Ireland

• www.teije.nl
• www.wikipedia.org
• www.wikipedia.org - culture
• www.cso.ie/
• www.infoplease.com
• www.youtube.com
• www.youtube.com - Irish national youth dance

For over two thousand years, Ireland has been a host to a surprising variety of languages and cultures: Irish Gaelic, English, French, German, Ulster Scots, Ancient Greek and Latin.
Nowadays most people speak Irish English, or like some claim, English with an Irish accent. A minority still speaks Irish Gaelic, one of the six Gaelic left forms of language. About 30% of the population is able to speak Irish Gaelic.

When you arrive in Ireland, you should know some typical Irish phrases. A good place to start:

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of the European mainland, divided into two countries: Ireland, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland, west of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom. This island has a strategic location on major air and sea routes between North America and northern Europe. Over 40% of the population resides within 100 km of Dublin. The coastline is about 1450 km.

How to do business in Ireland

Different Countries, Different Business

Greetings

Shake hands with new or casual acquaintances when meeting and departing. Don’t go overboard — the Irish are not physically demonstrative.

Men should refrain from being too physically demonstrative with women

Ireland has a Christian constitution; however, the state is forbidden from endowing any particular religion. Approximately 86.8% of the population are Roman Catholic and the country has one of the highest rates of regular and weekly church attendance in the Western World. However, there has been a major decline in this attendance among Irish Catholics in the course of the past 30 years.

Politics of Ireland takes place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The president is the head of state. The Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Oireachtas the bicameral national parliament, which consists of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

In the Stone and Bronze Ages, Ireland was inhabited by Picts in the north and a people called the Erainn in the south, the same stock, apparently, as in all the isles before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. About the 4th century B.C., tall, red-haired Celts arrived from Gaul or Galicia. They subdued and assimilated the inhabitants and established a Gaelic civilization. By the beginning of the Christian era, Ireland was divided into five kingdoms—Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Meath, and Munster.

The economy of Ireland is modern and trade-dependent with growth averaging a robust 10% in 1995–2000. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry, which accounts for 46% of GDP, about 80% of exports, and employs 29% of the labour force. Although exports remain the primary engine for Ireland’s robust growth, the economy is also benefiting from a rise in consumer spending and recovery in both construction and business investment. The annual rate of inflation stands at 5.1% as of 2007, up from recent rates of between 3% and 4%.

Ireland is an island lying to the west of Britain and it is separated from Britain by the Irish Sea. The island is divided into two national jurisdictions: The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The official name of the Republic is Poblacht Na h’Éireann, or short Éire.

The capital of the Republic is Dublin, Northern Ireland has Belfast.

The island’s area is 84,421 sq km. Ireland is divided into 32 counties (The Republic of Ireland consists of 26 counties, Northern Ireland of 6).