Yearbook 2000
Ireland. The sharp economic upturn in Ireland continues, and the country still makes reasons for the name Celtic Tiger. At the beginning of the year, the Irish Government signed a new social agreement with the social partners, allowing wage increases of a total of 16% over the next three years. Added to this are promised tax cuts of £ 1.25 billion, representing a total income increase of 26% over 33 months.
But the booming economy also leads to the fact that Ireland, who has received large contributions from the EU, will soon have to become a net contributor, like other rich countries in Europe. Support for EU membership has been very strong in I., but now Irish politicians are warning that a resistance may emerge when the country has to start sharing its income to poorer regions in the EU.
The growth also leads to rapid social change and a wave of immigrants who are applying to the Irish labor market, where there are plenty of jobs. This is a hitherto unknown phenomenon for the Irish, who for many generations have seen the young leave the poor Ireland to seek their livelihood in some other part of the world.
These are issues of the future that are being discussed more vividly in Ireland. A debate of a more firm kind broke out when the Irish government appointed the controversial Hugh O’Flaherty as deputy head of the European Investment Bank, The European Investment Bank. The appointment came just a year after O’Flaherty was forced to resign as a judge in the Supreme Court of Justice after shortening the prison sentence for a man who had killed a woman through careless driving.
It also attracted a great deal of attention when a handwritten chapter of national author James Joyce’s world-famous novel “Ulysses” (‘Odysseus’) was sold at auction for $ 1.5 million. The chapter, which has Joyce’s signature, was purchased by the Irish National Library, The National Library of Ireland, in Dublin.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER: Offers three letter and two letter abbreviations for the country of Ireland. Also covers country profile such as geography, society and economy.
Country data
Area: 69,797 km2 (world rank: 118)
Population: 4,814,000
Population density: 69 per km2 (as of 2017, world rank: 121)
Capital: Baile Átha Cliath / Dublin
Official languages: Irish, English
Gross domestic product: 296.2 billion euros; Real growth: 7.8%
Gross national product (GNP, per resident and year): 55,290 US$
Currency: 1 euro (Euro) = 100 cents
Embassy
Jägerstr. 51, 10117 Berlin
Telephone 030 220720,
Fax 030 22072299
www.embassyofireland.de
Government
Head of State: Michael D. Higgins, Head of Government and outside: Leo Varadkar, outside: Simon Anthony Coveney
National holiday: 17.3. (St. Patrick’s Day)
Administrative structure
4 provinces with 28 counties and 3 cities
State and form of government
Constitution of 1937
Republic
Parliament (Oireachtas): House of Representatives (Dáil Éireann) with 158 members, Senate (Seanad Éireann) with 60 members (49 indirect elected and 11 appointed by the Prime Minister); Election every 5 years
Direct election of the head of state every 7 years
Suffrage from 18 years of age
Population: Irish, last census 2016: 4,761,865 in. Proportion of foreigners 2017: 18.8%
Cities (with population): (As of 2016) Baile Átha Cliath / Dublin 553,165 inh. (A 1.2 million), Corcaigh / Cork 125,622, An Ghaillimh / Galway 79,504, Luimneach / Limerick 58,319, Port Láirge / Waterford 48,369, Dún Dealgan / Dundalk 32,288
Religions: 78 % Catholics, 3% Anglicans (Church of Ireland), 1% Muslims, 1% Orthodox; 10% without religion (as of 2006)
Languages: English, Irish (Gaelic), Ulster-Scots
Employed by economic sector: Agriculture. 5%, industry 19%, business. 76% (2017)
Unemployment (in% of all labor force): 2017: 6.7%
Inflation rate (in%): 2017: 0.3%
Foreign trade: import: 77.0 billion euros (2017); Export: 121.3 billion euros (2017)
The struggle for same-sex marriage
Varadkar is Ireland’s first open gay Taoiseach. In 2015, he fought vigorously for Ireland to constitutionally recognize same-sex marriage. On May 22, 2015, 62 percent voted to allow same-sex marriage in a referendum, which was termed a social revolution in a country strongly dominated by the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
Ireland was the first country to recognize same-sex marriage after a referendum. In the political parties, the reactions were unilaterally positive, while the Catholic Church and other denominations were naturally negative.
The struggle for the law of abortion
The issue of abortion has been a hot topic in Ireland. In 1983, a constitutional amendment was added to the Irish constitution following a referendum that recognized the unborn child’s right to life, ie a ban on abortion and a woman’s right to decide her own destiny. The referendum on abortion, held on May 25, 2018, abolished the 1983 constitutional amendment when a 66.4 percent majority voted for women’s right to self-determined abortion.
The struggle for same-sex marriage and self-determined abortion shows that Ireland has undergone major changes in the 21st century. The church has lost its strong foothold and the country has become more secular.
Population 2000
According to COUNTRYAAH, the population of Ireland in 2000 was 3,782,992, ranking number 123 in the world. The population growth rate was 1.040% yearly, and the population density was 54.9151 people per km2.
