1.
Republic of Ireland
–
Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
2.
Taoiseach
–
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The current Taoiseach is Enda Kenny, TD, who was appointed on 9 March 2011, on 10 March 2016, at the first sitting of the 32nd Dáil, Kenny failed to gain the support of the house and tendered his resignation to the President. He remained in office in a capacity until being re-elected on 6 May 2016. The word means chieftain or leader in Irish and was adopted in the 1937 Constitution of Ireland as the title of the head of the Government, Taoiseach is the official title of the head of government in both English and Irish. Outside of Ireland, the Taoiseach is often referred to as the Prime Minister of Ireland, under the Constitution of Ireland, the Taoiseach is nominated by a simple majority of Dáil Éireann from among its members. He/she is then appointed to office by the President, who is required to appoint whomever the Dáil designates. For this reason, it is said that the Taoiseach is elected by Dáil Éireann. The Taoiseach may lose the support of Dáil Éireann by the passage of a vote of no confidence, or the failure of a vote of confidence, or alternatively, the Dáil may refuse supply. In the event of the Taoiseachs resignation, he/she continues to exercise the duties, the Taoiseach nominates the remaining members of the Government, who are then, with the consent of the Dáil, appointed by the President. The Taoiseach also has authority to advise the President to dismiss cabinet ministers from office, advice the President is required to follow by convention, the Taoiseach is further responsible for appointing eleven members of the Seanad. The Department of the Taoiseach is the government department which supports, since 2013, the Taoiseachs annual salary is €185,350. It was cut from €214,187 to €200,000 when Kenny took office, a proposed increase of €38,000 in 2007 was deferred when Brian Cowen became Taoiseach and in October 2008, the government announced a 10% salary cut for all ministers, including the Taoiseach. However this was a cut and the salaries remained nominally the same with ministers. This courted controversy in December 2009 when a cut of 20% was based on the higher figure before the refused amount was deducted. The Taoiseach is also allowed an additional €118,981 in annual expenses, there is no official residence of the Taoiseach. The house, which part of the Farmleigh estate acquired by the State in 1999 for €29. 2m, was renovated at a cost of nearly €600,000 in 2005 by the Office of Public Works. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern did not use it as a residence, the words Taoiseach and Tánaiste are both from the Irish language and of ancient origin. Though the Taoiseach is described in the Constitution of Ireland as the head of the Government or Prime Minister, Tánaiste in turn refers to the system of tanistry, the Gaelic system of succession whereby a leader would appoint an heir apparent while still living
3.
Dublin
–
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
4.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
–
It was the biggest and most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the successor to the original IRA and called simply the Irish Republican Army. It was also referred to as such by others. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, following a split in the republican movement, the IRA initially focused on defence, but it began an offensive campaign in 1971. The IRAs primary goal was to force the British to negotiate a withdrawal from Northern Ireland and it used guerrilla tactics against the British Army and RUC in both rural and urban areas. It also carried out a campaign in Northern Ireland and England against what it saw as political. The IRA called a ceasefire in July 1997, after Sinn Féin was re-admitted into the Northern Ireland peace talks. It supported the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and in 2005 it disarmed under international supervision, the campaign was supported by arms and funding from Libya and from some Irish American groups. As a result, the IRA launched a new strategy known as the Long War and this saw them conduct a war of attrition against the British and increased emphasis on political activity, via the political party Sinn Féin. The success of the 1981 Irish hunger strike in mobilising support and winning elections led to the Armalite and ballot box strategy, with more time, the British demand was quickly dropped after the May 1997 general election in the UK. The IRA ceasefire was reinstated in July 1997 and Sinn Féin was admitted into all-party talks. The IRAs armed campaign, primarily in Northern Ireland but also in England and mainland Europe, the dead included around 1,100 members of the British security forces, and about 640 civilians. The IRA itself lost 275–300 members and an estimated 10,000 imprisoned at times over the 30-year period. The organisation remains classified as a proscribed terrorist group in the UK, two small groups split from the Provisional IRA, the Continuity IRA in 1986, and the Real IRA in 1997. Both reject the Good Friday Agreement and continue to engage in paramilitary activity and this new IRA group is estimated by Police Service of Northern Ireland intelligence sources to have between 250 and 300 active militants and many more supporting associates. The Provisional IRA was organised hierarchically, at the top of the organisation was the IRA Army Council, headed by the IRA Chief of Staff. All levels of the organisation were entitled to send delegates to IRA General Army Conventions, the GAC was the IRAs supreme decision-making authority. Since 1969, there have only three, in 1970,1986, and 2005, owing to the difficulty in organising such a large gathering of an illegal organisation in secret
5.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
6.
