United Kingdom The Southern Counties Of Ireland example essay topic

The modern political history of Ireland can be separated into two time periods. The first period is it's time spent under British rule as only one territory of the United Kingdom. The second period, which represents the beginning of the modern Irish state, took place during the early twentieth century. The road to national sovereignty was neither easy nor short as Britain was far from eager to let its dependent state go. The first organized movement towards independence occurred in 1916 when revolutionaries declared Ireland to be free from British rule on Easter of that year. Despite the ultimate failure of this initial push towards freedom Britain eventually granted the southern 26, of 38, counties dominion status in 1921.

Further steps were taken in 1937 when Ireland drafted its constitution and was granted full sovereignty. The final phase in southern Ireland's independence came in 1949 when its status as a British commonwealth ended and the nation was declared a republic. However, even after disassociating itself from the United Kingdom the southern counties of Ireland wouldn't be completely satisfied as long as the remaining 6 counties that comprised Northern Ireland were still a part of Britain's empire. The predominantly protestant northern counties of Ireland have been a barrier to peace in the region from the first days of the Republic up to today.

These counties are considered as a separate state but can also be considered as the same nation. This topic will be explored in more depth after the explanations of both the current Irish state as well as what can be considered the Irish nation. The state of Ireland encompasses 26 of the islands 32 counties and occupies all but the northeastern quarter of the island. The national government is a Republican Democracy and consists of a duel executive, a bicameral legislature and a judicial branch. The Executive branch is split into two parts and is considered to follow a variation of the Duel Executive model. The head of state in the executive branch is the president, or Uachtaran, who is directly elected by the citizens and serves a seven year term.

The Executive power of the state is exercised by the cabinet, which is led by the Prime Minister. Ireland's executive system can be considered to be a variation of the duel executive method due to the fact that the head of state is not purely ceremonial in purpose. The President holds many important functions in government including appointing the Prime Minister and his cabinet under supervision of the Dail, being in command of defense forces, referring bills to the people for referendum, referring bills to the Supreme Court for review of constitutionality and also councils government officials. These roles are hardly merely ceremonial and each power has importance in Irish politics.

The current President, Mary McAleese, was elected in 1997 and is up for re-election at the end of this year. The Prime Minister must be a member of the D'ail 'Eireann, also known as the majority party. His powers include answering questions in parliament where broad policy is concerned, or where issues specific to his department are concerned, sponsoring legislation which represents important new developments. Nominating the T'anaiste and the other members of the Government for the approval of the D'ail and assigning the particular Departments to the Ministers on their appointment by the President.

The Prime Minister also nominates the Attorney General for appointment by the President, has the power to advise the President to accept the resignation of Ministers, and nominates eleven persons to serve in Seanad 'Eireann. The Prime minister, as head of the Government, is the central coordinator of the work of the Ministers and their Departments of State. He also advises and guides the other members of the Government including the President. The current Prime minister is Bertie Ahern. However the Prime Minister is not the only one to hold executive power in the Irish government.

This falls to a majority coalition this comprises a cabinet of no fewer than seven and no greater than fifteen. Currently the cabinet is composed of a coalition of the Fianna Fail party and the Progressive democrats and is occupied by the full fifteen members. These members chair departments of Defense, Justice Environment, Foreign Affairs, Education, Agriculture, Community, Communications, etc. Many members of the cabinet also control more than one policy group. For example Dermot Ahern is minister for communication and Marine and Natural Resources. The legislature, locally known as Oireachtas, is based on England's parliamentary system.

It is bicameral meaning it is comprised of two houses the Senate, or Seanad Eireann, and the House of Representatives, also called the Dail Eireann. The House of Representatives is made up of 166 members elected by direct vote by the population and is decided through proportional representation. Members of the House are elected for five year terms unless voted out. The house is currently led by the Fianna Fail party who controls 77 of the 166 seats. The Dail acts serves the primary legislative function and votes directly on proposed bills.

The Senate is made up of 60 members and elections are not put to the public. 11 members are nominated by the Prime Minister and the remaining 49 are voted in by graduates of the University and members of vocational panels. The Senate has powers of consultation and amendment only and may not veto proposals emanating from the Dail; it has a maximum period of 90 days to consider bills from the lower house. The Judicial system consists of a Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeal, high Court and the Circuit / District Courts.

This comprises the basic outline of what is considered the State of Ireland, but there is another factor involved in the Nation State. Political participation is important in the election of both the President and the House of Representatives. However much of this support is exerted by voting for parties rather than individuals. Over its history Irealnd has been mainly conservative in their party choices, with the Fianna Fail party winning most elections until the 1980's. The Fianna Fail is a relatively conservative party dedicated to a peaceful resolution to the Northern Ireland issue. The eighties brought more balanced elections with more members being voted in from other parties, most notably the neo-conservative Fine Gael party.

This group promotes heavy investment in industry and the promotion of foreign investments. It's inability to win a majority in the house led to its merging with the social democrats, which for the most part remains true today. One other Major Party in Irish Politics is the Labour Party which advocates social benefits and protection of the home market. Minor or newer parties who have made influences are the Green Party, Socialist party and the Sin Fein. Today, like in the past, Parliament is controlled by the Fianna Fail party, but there is a certain amount of diversity in the government. Up to this point only the State of Ireland has been discussed but the nation of Ireland can be looked upon as something different.

To most people around the world the nation of Ireland is considered to be the lower 26 counties known as Eire. This region is very is relatively homogeneous as over 90% of the population is Catholic and is also mainly from Anglo-Saxon decent. There is little immigration from countries outside of Europe and the English makes up the highest percentage immigrants per year. The national language is English but many inhabitants still speak Gaelic which adds to a sense of cultural unity.

However one can consider Northern and Southern Ireland to be the same nation even though they are two distinct states. Although the Northern counties are predominantly Protestant, both regions share a common history and culture. This idea can be supported through the existence and activities of the Irish Republican Army which was founded in 1919. The ideal behind this organization is a united Ireland and the group uses any means necessary to achieve these goals. The group is known for its use of terrorism to get it's message across but lately the group has shifted to mainly political means. This shift occurred during the late nineties with the signing of the "Good Friday accords".

However, despite pledges from both governments to work towards peace, negotiations have still been rocky at best. On the subject of foreign affairs Ireland has traditionally stuck to a position of non-involvement and has remained neutral in the conflicts of the twentieth century. Despite Ireland's inactivity in military affairs the nation has been considered quite active as a member of the UN since its induction in 1955. Ireland is currently very active in the Security Council and is a proponent in the process of disarmament as well as other areas of International policy. Also, there are currently some 515 Irish personnel serving on 9 UN missions.

Ireland's most significant and longest standing contribution to UN peacekeeping was to the UNIFIL force in Lebanon, to which Ireland provided troops since its inception in 1978 until late 2001. Ireland is also a member of the European Union and has been since 1973. In fact this year it is Irelands turn to act as president of the EU. Participation in international groups has increased over the decades but the activities of the IRA continue to put a strain on foreign relations, especially those with Great Britain.