Facts and stats about Ireland

Ireland is the third biggest island in the European continent. It is divided (politically) between The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland which is under the United Kingdom. Altogether, Ireland’s population is more than 6.4 million. Ireland has come out from a prolonged dispute and emerged as an independent nation during the concluding years of the 20th century. The Irish economy has overcome the global downturn and grew by 0.4 percent last year. However, this was considered weak since economists projected a 1.3 percent growth for 2013. The European Commission predicted that there will be 2.2 percent increase before the current year ends.

This republic has a parliamentary and representative democratic form of government. It is a member of the European Union. Religious freedom is a constitutional provision in Ireland with Christianity as the major religion and the Roman Catholic Church as the biggest church. Ireland is a neutral nation with “Triple Lock” policies regulating the involvement of Irish military units in conflict areas. It must first be approved by the United Nations, Irish Parliament and executive branch of government. For more than one decade, Ireland has collaborated with NATO closely to enhance peace and security in support of UN-recognized operations. It is one of the smaller EU countries that espouse a non-aligned international policy.

The Irish Government maintains active participation in EU policy-making. It coordinates its foreign laws with other members of the Union in accordance with the Common Foreign and Security Policy as well as the European Political Cooperation. The Republic of Ireland held the EU presidency for the seventh instance from January to July of 2013.