Irish general election, 1981
–
The Irish general election of 1981 was held on 11 June 1981, three weeks after the dissolution of the Dáil on 21 May. The newly elected 166 members of the 22nd Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 30 June when a new Taoiseach, the general election took place in 41 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 166 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann. The number of seats in the Dáil was increased by 18 from 148 to 166, the general election of 1981 was the first one of five during the 1980s. The election also saw three new leaders of the three main parties fight their first general election. Charles Haughey had become Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil at the end of 1979, Garret FitzGerald was the new leader of Fine Gael, Haughey and Fianna Fáil seemed extremely popular with the electorate in early 1981. By the dissolution in May, much of the optimism in the party had filtered out. The Anti H-Block movement fielded abstentionist candidates in solidarity with the hunger strikers, Fianna Fáils manifesto promised the electorate more spending programmes and Fine Gael put forward a series of tax-cutting plans. Fine Gael–Labour Party minority coalition government formed, when the votes were counted the result was inconclusive. Fianna Fáil lost seats as a result of sympathy to the Anti H-Block candidates and it was the worst performance for Fianna Fáil in twenty years. Meanwhile, Labour Party leader Frank Cluskey lost his seat, necessitating a change with Michael OLeary succeeding Cluskey. A Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition government came to power with Garret FitzGerald becoming Taoiseach, where more than one change took place in a constituency the concept of successor is an approximation for presentation only. Outgoing TDs re-elected in a new constituency, with no related changes, are not recorded as a change Members of the 22nd Dáil Government of the 22nd Dáil Ministers of State of the 22nd Dáil
7.
Jack Lynch
–
John Mary Jack Lynch was the Taoiseach of Ireland, serving two terms in office, from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979. Lynch was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Teachta Dála for Cork in 1948 and he previously served as Minister for Finance, Minister for Industry and Commerce, Minister for Education, Minister for the Gaeltacht and as a Parliamentary Secretary. He was the leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 until 1979. Lynch was the last Fianna Fáil leader to secure a majority in the Dáil. Historian and journalist T. Ryle Dwyer has called him the most popular Irish politician since Daniel OConnell, before his political career Lynch had a successful sporting career as a dual player of Gaelic games. He played hurling with his local club Glen Rovers and with the Cork senior inter-county team from 1936 until 1950, Lynch also played Gaelic football with his local club St Nicholas and with the Cork senior inter-county team from 1936 until 1946. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest dual players of all-time, in a senior inter-county hurling career that lasted for fourteen years he won five All-Ireland titles, seven Munster titles, three National Hurling League titles and seven Railway Cup titles. In a senior inter-county football career lasted for ten years Lynch won one All-Ireland title. Lynch was later named at midfield on the Hurling Team of the Century, John Mary Lynch was born on 15 August 1917, just yards from the famous Shandon bells and St. Annes in Cork City. The youngest of five boys, with two girls born after him, Jack, as he was known, was regarded as the wild boy of the family. He was educated at St. Vincents Convent on Peacock Lane, and later at the famous North Mon, when Lynch was just thirteen years old his mother died suddenly. Lynch, who had particularly close to his mother, was deeply affected by her death. His aunt, who herself had a family of six, stepped in to look after the family in time of great upheaval for them. Lynch sat his Leaving Certificate in 1936, after which he moved to Dublin and worked with the Dublin District Milk Board, Lynch began working at the Cork Circuit Court as a clerk while still only nineteen years old. His work in the court ignited his interest in law and in 1941 he began a course at University College Cork studying law. After two years in UCC he moved to Dublin to complete his studies at Kings Inns, while continuing his studies he started work with the Department of Justice. In 1945 Lynch was called to the Bar and had to decide whether to remain in his Civil Service job or practice as a barrister, Lynch made the decision to move back to Cork and began a private practice on the Cork Circuit. It was in 1943, while on holidays in Glengariff, West Cork, that Lynch met his wife, Máirín OConnor
8.
Labour Party (Ireland)
–
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. Unlike the other main Irish political parties, Labour did not arise as a faction of the original Sinn Féin party. This gives Labour a cumulative total of nineteen years served as part of a government, the current party leader is Brendan Howlin. It is currently the fourth largest party in Dáil Éireann, with seven seats, the Labour Party is a member of the Progressive Alliance, Socialist International, and Party of European Socialists. In 1912 James Connolly, James Larkin and William OBrien established the Irish Labour Party as the wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. This party was to represent the workers in the expected Dublin Parliament under the Third Home Rule Act 1914, the Irish Citizen Army, formed during the 1913 Lockout, was informally the military wing of the Labour Movement. The ICA took part in the 1916 Rising, councillor Richard OCarroll, a Labour Party member of Dublin Corporation, was the only elected representative to be killed during the Easter Rising. OCarroll was shot and died days later on 5 May 1916. The ICA was revived during Peadar ODonnells Republican Congress but after the 1935 split in the Congress most ICA members joined the Labour Party. The British Labour Party had previously organised in Ireland, but in 1913 the Labour NEC agreed that the Irish Labour Party would have organising rights over the entirety of Ireland. A group of trade unionists in Belfast objected and the Belfast Labour Party, in Larkins absence, William OBrien became the dominant figure in the Irish Transport and General Workers Union and wielded considerable influence in the Labour Party. OBrien also dominated the Irish Trade Union Congress and it also refrained from contesting the 1921 elections. As a result, the party was left outside Dáil Éireann during the years of the independence struggle. The Anglo-Irish Treaty divided the Labour Party, some members sided with the Irregulars in the Irish Civil War that quickly followed. OBrien and Johnson encouraged its members to support the Treaty, in the 1922 general election the party won 17 seats. However, there were a number of strikes during the first year, in the 1923 general election the Labour Party only won 14 seats. From 1922 until Fianna Fáil TDs took their seats in 1927, Labour attacked the lack of social reform by the Cumann na nGaedheal government. In 1923 Larkin returned to Ireland and he hoped to take over the leadership role he had left, but OBrien resisted him
9.
