Republic of Ireland

Ireland, often referred to as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. It has a population of around 5.4 million people. The capital and largest city is Dublin, situated on the eastern coast and home to a metropolitan population exceeding 1.5 million. The state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, while its remaining frontiers are coastal: the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Celtic Sea to the south, St George’s Channel to the south-east and the Irish Sea to the east. Ireland operates as a unitary parliamentary republic with a president as largely ceremonial head of state and a prime minister as head of government.

Political structure and international alignment

The state’s legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a directly elected lower house, an upper house and the presidency. The prime minister is nominated by the lower house and formally appointed by the president, who also appoints other ministers on the prime minister’s advice. Ireland has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 and joined the European Communities, later the European Union, in 1973. While cooperating closely with European partners, the state has maintained a long-standing policy of military neutrality. It is not a member of NATO but participates in the Partnership for Peace and in the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation initiatives.
Relations with Northern Ireland were limited for much of the 20th century. From the 1980s onwards, successive British and Irish governments worked together with Northern Irish parties to address the conflict known as the Troubles. This culminated in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which established new institutions such as the North–South Ministerial Council and strengthened cross-border cooperation.
Ireland is a highly developed country. In 2024 its quality of life ranking placed it sixth globally on the inequality-adjusted Human Development Index. It also scores highly in international comparisons of healthcare, economic freedom and press freedom. According to the Global Peace Index, it was the second most peaceful country in the world in 2024.

Economy

The economy of Ireland is advanced, export-driven and integrated into global markets. Dublin functions as one of Europe’s key financial hubs. Ireland ranks among the top five wealthiest countries globally in both GDP (nominal) per capita and GNI (nominal) per capita. After joining the European Communities, successive governments adopted liberal economic policies that supported rapid expansion between 1995 and 2007—a period often termed the Celtic Tiger era. Growth slowed sharply during the Great Recession, which was intensified by the collapse of a domestic property bubble. Economic recovery began in 2014, followed by renewed strong performance, supported by foreign direct investment and high-value sectors such as pharmaceuticals, information technology and financial services.

Name

The Irish name for Ireland is Éire, derived from a goddess in Irish mythology. The state created in 1922 was officially styled the Irish Free State. The 1937 Constitution declared that the name of the state is Éire or Ireland in English. The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 provided that the description of the state shall be the Republic of Ireland, though it did not rename the state itself. For many decades governments in London used Eire or Republic of Ireland as the state’s designation, while Irish republicans often preferred the term the Free State or the 26 Counties. Following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, constitutional amendments clarified naming conventions and the state increasingly used the title Ireland in international contexts.
Informal expressions such as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South are sometimes used to distinguish the state from the whole island, especially when contrasting it with Northern Ireland.

Historical background

From 1801, the island of Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. During the Great Famine of the 1840s the population fell by about 30 per cent, with around one million deaths and 1.5 million emigrants, primarily to the United States. Emigration remained a defining feature of Irish demographics well into the 20th century.
By the late 19th century, the Home Rule movement, led by the Irish Parliamentary Party under figures such as Charles Stewart Parnell, campaigned for limited self-government. Agrarian agitation, notably through the Irish Land League, achieved significant reforms for tenant farmers. Despite setbacks, Home Rule appeared likely after the Parliament Act 1911 curtailed the House of Lords’ veto. The Home Rule Act 1914 became law but its implementation was postponed owing to the First World War.
Opposition to Home Rule was strong among Irish unionists, especially in Ulster, where Protestant communities feared political marginalisation. Under leaders Edward Carson and James Craig, the Ulster Volunteer Force mobilised to resist coercive inclusion in a Dublin-based administration. To avoid civil conflict, the British government proposed temporary exclusion of Ulster from the Home Rule settlement.

Revolution and independence

Although Home Rule remained on the statute books, the First World War halted its introduction. Many Irish National Volunteers, supporting the notion of post-war implementation, fought in the British Army; unionists joined their own divisions. A minority faction of the Volunteers rejected participation in the war and launched the Easter Rising in April 1916, declaring an Irish Republic. After intense fighting in Dublin, the rising was suppressed. The subsequent executions of fifteen leaders, including Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, and the conscription crisis of 1918 shifted public opinion sharply against British rule.
In the general election of December 1918, Sinn Féin won 73 of Ireland’s 105 Westminster seats on a platform of abstentionism and independence. In January 1919 its elected members assembled in Dublin as Dáil Éireann, proclaimed the Irish Republic and authorised a campaign that escalated into the Irish War of Independence. Negotiations led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, creating the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion while affirming the partition of the island.
Ireland’s subsequent political evolution included the drafting of the 1937 Constitution, which renamed the state Ireland and established an elected president. In 1949 the Republic of Ireland Act ended the remaining constitutional links to the British monarchy.
Ireland today is a prosperous, stable and internationally engaged state that has undergone significant social, economic and cultural transformation since independence. Its institutions, economy and diplomacy continue to reflect both its historical experiences and its role within the European and wider international community.