Freedom in the World 2008 - Ireland

Capital: Dublin
Population: 4,400,000

Political Rights Score: 1
Civil Liberties Score: 1
Status: Free

Overview

The ruling Fianna Fail party came from behind in the polls to win parliamentary elections in May 2007, giving Bertie Ahern a third term as prime minister. The Green Party joined Fianna Fail in the government for the first time, along with a smaller coalition partner.

The Irish Free State emerged from the United Kingdom under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 (six counties in the province of Ulster remained within the United Kingdom.) A brief civil war followed, ending in 1923. In 1937, the Irish Free State adopted a new constitution and a new name – Ireland, or Eire.

Ireland has been neutral in its foreign policy, staying out of World War II and NATO. It joined the European Community (now the European Union, or EU) along with Britain and Denmark in 1973. Thanks in part to large subsidies for poorer regions within the EU, Ireland has enjoyed high rates of economic growth and has gone from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to being one of the richest. It adopted the euro on its launch as an electronic currency in 1999 and introduced euro notes and coins in 2001.

Ireland has resisted any EU moves that would impinge on its neutrality, including the idea of setting up an EU military capability. Partly for this reason, Irish voters rejected the EU's Treaty of Nice in June 2001, temporarily blocking the enlargement of the bloc into Eastern Europe. In a second referendum, in October 2002, Irish voters approved the treaty.

Growth in the gross domestic product averaged an outstanding 8.6 percent from 1998 through 2002, which in turn led to inflation and wage increases, gradually eroding Ireland's competitiveness. The trend, compounded by a strong euro, slowed growth to still-impressive rates, including 5.7 percent in 2006.

With slower growth, budget tightening fueled voter disillusionment. This was amplified by a perception that the governing coalition – Fianna Fail and its smaller ally, the Progressive Democratic Party – had grown arrogant since coming to power in 1997; it increased taxes after having promised before the 2002 general elections not to do so. As a result, Fianna Fail did poorly in local elections in June 2004, despite the fact that they coincided with a popular government-sponsored referendum on tightening Irish citizenship laws. The voters' verdict was confirmed with another poor showing by Fianna Fail in European Parliament elections later that month. Prime Minister Bertie Ahern reshuffled his cabinet in September 2004, hoping to shore up the coalition.

Most polls predicted that the chief opposition party, Fine Gael, would win the May 2007 general elections. However, a strong debate performance by Ahern, combined with voter comfort after 10 years of economic growth, helped Fianna Fail to come back and win the vote. Ahern was given a third consecutive term as prime minister in June. Fianna Fail captured 78 of 166 seats in the lower house of Parliament, compared with Fine Gael's 51. However, the poor performance by the Progressive Democrats, who lost six of their eight seats, forced Fianna Fail to take the Green Party, with its six seats, into the governing coalition for the first time in that party's history. The inclusion of both the center-left Greens and the center-right, free-market Progressive Democrats had the potential to increase internal coalition tensions. The rest of the lower-house seats were held by the Labour Party (20), Sinn Fein (4), and independents (5).

After a rocky and uncertain 2006, including unusual riots in Dublin, the Northern Ireland peace process yielded positive developments in 2007. Two parties that were formerly bitter enemies, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP, Protestant and loyalist) and Sinn Fein (Catholic and republican), entered into a power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland, with DUP leader Ian Paisley as first minister. Sinn Fein hoped that this result would help it double its seats in the Irish republic's elections, but it ultimately lost one seat in the 2007 balloting. All parties had promised that they would not take Sinn Fein into government.

In September 2007, Ahern narrowly won a vote of confidence over long-standing questions about his personal financial dealings in the 1990s, when he was finance minister. He denied granting favors in exchange for loans he received from businessmen friends, and his strong statement of his version of events, just before the elections, was seen as helping him win. However, opposition parties maintained pressure over the issue and forced the no-confidence vote, which he won 81 to 76. The issue continued to color the political atmosphere at the end of 2007.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Ireland is an electoral democracy. The Parliament (Oireachtas) consists of a lower house (the Dail), whose 166 members are elected by proportional representation for five-year terms, and an upper house (the Seanad, or Senate) with 60 members, 11 appointed and 49 elected by representatives of various interest groups. The Senate is mainly a consultative body. The president, whose functions are largely ceremonial, is directly elected for a seven-year term. The prime minister, or taoiseach, is chosen by Parliament.

The political party system is open to the rise and fall of competing groupings. The two largest parties – Fianna Fail and Fine Gael – do not differ widely in ideological orientation but represent the opposing sides of the 1920s civil war. The smaller parties are the Labour Party, the Progressive Democrats, Sinn Fein, and the Greens.

Corruption has been a recurring problem, with many scandals involving members of Fianna Fail. Charles Haughey, a former prime minister who headed several governments from 1979 to 1992, was discovered in 1997 to have received up to one million euros from the owner of a food and textile retailer. Unproven allegations of corruption have also dogged Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who was found to have signed blank checks as party leader, and accepted loans from businessmen friends while he was finance minister; an inquiry on that matter continued into 2007. In 2005, accusations of cronyism were aired relating to the appointment of allegedly unqualified individuals to government bodies. Despite such cases, Ireland was ranked 17 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The media are free and independent, and internet access is unrestricted. The print media present a variety of viewpoints. Television and radio are dominated by the state broadcaster, RTE, but the growth of cable and satellite television is weakening its influence. The state maintains the right to censor pornographic and violent material, which critics charge is an anachronistic practice and possibly a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In 2006, the government moved away from its reliance on self-regulation by the press and introduced a privacy bill that press-freedom advocates worry will hamper journalism. The bill would make it easier for individuals and companies to use legal means to end press scrutiny. For example, the bill makes "watching, besetting or following" someone a violation of privacy, even if a journalist believes the subject of scrutiny is guilty of a crime. The bill did not pass in 2006, but was returned to the agenda in 2007.

Freedom of religion is provided in the constitution, and discrimination on the basis of religion is illegal. Although the country is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, there is no state religion, and adherents of other faiths face few impediments to religious expression. Religious education is provided in most primary and secondary schools, whose boards include officials of the Catholic Church. However, parents may exempt their children from religious instruction, and the constitution requires equal funding for students wishing instruction in other faiths. Academic freedom is respected.

The freedom of association is upheld, and nongovernmental organizations can operate freely. The right of public assembly and demonstration is not legally infringed, though Ireland experienced an unusual outbreak of violence at an attempted march by Northern Irish unionists in Dublin in 2006. Collective bargaining is legal and unrestricted, and labor unions operate without hindrance.

The legal system is based on common law, and the judiciary is independent. Council of Europe inspectors in 2003 found evidence of some ill-treatment, including beatings, of detainees by police, mostly at the time of arrest, but stated that prisons are generally well run. Despite equal protection for all under the law, the Irish Travellers, a nomadic group of about 25,000 people, face social discrimination in housing, hiring, and other areas.

Inequality persists in pay rates for men and women, but discrimination in employment on the basis of sex or sexual orientation is forbidden under national and EU law. The past two presidents have been women: Mary McAleese (elected in 1997 and reelected in 2004) and Mary Robinson (1990-97). Abortion is legal only when the life of the mother is in danger, and women seeking abortions frequently travel to Britain to have them performed.