IRELAND
Introduction
Background: A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched
off several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independence
from
the UK for the 26 southern counties; the six northern counties
(Ulster) remained part of Great Britain. In 1948 Ireland withdrew from the
British Commonwealth; it joined the European Community in 1973. Irish
governments have sought the peaceful unification of Ireland and have cooperated
with Britain against terrorist groups. A peace settlement for Northern
Ireland, approved in 1998, has not yet been implemented.
Geography
Location: Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the
island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain
Geographic coordinates: 53 00 N, 8 00 W
Area:
total: 70,280 sq km
land: 68,890 sq km
water: 1,390 sq km
Land boundaries:
total:
border countries: UK
Coastline:
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic
Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half
the time
Terrain: mostly level to rolling interior plain surrounded
by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean
highest point: Carrauntoohil
Natural resources: zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper,
gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat, silver
Land use:
arable land: 13%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 68%
forests and woodland: 5%
other: 14% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: water pollution, especially of
lakes, from agricultural runoff
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but
not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Endangered Species, Marine Life Conservation, Tropical Timber 94
Geography - note: strategic location on major air and sea
routes between North America and northern Europe; over 40% of the population
resides within
People
Population: 3,797,257 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.85% (male 425,795; female 403,777)
15-64 years: 66.83% (male 1,271,367; female 1,266,150)
65 years and over: 11.33% (male 185,913; female 244,255)
(2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.16% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 14.51 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 8.14 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate: 5.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000
est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2000
est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.81 years
male: 74.06 years
female: 79.74 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.91 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective
plural)
adjective: Irish
Ethnic groups: Celtic, English
Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6%, Church of Ireland 2.5%,
other 5.9% (1998)
Languages: English is the language generally used, Irish
(Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% (1981 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Ireland
Government type: republic
Capital: Dublin
Administrative divisions: 26 counties; Carlow, Cavan, Clare,
Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim,
Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo,
Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow
Independence: 6 December 1921 (from UK by treaty)
National holiday: Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March
Constitution: 29 December 1937; adopted 1 July 1937 by
plebiscite
Legal system: based on English common law, substantially
modified by indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme
Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Mary MCALEESE (since 11 November
1997) head of government: Prime Minister Bertie AHERN (since 26 June 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with previous
nomination by the prime minister and approval of the House of Representatives
elections: president elected by popular vote for a
seven-year term; election last held 31 October 1997 (next to be held NA
November 2004);
prime minister nominated by the House of Representatives and
appointed by the president election results: Mary MCALEESE elected president;
percent of vote - Mary MCALEESE 44.8%, Mary BANOTTI 29.6% note: government
coalition - Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas
consists of the Senate or Seanad Eireann (60 seats - 49 elected by the
universities and from candidates put forward by five vocational panels, 11 are
nominated by the prime minister; members serve five-year terms) and the House
of Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members are elected by popular
vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held NA August 1997 (next to be
held NA 2002); House of Representatives - last held 6 June 1997 (next to be
held NA 2002)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - Fianna
Fail 29, Fine Gael 16, Labor Party 4, Progressive Democrats 4, others 7; seats
by party - NA; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - Fianna Fail 76, Fine Gael 53, Labor Party 19, Progressive Democrats 4,
Democratic Left 4, Green Alliance 2, Sinn Fein 1, independents 7
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges appointed by the
president on the advice of the government (prime minister and cabinet)
Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Ireland
[Michael O'RIORDAN]; Democratic Left ; Fianna Fail [Bertie AHERN]; Fine Gael ;
Green Alliance ; Labor Party ; Progressive Democrats ; Sinn Fein ; The Workers'
Party
International organization participation: Australia Group,
BIS, CCC, CE, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM
(observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMIK,
UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC
Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist
side), white, and orange; similar to the flag of Cote d'Ivoire, which is
shorter and has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green;
also similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter and has colors of green
(hoist side), white, and red
Economy
Economy - overview: Ireland is a small, modern,
trade-dependent economy with growth averaging a robust 9% in 1995-99.
Agriculture, once the most
important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 39% of
GDP and about 80% of exports and employs 28% of the labor force. Although
exports remain the primary engine for Ireland's robust growth, the economy is
also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both
construction and business investment. Over the past decade, the Irish
government has implemented a series of national economic programs designed to
curb inflation, reduce government spending, and promote foreign investment. The
unemployment rate has been halved; job creation remains a primary concern
of government policy. Recent efforts have concentrated on improving workers'
qualifications and the education system. Ireland
joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999
along with 10 other EU nations. The construction and other sectors are
beginning to press against capacity, and growth is expected to drop in 2000,
perhaps by 1 percentage point.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $73.7 billion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 8.4% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,300 (1999
est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5%
industry: 39%
services: 56% (1998)
Population below poverty line: 10% (1997 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 27.3% (1997)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (1999)
Labor force: 1.77 million (1999 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 63%, industry 28%,
agriculture
9% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.5% (1999)
Budget:
revenues: $25.3 billion
expenditures: $20.9 billion, including capital expenditures
of $2
billion (1999)
Industries: food products, brewing, textiles, clothing;
chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, machinery, transportation equipment, glass
and
crystal; software
Industrial production growth rate: 10% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 19.715 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 94.12%
hydro: 4.63%
nuclear: 0%
other: 1.25% (1998)
Electricity - consumption: 18.415 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports: 100 million kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports: 180 million kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products: turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar
beets, wheat;
beef, dairy products
Exports: $66 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, computers,
chemicals,
pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products
Exports - partners: EU 68% (UK 22%, Germany 15%, France 8%),
US 15%
(1998)
Imports: $44 billion (c.i.f., 1999 est.)
Imports - commodities: data processing equipment, other
machinery and
equipment, chemicals; petroleum and petroleum products,
textiles,
clothing
Imports - partners: EU 54% (UK 31%, Germany 6%, France 5%),
US 16%,
Japan 7%, Singapore 4% (1998)
Debt - external: $11 billion (1998)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $240 million (1999)
Currency: 1 Irish pound = 100 pence
Exchange rates: Irish pounds per US$1 - 0.9865 (January
2000), 0.9374 (1999), 0.7014 (1998), 0.6588 (1997), 0.6248 (1996), 0.6235
(1995) note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common
currency the euro, which is now being used at a fixed rate of 0.787564 Irish
pounds per euro; the euro has replaced the pound in many financial and business
transactions; it will replace the local currency in consenting countries for
all transactions in 2002
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 1,642,541 (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 941,775 (1999)
Telephone system: modern digital system using cable and
microwave
radio relay
domestic: microwave radio relay
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
(Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 106, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 2.55 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 10 (plus 36 low-power
repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 1.47 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 14 (1999)
Transportation
Railways:
total:
broad gauge:
track) (1998)
Highways:
total:
paved:
unpaved:
Waterways:
Pipelines: natural gas
Ports and harbors: Arklow, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Foynes,
Galway,
Limerick, New Ross, Waterford
Merchant marine:
total: 31 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 100,639
GRT/115,793 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 27, container 2, short-sea
passenger 1
(1999 est.)
Airports: 44 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 17
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 7 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 27
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 25 (1999 est.)