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Ireland profile Ireland profile
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Ireland emerged from the conflict that marked its birth as an independent state to become one of Europe's economic success stories in the final decade of the twentieth century.Ireland emerged from the conflict that marked its birth as an independent state to become one of Europe's economic success stories in the final decade of the twentieth century.
Long under English or British rule, Ireland lost half its population in the decades following the Great Famine of the 1840s to death and emigration.
After World War I, independence from the United Kingdom was only achieved at the price of war, civil war and partition. Northern Ireland remains part of Britain.
After the country joined the European Community in 1973, it was transformed from a largely agricultural society into a modern, high-technology economy.After the country joined the European Community in 1973, it was transformed from a largely agricultural society into a modern, high-technology economy.
For centuries British dominion in Ireland gave rise to unrest which finally erupted into violence with the Easter Rising of 1916, when independence was proclaimed. The rising was crushed and many of its leaders executed, but the campaign for independence carried on through a bloody Anglo-Irish War of 1919-1921. Its strong literary and musical traditions, as well as its long history of emigration, have given Ireland an international cultural presence disproportionate to its size.
It was in 1922 that 26 counties of Ireland gained independence from London following negotiations which led to the other six counties, part of the province of Ulster, remaining in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Partition was followed by a year of civil war. History
Relations between Dublin and London remained strained for many years afterwards. Northern Ireland saw decades of violent conflict between those campaigning for a united Ireland and those wishing to stay in the United Kingdom. Christianised in the sixth century, Ireland's Gaelic regional kingdoms were disrupted by an invasion from Norman England in the 12th century. The reach of the English crown fluctuated for centuries, but was extended over all of Ireland in the 16th-century.
In an unprecedented and concerted effort to resolve the situation, the Irish and UK governments worked closely together in negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement on the future of Northern Ireland in 1998. Despite attempts by the London authorities to impose Protestantism, most of the country remained staunchly Catholic. The bloody suppression of two major 17th century Irish Catholic rebellions left a legacy of lasting bitterness.
Boom to bust Dominated by a privileged Protestant Anglo-Irish minority, the Kingdom of Ireland reluctantly united with the British crown in 1800. But most Irish were never fully reconciled to the United Kingdom, and the 19th century saw a growing independence movement.
Ireland's economy began to grow rapidly in the 1990s, fuelled by foreign investment. This attracted a wave of incomers to a country where, traditionally, mass emigration had been the norm. The sentiment was boosted by the Great Famine of the 1840s, which cut Ireland's population by a quarter through death and immigration - a disaster seen as worsened by government neglect.
The boom that earned Ireland the nickname of "Celtic Tiger" faltered when the country fell into recession in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008. Independence and partition
The property boom had been fuelled by massive lending from the banks, and when this collapsed - and lenders were unable to repay - the Irish banking system was plunged into crisis. During World War I, nationalist ferment erupted in the Easter Rising of 1916. The uprising was crushed, but the independence campaign continued in the Anglo-Irish War of 1919-1921.
The Irish economy underwent one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone, with its economy shrinking by 10% in 2009. De facto independence came in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The new Irish Free State, formed out of 26 of Ireland's 32 counties, was formally still part of the British empire, but largely self-governing.
In November 2010, the EU/IMF agreed to bail out Ireland to the tune of 85bn euros, on condition that strict austerity measures were imposed and that the government agreed to implement structural reforms and to accept three-monthly reviews of the country's progress. Although defeated in the 1922-3 Irish Civil War, Republicans seeking full sovereignty became the leading electoral force in the 1930s. In 1948, all ties to the British monarchy were severed and the modern-day Republic of Ireland formed.
The national humiliation that this entailed led to the fall of the Fianna Fail government that agreed to the 2010 rescue package and the coming to power of a Fine Gael/Labour coalition in 2011. Six Protestant-dominated counties of Northern Ireland - afraid of a majority Catholic united Ireland - in 1921 opted to stay in the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland subsequently saw decades of violent conflict between those campaigning for a united Ireland, and those wishing to stay in the United Kingdom.
The new government led by Enda Kenny endorsed Ireland's commitment to the EU-backed austerity programme, and in December 2013 Ireland became the first bailed-out eurozone nation to fulfil the conditions required for it to exit the strict bailout regime. Despite a legacy of strained relations over the partition, the Irish and UK governments have worked closely to achieve a negotiated peace, culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement on power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
The Irish economy has pulled out of the deep recession into which it plunged during the financial crisis, but the experience has left permanent scars on the national psyche. Ireland joined the European Union in 1973, and was a founding member of the euro. The country follows a policy of military neutrality, and is not a member of Nato.
A survey published in 2013 found that 60% of families were struggling to make ends meet - double the number from four years previously. Homelessness increased by 20% between 2010 and 2013, and 200,000 people are estimated to have left the country between 2008 and 2013. Economy
For a country that prided itself on halting decades of mass emigration during the "Celtic Tiger" boom years, the return of the phenomenon has been a severe blow. Long dominated by agriculture and high unemployment, Ireland's economy began to be transformed as a result of tax cuts, deregulation, and a policy of negotiated pay restraint introduced in the late 1980s.
Foreign investment flowed, and Ireland became one of Europe's foremost knowledge economies, unleashing a period of rapid growth known as the "Celtic Tiger" from the mid-1990s onwards.
Even the country's longstanding pattern of mass emigration was reversed, with the boom attracting a growing number of incomers and creating a new multiculturalism.
But after 2000, growth increasingly came from a property boom fuelled by massive bank lending. When this collapsed as a result of the 2008 world financial crisis, the Irish economy suffered one of the eurozone's deepest recessions, and public debt and unemployment soared.
In 2010, the Irish government had to accept an EU/IMF bailout to the tune of 85bn euros in return for agreeing to implement strict austerity measures.
Signs of Ireland having turned the corner began to emerge in 2013. That year, the economy pulled out of its second recession since the crisis and Ireland became the first eurozone nation to leave the bailout scheme. Although falling gradually from a 15% high in 2012, unemployment remains high. Tens of thousands of Irish reportedly emigrated between 2008-13.
Culture
Ireland is famed for its vibrant literary tradition. Ireland has produced many of the English-speaking world's most renowned writers, including Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, George Bernhard Shaw and James Joyce.
The Gaelic language - a member of the Celtic language group that also includes Welsh and Breton - was displaced by English as the main language of most Irish in the 18th and 19th centuries, but is the republic's first official language. It is still spoken as a first language in certain pockets known as Gaeltacht, mainly in rural areas of the far West.
Drawing on its long folk tradition and international influence, the country has one of Europe's liveliest music scenes.
Along with the famously green landscape, Ireland's cultural life - and not least its renowned pub atmosphere - is a major tourist draw.
Recent decades have seen a weakening of the Catholic Church's traditionally powerful role in Irish life, evinced especially in a turn away from social conservatism.