Ireland » Politics

Ireland is a democratic republic with a president as head of state. It has been a member of the EU since 1973 and is a member of the European single currency. Left-right ideology has never played a significant role in Irish politics. In every election for 70 years, two broadly centrist parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, have won the majority of the popular vote.

Irish nationalism has strong historic roots and this is borne out in current endeavours to keep the Irish language alive. In the country's 2002 census, 1.4 million of the four million population said they had œan ability to speak Irish. More than a quarter of those said they spoke it on a daily basis. There are a number of Gaeltacht areas in Ireland - areas where Irish is the major language. The Gaeltacht encompasses the most westerly parts of counties Cork, Done gal, Galway, Kerry and Mayo and they nearby islands. During the 2004 Irish EU Presidency the EU enlarged to encompass 25 Member States. Ireland also oversaw the agreement of the draft Constitutional Treaty and the appointment of a new Commission President.

The Irish electorate voted against the ratification of the Nice Treaty on 7 June 2001. The Treaty's aim was to overhaul the institutions of the European Union in preparation for a union of 27 member states rather than the then 15. Ireland was the only EU country whose constitution required it to hold a referendum. A second referendum took place on 19 October 2002. Reversing the first result, the referendum passed by 63% to 37% with an overall turnout of 49%.

Elections

Parliamentary Elections took place on 24 May 2007. Fianna Fail, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats entered coalition to form an overall majority government. The Irish Constitution requires that the next parliamentary elections be called within 5 years of the last election.