Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In 1937, the Irish Free State severed more ties with the British Commonwealth, writing
up a new national constitution and taking an old name—
Éire
(pronounced AIR-uh). This
new constitution reflected de Valera's conservative views, giving the Catholic Church
“special status” and decreeing that a woman's place was in the home. Ireland called World
War II “The Emergency” and remained neutral. In 1949, the separation from Britain was
completed, as the Irish Free State left the Commonwealth and officially became the
Re-
public of Ireland.
In the 1950s, Ireland hemorrhaged its best and brightest as emigration soared. But be-
ginning in the 1960s, the Republic of Ireland—formerly a poor, rural region—was trans-
formed into a modern, economic nation. The dropping of trade-strangling tariffs lured for-
eign investors. In 1973, membership in the European Union opened new Continental mar-
kets to Irish trade. No longer would Britain be the dominant trade partner. At the same
time, reforms to Ireland's antiquated education system created a new generation of young
people prepared for more than life on the farm.
The big social changes in the Republic were reflected in the 1990 election of Mary
Robinson (a feminist lawyer who was outspoken on issues of divorce, contraception, and
abortion) as the first female president of a once ultraconservative Ireland. Her much-
respected seven-year tenure was followed by the equally graceful presidency of Mary
McAleese (1997-2011). Born in the North, McAleese is another example of the shrinking
divide between the two political states that occupy the island.
Throughthelate 1990s,theRepublic'sbooming,globalized economygrewawhopping
40 percent, and Dublin's property values tripled (between 1995 and 2007), earning the Re-
public's economy the nickname “The Celtic Tiger.” (Like elsewhere, the global recession
hit hard here in 2008—the property bubble burst, sending home values plummeting and
driving up unemployment.)
Meanwhile, as the Republic moved toward prosperity, Northern Ireland—with a slight
Protestant majority and a large, disaffected Catholic minority—was plagued by the
Troubles.
In 1967, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement, inspired by the African
American rights movement in the US, organized marches and demonstrations demanding
equal treatment for Catholics (better housing, job opportunities, and voting rights). But
they didn't have a Martin Luther King or a Bishop Desmond Tutu to advocate for them
from a position of moral authority. Protestant
Unionist Orangemen
countered by continu-
ing their marches through Catholic neighborhoods, flaunting their politically dominant po-
sition in the name of tradition, and thus provoking riots. In 1969, Britain sent troops to
