 2007
- ^ House slowdown sharper than expected, RTÉ, 2007-08-03, <http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0803/economy1.html>. Retrieved on 6 August 2007
- ^ Latest Report: Latest edition of permanent tsb / ESRI House price index - May 2007, Permanent TSB, ESRI, <http://www.permanenttsb.ie/house-price-index/>. Retrieved on 10 August 2007
- ^ NCC: 2.1 Income
- ^ Income Distribution and Poverty in the OECD Area, Chapter 10 in "Combating Poverty in Europe"
- ^ NCC: 2.1 Income
- ^ EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC)PDF (161 KiB) CSO, 2004.
- ^ Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. "Irish banks may need life-support as property prices crash", The Daily Telegraph, 13 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
- ^ Irish Defence Forces, Army (accessed 15 June 2006)
- ^ See Gilland, Karin. "Ireland: Neutrality and the International Use of Force", p. 143, in Philip P. Everts and Pierangelo Isernia, Public Opinion and the International Use of Force, Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0415218047.
- ^ Minister for Defence, Mr. Willie O’Dea TD secures formal Cabinet approval today for Ireland’s participation in an EU Battlegroup. Department of Defense. Retrieved on 2008-08-26.
- ^ Private Members' Business. - Foreign Conflicts: Motion (Resumed). Government of Ireland (2003-01-30). Retrieved on 2007-10-10. - Tony Gregory speaking in Dáil Éireann
- ^ Kennedy, Michael (204-10-08). Ireland's Role in Post-War Transatlantic Aviation and Its Implications for the Defence of the North Atlantic Area. Royal Irish Academy. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
- ^ Irish Times, 28 Dec 2007 p. 1.
- ^ Patrick Smyth. "State joins Partnership for Peace on Budget day", The Irish Times, 29 November 1999. Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
- ^ Signatures of Partnership for Peace Framework Document. NATO website (21 April 2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-06.
- ^ Myths of British ancestry - Prospect Magazine
- ^ The Longue Durée of Genetic Ancestry: Multiple Genetic Marker Systems and Celtic Origins on the Atlantic Facade of Europe - PUBMED
- ^ Commission for Racial Equality: Gypsies and Irish Travellers: The facts
- ^ Irish Travellers Movement: Traveller Legal Resource Pack 2 - Traveller Culture
- ^ BreakingNews.ie - Ireland's population still fastest-growing in EU
- ^ Irish Independent - Boom in births as new arrivals double on death rates
- ^ Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan only. Remaining Ulster counties are in Northern Ireland
- ^ Final Principal Demographic Results 2006PDF (894 KiB)
- ^ Weekly Mass Attendance of Catholics in Nations with Large Catholic Populations, 1980-2000 - World Values Survey (WVS)
- ^ Irish Mass attendance below 50% - Catholic World News June 1, 2006
- ^ Final Principal Demographic Results 2006
- ^ Among many examples:
John Daniszewski, April 17, 2005, Catholicism Losing Ground in Ireland, LA Times
Irish poll shows parents no longer want to force religion on to children from secularism.org.uk
Phil Lawler, 17 September 2007, Ireland threatened by secularism, Pope tells new envoy, Catholic World News - ^ Health (Family Planning) Act, 1979. Office of the Attorney General (1979-07-23). Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ NORRIS v. IRELAND - 10581/83 [1988 ECHR 22]. European Court of Human Rights (2007-10-26). Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ Though Senator David Norris took his successful case to the European Court of Human Rights in 1988, the Irish Government did not legislate to rectify the issue until 1993.
- ^ "Increased support for gay marriage - Survey", BreakingNews.ie, March 31, 2008.
- ^ Jerry Williams, Fans unite as top drivers battle it out, Daily Mail, 14th November 2007
- ^ Seán McCárthaigh, Dublin–London busiest air traffic route within EU, Irish Examiner, March 31, 2003
- ^ Mark Frary (19 March 2007). Heathrow dominates top 20. The Times. Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
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Bibliography and further reading
- Bunreacht na hÉireann (the 1937 constitution) (PDF versionPDF)
- The Irish Free State Constitution Act, 1922
- J. Anthony Foley and Stephen Lalor (ed), Gill & Macmillan Annotated Constitution of Ireland (Gill & Macmillan, 1995) (ISBN 0-7171-2276-X)
- FSL Lyons, Ireland Since the Famine
- Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782–1992 (Irish Academic Press, 1994) (ISBN 0-7165-2528-3)
- Some of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
- OECD Information Technology Outlook 2004
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External links
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