Why We Should Do Business With IrelandA

Why We Should Do Business With Ireland-A Proposal Essay, Research Paper

Republic of Ireland Business Research Proposal

History

On April 18, 1949, Former Eire became the Republic of Ireland, formally free of allegiance to the British crown and no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Following the next month, the British Parliament confirmed the status of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom until its own parliament chose otherwise. The deal allowed Ireland to retain the economic benefits of Commonwealth membership and it extended to Irish citizens resident in the United Kingdom the same rights as British citizens. Ireland granted British citizens residing in the republic similar benefits, not including political rights. The republic became a member of the United Nations in 1955. It declined to join the NATO, however, since this would have entailed entering into an alliance with the United Kingdom, which retained possession of Northern Ireland.

Culture, Diversity, Ethnicity, & Religion

Ireland was probably first occupied by Neolithic people, who used flint tools, and then by people from the Mediterranean, who used bronze implements. Later, Ireland became the home of the Picts, an immigrant people of the Bronze Age. Extensive traces of the culture of this early period survive in the form of stone monuments and stone forts, dating from 2000 to 1000 BC. During the Iron Age, the Celtic invasion introduced a new cultural strain into Ireland, one that was predominate. The oldest relics of the Celtic language can be seen in the 5th century Ogham stone inscriptions in county Kerry. Ireland was Christianized by Saint Patrick in the 5th century. The churches and monasteries founded by him and his successors became the fountainhead from which Christian art and refinement permeated the crude and warlike Celtic way of life.

Ireland is famous for its contributions to world literature. After a long and bitter colonization by England, Ireland gave the world some of the greatest writers in the English language, including Jonathan Swift and Oliver Goldsmith.

Saint Patrick s Day, March 17, is the most important national holiday in Ireland. The national sports of hurling, a strenuous game similar to field hockey, and Gaelic football, which resembles soccer. Horse-racing is a highly popular spectator sport throughout the republic.

From the 5th to the 9th century the Irish monasteries produced artworks of world renown, primarily in the form of illuminated manuscripts. Recently, the expressionist painter Jack B. Yeats, the cubist painter Mainie Jellet, and the stained-glass artist Evie Hone have achieved widespread recognition and acclaim for their work.

About 94 percent of the people of Ireland are Roman Catholics, and less than 4 percent are Protestants. Protestant groups include the Church of Ireland and the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the constitution.

Almost all the people speak English, and about one-fourth also speak Irish, a Gaelic language that is the traditional tongue of Ireland. Irish is spoken as the vernacular by a relatively small number of people, however, mostly in the areas of the west. The constitution provides both Irish and English as official languages.

View of the Economy-Past and Present

The economy of Ireland has been traditionally agricultural. Since the mid 1950 s, however, the country s industrial base has expanded, and now mining, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities account for approximately 36 percent of the gross domestic product, while agriculture accounts for only about 10 percent. Private enterprise operates in most sectors of the economy. The gross domestic product in 1996 was $69.6 billion.

The Irish pound is the basic unit of currency. Before March 1979, the Irish pound was exchangeable at a par with the British pound sterling. The Central Bank of Ireland is the Irish national bank. Associated with the central bank there are associated banks and their branches but mergers have reduced the number of these associated banks. On the other hand, the number of merchant banking houses has increased, and leading North American and continental European banks now have offices in Dublin. In May 1998, Ireland was among 10 members of the European Union to adopt a new single currency, called the euro, for all transactions. The new currency will be used for electronic transfers and for accounting purposes. The Central Bank of Ireland is now a subordinate to the ECB as a member of the European System of Central Banks.

The major trading partners of Ireland include the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, France, and Japan. The most important exports include electrical and electronic equipment, livestock, meat, dairy products, chemicals, and textiles and clothing: about two-thirds of all exports are to the countries of the European Union. Imports are primarily machinery, transport equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, cereals and foodstuffs, textiles, and iron and steel.

Tourism has been effectively promoted and has increased steadily in importance. In 1996, some 5.3 million tourist spent $2.2 billion in Ireland.

In 1996 the total labor force was 1.4 million. Some 14 percent of the workers were engaged in agriculture, forestry, and