Leinster House
–
Leinster House is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Ireland. Leinster House was originally the palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the ducal palace is the core. The most recognisable part of the complex, and the face of Leinster House. The societys famous Dublin Spring Show and Dublin Horse Show were held on its Leinster Lawn, facing Merrion Square. The building is the place of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. Irelands parliament over the centuries had met in a number of locations, most notably in the Irish Houses of Parliament at College Green, next to Trinity College and its medieval parliament consisted of two Houses, a House of Commons and a House of Lords. Irelands senior peer, the Earl of Kildare, had a seat in the Lords, like all the aristocrats of the period, for the duration of the Social Season and parliamentary sessions, he and his family resided in state in a Dublin residence. From the late eighteenth century Leinster House was the Earls official Dublin residence, the building itself was designed by acclaimed architect Richard Cassels. In the history of aristocratic residences in Dublin, no other mansion matched Kildare House for its size or status. When the Earl was made the first Duke of Leinster in 1766, one famous member of the family who occasionally resided in Leinster House was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who became involved with Irish nationalism during the 1798 Rebellion, which cost him his life. With the passage of the Act of Union in 1800, Ireland ceased to have its own parliament, the 3rd Duke of Leinster sold Leinster House in 1815 to the Royal Dublin Society. In 1853 the Great Industrial Exhibition was hosted in its grounds, at the end of the nineteenth century, two new wings were added, to house the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland. The Natural History Museum was built on the site, part of this scheme intended to re-clad the house in more attractive Portland stone and extend the portico outwards. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 provided for the creation of a self-governing Irish dominion, plans were made to turn Royal Hospital Kilmainham, an eighteenth-century former soldiers home in extensive parklands, into a full-time Parliament House. The building was bought outright from the RDS in 1924, a new Senate or Seanad chamber was created in the Dukes old ballroom, while wings from the neighbouring Royal College of Science were taken over as used as Government Buildings. The entire Royal College of Science, which by then had been merged with University College Dublin, was taken over in 1990. Both the National Library and National Museum wings next to Leinster House remain used by as a library, while plans were often made to provide a brand-new parliament house, the Oireachtas has remained permanently located in Leinster House
10.
The Irish Times
–
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin OSullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011, the Irish Times is published every day except Sundays. Though formed as a Protestant nationalist paper, within two decades and under new owners it had become the voice of Irish unionism. It is no longer considered a unionist paper, it is perceived as being politically liberal and progressive. The papers most prominent columnists include writer and arts commentator Fintan OToole, former Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald was also a columnist. Senior international figures, including Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, have written for its op-ed page and its most prominent columns have included Drapier, Rite and Reason and the long-running An Irishmans Diary. An Irishmans Diary was penned by Patrick Campbell in the forties, by Seamus Kelly from 1949-1979, since Myers move to the rival Irish Independent, An Irishmans Diary is usually the work of Frank McNally. On the sports pages, Philip Reid is the papers golf correspondent, one of its most famous columns was the biting and humorous Cruiskeen Lawn satire column written by Myles na gCopaleen, the pen name of Brian ONolan who also wrote books using the name Flann OBrien. Cruiskeen Lawn is an Anglicised spelling of the Irish words cruiscín lán, Cruiskeen Lawn made its debut in October 1940 and appeared with varying regularity until ONolans death in 1966. The first appearance of a newspaper using the name The Irish Times occurred in 1823, the title was revived as a thrice weekly publication by Major Lawrence E. Knox, with the first edition being published on 29 March 1859. It was founded as a moderate Protestant Nationalist newspaper, reflecting the politics of Knox and its headquarters were at 4 Lower Abbey Street in Dublin. In its early days, its main competitor was the Dublin Daily Express, after Knoxs death in 1873 the paper was sold to the widow of Sir John Arnott, MP, a former Lord Mayor of Cork and owner of Arnotts, one of Dublins major Department stores. The sale, for £35,000, led to two major changes and its headquarters was shifted to 31 Westmoreland Street, remaining in buildings on or near that site until 2005. Its politics also shifted dramatically, becoming predominantly Protestant and Unionist, the paper, along with the Irish Independent and various regional papers, called for the execution of the leaders of the failed 1916 Easter Rising. Though the paper became a listed company in 1900, the family continued to hold a majority shareholding until the 1960s. The last member of the Arnott family to sit on the board was Sir Lauriston Arnott. The editor during the 1930s, R. M. Smyllie, had strong anti-fascist views, later, The Irish Times, like other national newspapers, had problems with Irish Government censorship during World War II. The Times was largely pro-Allied and was opposed to the Éamon de Valera governments policy of neutrality, in 1974, ownership was transferred to a non-charitable trust, The Irish Times Trust
.jpg)
19
12
