Freedom in the World 1999 - Ireland

1999 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 1.0
Civil Liberties: 1
Political Rights: 1

Overview

A major financial scandal involving a former Irish prime minister and current Prime Minister Bertie Ahern continued to dominate headlines in 2000. However, Ireland's surging economy, in many ways exceeding European Union (EU) performance averages, helped deflect criticism of the prime minister and his ruling Fianna Fail party. Ireland has become a magnet for foreign labor and a key investment center for high technology and Internet companies. As a result, Ireland moved to both loosen its immigration laws and tighten its asylum application rules. Ireland faced numerous one-day strikes throughout the year as organized labor demonstrated against what it called insufficient wage hikes. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Ireland that its economy was overheating.

Ireland's struggle to maintain identity and independence dates from the beginning of its conquest by England in the early Middle Ages. Ruled as a separate kingdom under the British Crown and, after 1800, as an integral part of the United Kingdom, Ireland received a measure of independence in 1921 when Great Britain granted dominion status to the 26 counties of southern Ireland. Six Protestant-majority counties chose to remain within the United Kingdom. The partition has long been regarded as provisional by the Irish republic, which until recently remained formally committed to incorporation of the northern counties into a unified Irish nation. Ireland's association with the Commonwealth was gradually attenuated and finally terminated in 1949. Since 1949, governmental responsibility has tended to alternate between the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael parties.

Prime Minister Ahern's involvement in an ongoing investigation into alleged improprieties by former Prime Minister Charles Haughey continued in 2000. Haughey allegedly siphoned funds intended for his Fianna Fail party for personal use. Ahern, a one-time protégé of Haughey's, signed several blank checks for Haughey while acting as Fianna Fail chief whip in the late 1970s.

Mary Harney, the leader of the small, conservative Progressive Democrats party and deputy prime minister, has threatened to withdraw from the government and bring down the coalition if more damaging disclosures are made during the investigation.

In spite of recriminations, Bertie Ahern's sometimes frail coalition continued to stay in power throughout 2000, at least partly as a result of the country's unprecedented economic prosperity: Ireland is Europe's fastest-growing economy, and, at seven percent per year, the Irish economy has grown twice as fast as the U.S. economy over the last five years. The Irish economy has also grown faster than that of any other EU state for each of the last three years. Ireland joined the European Monetary Union in 1999.

Ireland achieved "full employment" in 2000 with the unemployment rate remaining below five percent. With labor in short supply, the country continued to experience an immigration reversal, with more people, including many expatriates, moving to Ireland than leaving. Because of its skilled workforce and favorable corporate tax policies, Ireland has also become an investment haven, especially for U.S. high-technology and Internet companies. Ireland currently attracts one-third of all U.S. electronics investment in Europe.

In August, the IMF urged the government to halt further tax cuts in order to ward off what it termed "pronounced" signs of economic overheating. Indeed, Ireland's economic success has come with a price: the country's infrastructure has been unable to keep up with the economic surge and creeping inflation. Hospitals are overcrowded, roads are jammed and housing is in short supply. While Ireland maintains a policy of neutrality, it is a member of the NATO-led Partnership for Peace program.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Irish citizens can change their government democratically. The Irish constitution, adopted in 1937, was theoretically applicable to the whole of Ireland; thus residents of Northern Ireland were considered citizens and could run for office in the South. As part of the peace accord signed in Northern Ireland in 1999, Ireland amended its constitution by formally revoking Articles Two and Three, which laid claim to the six counties of the North. The constitution provides for direct election of the president for a seven-year term and for a bicameral legislature consisting of a directly elected lower house (Dail) and an indirectly chosen upper house (Seanad) with power to delay, but not veto, legislation. The cabinet, which is responsible to the Dail, is headed by a prime minister, who is the leader of the majority party or coalition and is appointed by the president for a five-year term on the recommendation of the Dail. Suffrage in universal; citizens over 18 can vote.

Although free expression is constitutionally guaranteed, the five-member Censorship of Publications Board under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice is empowered to halt publication of books. The board was established under the Censorship of Publications Act of 1946 and is frequently criticized as an anachronism by civil libertarians.

The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the government does not hamper the teaching or practice of any faith. Even though Ireland is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, there is no state religion. However, most primary and secondary schools are denominational, and their boards of management are partially controlled by the Catholic Church. Although religious instruction is an integral part of the curriculum, parents may exempt their children from such instruction. There is no discrimination against nontraditional religious groups despite growing concern over the rapid growth in popularity of such groups as the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Scientology, the Church of Christ, The Solar Temple, Avatar, and others.

The rights of ethnic and racial minorities are generally respected, although isolated racial incidents occur regularly. There are some 25,000 nomadic persons who regard themselves as a distinct ethnic group called Travellers, roughly analogous to the Roma (Gypsies) of continental Europe. Travellers are regularly denied access to premises, goods, facilities, and services; many employers do not hire them. The Employment Equality Act of 1998 that came into force in October 1999 extends protection against discrimination in the workplace to include family status, religious belief, age, race, sexual orientation, disability, and membership in the Travellers community.

While Ireland moved to loosen its immigration laws in 2000 because of its economic boom and need for foreign labor, it drew criticism from Amnesty International and the Irish Refugee Council for passing tougher restrictions against asylum seekers. Ireland has become an attractive destination for asylum seekers from Africa and Eastern Europe. The new laws allow for longer detention periods of asylum seekers and reduce the amount of time applicants can prepare for judicial review from three months to 14 days. Critics of the new laws complained that those with legitimate claims would not have enough time to prepare their cases. A corollary policy of dispersing asylum seekers throughout the country was criticized for putting many refugee claimants at an unfair disadvantage since they could ostensibly be denied fair access to quality legal representation. The police were also given new powers to detain and deport unsuccessful asylum seekers. Those caught trafficking in illegal immigrants can now face a ten year prison sentence.

Ireland has an independent judicial system that includes a district court with 23 districts, a circuit court with eight circuits, the high court, the court of criminal appeals, and the supreme court. The president appoints judges on the advice of the government.

Discrimination against women in the workplace is unlawful, but inequalities persist regarding pay and promotions in both the public and private sectors. However, with the current labor shortage, the government is considering ways to increase female participation in the workforce. Only about 12 percent of the members of parliament are women. Women's reproductive rights are limited: abortion is legal only when a woman's life is in danger.

Labor unions are free to organize and bargain collectively. About 55 percent of workers in the public and private sectors are union members. Police and military personnel are prohibited from striking, but they may form associations to represent themselves in matters of pay and working conditions. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions organized nationwide one-day strikes throughout 2000, often bringing rail service to a standstill and closing schools. The unions within the umbrella group demanded pay increases commensurate with inflation, which in 2000 reached seven percent. The unions seek an overhaul of an agreement signed with the government that guarantees an annual five percent wage hike for three years. By year's end, the government had refused to renegotiate terms of the agreement, known as the Program for Prosperity and Fairness.