{"id":503,"date":"2020-05-02T00:13:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T22:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/?page_id=503"},"modified":"2020-05-05T21:30:35","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T19:30:35","slug":"ireland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/index.php\/en\/ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland, one objective: reunification<\/h2>
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Ireland is an island situated to the extreme north-west of Europe. It is the biggest of the six Celtic countries. The largest part of the island forms an independent republic, while the north-east remains under the control of the United Kingdom. <\/p>

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The Irish flag is a vertical tricolour: three equal bands of green, white and orange. The green is the traditional colour of Ireland and represents the old Celtic and Anglo-Norman background of the population, the orange represents the more recent Protestant settlements, while the white symbolises the peace between the two communities. The principle of the flag dates from 1848, but was not recognised as the national flag until the Easter Rising in 1916. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Ireland has been a Celtic country for a long time. The\nGaels succeeded the megalithic civilisations who were closely related to those\nliving in Brittany (the site of Newgrange was connected to that of Barnenez in\nBrittany). Never experiencing Roman colonisation, these Gaels were able to\nintegrate different successive waves of Britons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans etc.\nwho adopted the Gaelic language and Celtic civilisation. The English\noccupation, which started in the 12th century and peaked in the 18th, relegated\nthe natives to second class citizens and favoured the plantation of British\ncolonies, a policy exacerbated by the issue of religion. The Irish remained\nattached to Catholicism, while the new residents, who held political and\neconomical power, were Protestants.<\/p>

Paradoxically,\nthe beginnings of the Irish political movement for the liberation of the island\nwere the work of a Protestant lawyer, Wolfe Tone, who preconceived the union of\nCatholics and Protestants. These days, English is the dominant language on the\nisland, but the Celtic culture remains a mainstay of the national conscience\nand is kept alive and regularly reinvented.<\/p>

Today, the\nnorth is still governed by the United Kingdom. The conflict intensified from\nthe 1960s onwards, the Irish Republican Army and the Unionist paramilitary\ngroups largely defining this period. Nowadays, while a ceasefire is in effect,\ncomplete political resolution remains to be achieved.<\/p>

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Identity card <\/h3>
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Name <\/em> <\/td>\u00c9ire<\/strong> | Irish Gaelic<\/em>
Ireland <\/em><\/strong>| English <\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
Population <\/em><\/td> 5,946,000 inhab.<\/strong> (United Ireland) (2006) <\/td><\/tr>
Area<\/em> <\/td> 84,421 km\u00b2<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Languages <\/em> <\/td>Gaeilge <\/strong> | Irish Gaelic<\/em>
English <\/em><\/strong> <\/em>| English <\/em>(official)
Scots<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>| Scots<\/em> (without official status) <\/td><\/tr>
Number of native speakers<\/em> <\/td> 540,000 to 1,800,000<\/strong> | Irish Gaelic<\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
State of guardianship<\/em> <\/td> Ireland, United Kingdom<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Official status<\/em> <\/td> Independent republic for<\/strong> 26 counties of 32; 6 counties of the northeast,<\/strong> under the name of Northern Ireland, form a province of the United Kingdom<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Capital<\/em><\/td>Baile \u00c1tha Cliath<\/strong> | Irish Gaelic<\/em>
Dublin <\/em><\/strong>| English<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Historic religion<\/em> <\/td> Roman Catholic<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Flag<\/em> <\/td> An Tr\u00eddhathach<\/strong> | <\/strong> Irish Gaelic<\/em>
The Irish Tricolour<\/em><\/strong> | English<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Anthem<\/em> <\/td> Amhr\u00e1n na bhFiann<\/strong> | Irish Gaelic<\/em>
The Soldier\u2019s Song<\/em><\/strong> | English<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Motto<\/em> <\/td> None <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
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Timeline <\/h3>
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